This city has the world’s best cars… but the world’s most boring roads
Million-dollar supercars line the streets of this exotic locale, so why does it have some of the world's worst roads? Tom Fraser explains.
It’s funny the places that automotive journalism can take you. In the space of a month, I went from touring the interior of my home state with the new Volkswagen Touareg, to camping overnight with a Mercedes-Benz campervan down on the Great Ocean Road, and then in Canberra checking out Mazda’s new SUV line-up.
Heading into June, I wasn’t meant to be driving a roofless McLaren supercar in southern France. But like so many opportunities that spring up in this job, it was a last-minute opportunity to be Drive’s guy to attend the launch of the 2025 McLaren Artura Spider.
Travelling across the world at a moment’s notice is indeed pretty daunting, but jet lag or not, it was an invite well worth taking up.
You can read all about the car by checking out the full review – spoiler alert, the new McLaren Artura Spider is brilliant – but I couldn’t help but visit the French Riviera and not write about the experience.
As is often the case with launch events, going into it there’s not a lot of information about where you’re going, what you’re doing, or who you’ll meet. So, while I knew I was flying into Nice International Airport along the French Riviera, I didn’t know just how close I would get to Monaco and its infamous streets packed full of supercars, high-end shops, and harbours filled to the brim with multi-million-dollar yachts.
It turns out, I got too close.
The McLaren event had me staying right in Monte Carlo itself, and though the unique city is stunning in its own right – the buildings, the water, and the attractions are all worth touring – I couldn’t comprehend why the world’s rich flock to the principality with their priceless supercars.
Naturally, the city’s a hive of activity when it comes time to host the Monaco Grand Prix, which was held just two weeks prior to my arrival, but every other time the traffic is jam-packed and the roads are tightly contested with tourists. I'd go so far as to say it has some of the world's worst – or at least most boring – driving roads.
Sure, the novelty of showing off million-dollar exotica like a Ferrari Enzo or a Mercedes-McLaren SLR might give some owners a kick, but there’s a subset of people that simply go to Monaco to drive around town.
And that’s sad. Especially when some of the best driving roads in the world are within an hour’s reach.
Luckily, McLaren is a brand that knows a thing or two about the significance of being in the French Riviera. So, although it’s absolutely gorgeous to look out at the Mediterranean Sea with awe, the Artura Spider drive program concentrated on roads inland that are arguably as alluring for car fanatics.
If you’ve ever heard of the Route Napoleon, it should come as no surprise that the magnificent 325km-long piece of tarmac is often crowned among the world’s best driving roads.
Winding up through mountain ranges and straddling awe-inspiring valleys, the Route Napoleon was first trekked by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815 on his way to overthrow French king, Louis XVIII.
Today, it plays host to year-round driving tours, the route is often incorporated into rally stages, and it was even used in the iconic GoldenEye James Bond car chase scene between a Ferrari 355 and the Aston Martin DB5.
The beauty of Route Napoleon is the fact that you can join any part of its length and be treated to smooth, flowing roads with gorgeous scenery. You don’t have to drive the route in its entirety because the entire stretch contains challenging high-speed roads, strings of switchback corners, and incredible views.
Ordinarily, it’s usually best to drive a route like this uphill from the sea to the sky, but Route Napoleon, I'd argue, is best experienced the other way around due to the gorgeous glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea.
Roads like these don’t come around often, so it’s appropriate that I’m behind the wheel of a worthy car. The new 2025 McLaren Artura Spider squares up to the task nicely.
This convertible variant follows an established McLaren timeline whereby a supercar is first released and its Spider derivative joins the party shortly thereafter.
However, the drop-top model also headlines the introduction of more power, revised suspension and transmission tuning, and the addition of active safety technology to the model-year 2025 Artura line-up.
As before, it draws power from a plug-in hybrid powertrain comprising a V6 (whereas the rest of McLaren’s models continue with V8s) petrol component and a 70kW electric motor.
Interestingly, the Spider version is just as fast as its hardtop counterpart in almost every metric, aside from its zero-to-200km/h sprint time, which is one-tenth slower than the Coupe.
It’s capable of such performance thanks to a combined power output of 515kW, sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine produces 445kW of that and the electric motor adds 70kW.
What’s better, the car has the ability to run on zero-emissions power for up to 33km.
But, I wasn’t prioritising fuel economy…
In an irony-stricken case of Murphy’s Law, unfortunately the Southern France weather wasn’t playing ball for a majority of the drive, but I didn’t let that stop me from dropping the top in the Artura Spider.
Zipping between quaint French towns and across lush green French farmland, having the mechanical hard-top roof stowed away makes it so much easier to appreciate the Artura’s V6 engine character.
I was a little bit worried about the prospect of a V6-engined supercar – especially one assisted by silent electric batteries – but the aural experience is absolutely wild. There are gravelly, raspy sounds from the twin exhaust pipes, and it can even sound surprisingly similar to the high-RPM V8 howl of a McLaren 750S.
There’s little question the Artura’s vivacious handling profile is a perfect match for the ribbons of tarmac high above the French Riviera. With each rounding of a bend comes a new opportunity to flex the right foot, resulting in a tidal wave of power sent to the rear wheels.
It’s an addictive feeling wringing the McLaren out to redline right before a hairpin bend, stamping hard on the carbon-ceramic brakes, and holding your nerve – and stomach – through the corner as the car sits flat and unperturbed by the sudden change in direction.
There were plenty of cyclists out and about enjoying the road too – it’s a popular stretch whether on petrol or pedal power. Opportunities to stop and appreciate the scenery were plenty – the mountains seemingly go on forever and fade into deeper shades of green and blue in the far background.
Granted, a lot of my happy snaps have the McLaren front and centre, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the car’s looks – especially when the dihedral doors are opened towards the sky.
It’s proper theatrical supercar inside the cabin too. The seats are bucketed, all driving information is cantered towards the driver, and – classically – interior storage is severely limited.
I doubt that’s of any significance to would-be supercar buyers, but it does limit the Artura’s daily-driver abilities. It’s a shame because it’s otherwise surprisingly well suited to suburban duties.
It’s quiet in town on hybrid-electric power, and although its angular front end sits precariously low, our car was fitted with a lift kit that raises the nose in seconds.
It’s the kind of duality that I appreciated coming back into Monte Carlo after an exhilarating drive experience. Just as easily as it’s able to carve up a mountain road, the Artura’s capable of calm city-focused driving – even silently on electric power alone.
It’s funny – the Artura Spider would have stuck out like a sore thumb in any other city in the world, but the car blended in seamlessly with the other supercars and priceless metal.
You can barely turn a corner without seeing a new supercar like the Ferrari 296 GTS – a rival to the Artura Spider – or the barely released Lamborghini Revuelto. It’s otherworldly seeing these kinds of cars on the street, as common as a Toyota Corolla.
If only I’d have seen more of them up in the mountains tackling the kind of roads they were designed to devour!
