THE distinctive dihedral doors extend like arms welcoming a friend into a warm embrace and the cockpit of the 570S is certainly a warm and friendly place to be. It's meant to be.

The 570S is no weekend-only track day supercar - it's McLaren's first ‘everyday' sports car.

Launched last year, it was the first - and highest powered - car of the Woking-based company's recently announced Sports Series and marked the entry of McLaren and its high-performance, race-derived technologies into the luxury sports car market.

It was - until the launch earlier this year of the £126,000 540S - the ‘entry level' into McLaren's automotive superpowers. And, today priced from £148,150, it still is an affordable supercar for those who find some of its fancy continental cousins a little too pricey.

Let's leave performance - my god, the performance! - to one side for a moment and look at the usability the engineering team focused on.

Those wonderful trademark dihedral doors now open wider and the sills of the carbon cabin have been cut down by 80mm to make it easier to get in and out. The cabin is also longer and wider than the 570S' Super Series siblings so you don't have to be stick thin or snake-hipped to be comfortable inside. There's masses of seat adjustment too.

A class-leading 144-litres of storage space is offered by the nose-mounted luggage bay - plenty for a long weekend - while stowage of everyday items within the cabin has been thought of too - there's concealed pockets within each of the doors, a central storage area beneath the arm rest and a glovebox.

The rotary switches, buttons and steering wheel mounted stalks are all tactile to touch, while its seven-inch touchscreen controls the aircon as well as the standard DAB digital radio, satnav, Bluetooth telephony and media streaming and audio media player.

New seats offer increased levels of support and comfort and are fully upholstered in leather. In fact, there's a whole host of different interior specs you can choose from.

Entry level or not, the 570S is a McLaren to the core and comes with all that entails - lightweight construction matched to one hell of a punch.

The 570S uses the same 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 that serves throughout the McLaren line-up but with a third new components. It develops 562bhp and a thumping 600Nm of torque driving the rear wheels through a slick seven-speed twin clutch gearbox.

Performance is electrifying - 0-62mph comes in an eye-watering 3.2 seconds; 124mph (200kph) in 9.5. Top speed, should you ever feel the need to explore it, is 204 mph. Yet, with the help of a stop-start system - a first for McLaren - the 570S Coupé officially returns 26.6 mpg.

With the classic mid-engine rear-wheel drive supercar configuration you would expect crisp handling and you won't be disappointed.

To keep costs down, there's no active aerodynamic devices, or super-clever hydraulic suspension. Instead, there's a newly-developed suspension system using independent adaptive dampers with front and rear anti-rollbars - and Formula 1-style dual wishbones. Usability doesn't mean it becomes any less sublime to drive.

In ‘Normal' handling mode, the 570S is relaxed and comfortable, the dampers soaking up the worst of the lumps and bumps. You could do the school run in it.

However, you also have those lovely rotary switches on the centre console, which means you can switch both handling and powertrain to ‘Sport' and ‘Track' modes too. Track is for what it says. Sport though might just as well say ‘Fun' or just have a smiley emoji.

In Sport it immediately becomes more agile, more eager and more rewarding. Yes, the ride is a little firmer, the bumps a little bumpier, but, quite frankly, you're having too much fun too notice. All you're intent on is scything the McLaren through the next set of bends. The McLaren's steering is an immaculate conception. It may be a cliché but it simply corners like it's on rails.

Abundant grip is aided by specially developed Pirelli P Zero Costa tyres - 19-inch at the front, 20-inch at the rear. P Zeros are a no cost option. For anchors, the carbon ceramic brakes are an other-worldly force. It is a wonderful driver's car.