Nearly a decade ago, McLaren released its first plug-in hybrid, the P1 hypercar. Now the British automaker has developed an all-new plug-in model, though the 2023 McLaren Artura is an entirely different beast. The Artura is less powerful than its predecessor, but it’s also significantly less expensive and won’t be limited to just 375 units as the P1 was. Even so, the Artura is absolutely a McLaren through and through.

The lineage is obvious from the moment you walk up to it, as the design — while all-new — features cues found on other models like the GT and 720S. That includes details like deeply inset headlights, high-mounted exhaust tips and, of course, the dihedral doors that open up and out. The Artura is striking, especially in some of McLaren’s more vibrant paint colors, though we wouldn’t call it beautiful. But looks are only part of the equation when it comes to cars like this: You need to have the performance to back it up.

What’s under the Artura’s hood?

The Artura uses an all-new engine for McLaren: a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, the first six-cylinder engine for a McLaren road car. The cylinders are mounted at a wide 120-degree angle as compared to the more narrow 90-degree angle as used on the automaker’s V8. The V6’s wider angle means it’s physically shorter than the V8, so it can sit lower in the car and bring down the center of gravity to improve the Artura’s weight balance. The engine uses the so-called “hot V” setup that places the turbochargers and…