News Source: autoblog.com

A good solid year separated the release of the McLaren MP4-12C and its Spider counterpart. McLaren isn't waiting that long, however, to reveal its new 650S Spider – in fact it's presenting both versions at the same time here at the Geneva Motor Show. But while Woking has given us plenty of details and photos of the coupe to chew on in the lead up to the show, it has just now revealed the full skinny on its open-topped companion, presented here in a new shade of McLaren's signature orange.

With the same 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 producing the same 641-horsepower, McLaren quotes the 0-62 mile-per-hour time for the 650S Spider at the same 3.0 seconds flat as the 650S coupe. Line up both versions and keep the pedals planted on both all the way up to 124, however, and the coupe will get there 0.2 seconds faster than the roadster. It'll take just one-tenth longer to cover a quarter mile, and it'll also top out at 204, three fewer miles per hour than the coupe, but fuel consumption is quoted as identical.

In other words, the performance difference is negligible. That's because the Spider weighs just 88 pounds more than the coupe – less even than what Alfa Romeo took to chop the roof off the 4C, and the new McLaren (like the 12C Spider) uses a retractable hardtop at that, taking just 17 seconds to drop or raise at speeds of up to 19 mph. That's a pretty impressive transformation, leaving those who enjoy the best of both worlds with few reasons not to go with the roadster. But while pricing hasn't been announced, we have the distinct feeling it's not a choice many people will have to make.