McLaren just filed 3 patents that borrow a trick from the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon — and what they reveal about the brand’s suspension obsession is genuinely remarkable. The British supercar maker may be about to reinvent how performance cars handle bumps, corners, and everything in between, for the second time in its road car history.
I’ve been following McLaren’s engineering moves for years, and I’ll be honest: I did not see a Jeep comparison coming. But here we are, and it makes more sense than it sounds.
Why anti-roll bars are a problem McLaren refuses to live with
Every car with an anti-roll bar is making a trade-off, whether the driver knows it or not. The bar connects both wheels on the same axle and fights against body roll in corners — which is great for handling. But the moment one wheel hits a pothole or a ridge that the other doesn’t, both wheels are fighting against each other and the road surface at the same time. The ride gets worse. Full stop.
McLaren knew this back in 2011 when it launched the MP4-12C with its ProActive Chassis Control system. Instead of anti-roll bars, it used hydraulic cylinders linked diagonally across the car — front-left to rear-right, and so on. The result was a car that controlled roll without strangling suspension travel. It was genuinely different from anything else on the road at the time. Some newer McLarens have since gone back to conventional anti-roll bars, but these patents suggest the brand isn’t done solving the problem.
3 patents that show McLaren is thinking bigger than Audi
Audi has experimented with electric motors on sway bars to make them adjustable. McLaren looked at that approach and, based on these filings, decided it wasn’t enough. The first patent replaces the fixed anti-roll bar link with a hydraulic cylinder connecting both wheels on the same axle. Tuning the fluid pressure mimics a thicker or thinner bar. Lock the piston, and it behaves like a solid bar. Move fluid from side to side, and you can raise or lower ride height — useful for clearing speed bumps without a separate lift system.
The second patent is the one that made me think of a Jeep showroom. It introduces 2 disconnect linkages in the anti-roll bar that can physically separate it from the wheels. When disconnected, the bar does nothing — each wheel moves completely independently. On a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, this disconnect is used for crawling over boulders at walking pace. McLaren’s version, critically, is designed to operate at real driving speeds. That’s the engineering leap. What works at 3 mph on a trail becomes a genuine comfort tool at 60 mph on a broken urban road.
The third patent is the one nobody will stop talking about
Here’s where it gets genuinely complex. McLaren’s third patent replaces one of the bar’s end links with a piston-and-spring unit — essentially a miniature coilover shock absorber installed where a simple rigid link would normally sit. The car’s control unit then adjusts fluid flow based on how fast the wheel is moving and which drive mode is active. In comfort mode, the system softens. In sport or track mode, it firms up. The spring element also adds positive force, making the bar more effective under hard cornering than a conventional solid bar would be.
All 3 patents share the ride height adjustment capability, which tells me McLaren is thinking about this as one unified platform rather than 3 separate ideas. A single system that controls roll stiffness, ride comfort, and ride height simultaneously — through one set of components — would be a significant packaging win in a car where space is always at a premium.
What this means for McLaren buyers and the wider industry
| System | Roll Control | Ride Quality | Height Adjust | Speed Capability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional anti-roll bar | Good | Compromised | No | All speeds |
| McLaren ProActive Chassis (MP4-12C) | Good | Excellent | Limited | All speeds |
| Audi electric sway bar | Adjustable | Improved | No | All speeds |
| Jeep Wrangler Rubicon disconnect | Off when disconnected | Excellent off-road | No | Walking pace only |
| McLaren Patent System (proposed) | Fully variable | Actively managed | Yes | All speeds |
The real story here isn’t just about McLaren road cars. The source material points out that this tech could benefit 4×4 platforms too — giving off-road vehicles better wheel articulation than current disconnect systems while also improving on-road comfort. That’s a wide potential application for what started as a supercar engineering exercise.
I want to be clear about one thing though: patents are not promises. McLaren files patents to protect ideas, and plenty of those ideas never reach a production car. The brand’s own IP filings include concepts that never left a drawing file. But when a company files 3 closely related patents that build on each other this deliberately, it’s hard to dismiss as purely theoretical thinking.
If you’re a McLaren owner, a prospective buyer, or just someone who cares about where chassis technology is heading in 2026, I’d strongly encourage you to watch McLaren’s next platform reveal closely. The suspension story may be the headline nobody expects. Share this with someone who thinks all anti-roll bars are the same — the conversation will be worth it.
