McLaren 720S (2017 - 2023) review – ride and handling

A wise person once said ‘what is good for ride is good for handling’, and it’s a saying McLaren has taken to heart, the 720S dealing with iffy surfaces better than some hot hatchbacks. The result isn’t just a car that’s surprisingly comfortable, but also one that makes light work of roads that would feel a lot busier, and require a lot more driver input, in some of its rivals.

It’s a factor of that hydraulically interlinked suspension set-up, which takes the place of conventional mechanical anti-roll bars. While anti-roll bars do what they say on the tin, controlling roll around a car’s axis, linking each side of the car can be detrimental to ride comfort, with bumps at one wheel having an effect at the other. Like an old Citroën – albeit a lot more sophisticated and controlled by some mind-bending algorithms – McLaren’s set-up allows for both compliancy and control.

It has limits, even given the stiff carbon structure – it’s not immune from potholes, and really sudden intrusions can still thump through the chassis. But for the most part, the 720S rides with an impressive fluency.

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As you’d expect, it’s also a capable handler. Key to its appeal is the steering, which is about as good as it gets short of McLaren’s own hardcore, slack-free ‘Longtail’ models. The wheel feels quite light at first, but perhaps a better way of putting this is that it isn’t artificially heavy – there’s simply not much weight sitting over the front axle, and on the move there’s a constant stream of feedback tugging lightly through the rack. Precision and response are both perfectly judged too.

Few supercars inspire so much confidence over the first few miles, at least in the chassis department – with the full performance of that engine never far away, you’ll tread more carefully on the right-hand pedal than you’ll lean on the front end.

The 720S will carry huge speed along a road, and feels spectacular when you’re in the groove. It’s also got a more intimidating side though, harder to read when the chassis starts moving around – something you’re admittedly more likely to discover on a track than on the road.

Steve Sutcliffe track test, evo 242

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“The acceleration it produces is actually quite shocking, even when you’re braced for it, and the way it subsequently stops for and then turns into the corner that follows seems thoroughly ridiculous for a car that wears a set of number plates. You need to be ready for the 720S – not because it will bite you as such, but because you might very well find yourself entering a corner 40mph too fast…

“I do four quick-ish but fairly calm laps and note a number of things. One, that there is still a bit too much understeer, which is killing the car’s speed through at least four corners. Two, that Dynamic Mode might not be the way to go because it is taking the throttle away in too many of the acceleration zones, so I’ll need to take a brave pill and switch the whole lot off next time out. And three, that it is otherwise absolutely chuffing sensational around this circuit, not least the way it stops but arguably even more so the way it goes, which is to say like a perfectly aimed bullet whenever there is so much as a hint of a straight line to fire it down.

“I come back in, tell the techies about the understeer and they call Pirelli and get permission to drop the fronts even further. They also fit a brand spanking new set of P Zero Corsas all round and simply say ‘best of luck’ when it comes to trying it with everything switched off. They also suggest I do two slow laps to bring the tyres in and then, well... see how she goes.

“Back out again and after the two slow laps I get that lovely feeling from the 720S, that rare one where the car feels almost perfectly dialled in to the circuit. All the crazy stuff is still there (mental acceleration, fantastic stability under braking, incredible speed and response from the gearbox, up or down the ratios) but there is now much more bite at the front end, which means it can carry much more speed into and through the corners. And although the wheelspin needs managing via your right foot on the way out of them, there is now instant and massive acceleration as well, which simply wasn’t there in Dynamic Mode because the electronics wouldn’t allow it to happen.”