They really shouldn't let people test drive a Porsche

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Darth One

I do, honestly. And we cross shopped the two.

I do think that you have to have at least the GTS or Turbo, and it has to have PASM (standard in GTS, optional in Turbo). If you drove the S or base, i can kind of see where you're coming from.

If by "not as well-packaged" you mean space for humans and cargo, i agree with that too. The Macan has tight rear legroom and the steep rake of the back compromises rear cargo space and headroom.

Finally, yes - the car is expensive.

But as far as being a "small performance SUV", as much of a misnomer as that term is, the Macan GTS and Turbo have no equal. Again, maybe the Stelvio but i have no experience with that one yet.

I only drove an S with 340 HP, it also had a setting for suspension, some sort of 2 part dampening setting (i am not sure if that is PASM or not). It also had sport / sport plus modes etc. Here were some of my findings-

1) the 340 hp just felt awfully slow, I mean I know it's an SUV but i expected a little more get go
2) even with suspension in max firmness, it just did not feel dynamic in any way and still floated quite a bit
3) the interior is super dated, i know 2019 is a refresh and it needs it as that navi and overall interface layout is prehistoric
4) last but not least is the price... the S model can cost up to 80K, I just don't see how anyone would purchase that car for that price

Again, I know the GTS and Turbo exist but then u can easily almost step into x5m territory with the 90k turbo... i just dont see the the appeal at all. At least in a Q5 which is very cheap, you know what you're getting yourself into. The Macan to me seems improperly advertised as a truly sporty SUV which it does not feel like.

[georgere]

Originally Posted by Darth One

I do, honestly. And we cross shopped the two.

I do think that you have to have at least the GTS or Turbo, and it has to have PASM (standard in GTS, optional in Turbo). If you drove the S or base, i can kind of see where you're coming from.

If by "not as well-packaged" you mean space for humans and cargo, i agree with that too. The Macan has tight rear legroom and the steep rake of the back compromises rear cargo space and headroom.

Finally, yes - the car is expensive.

But as far as being a "small performance SUV", as much of a misnomer as that term is, the Macan GTS and Turbo have no equal. Again, maybe the Stelvio but i have no experience with that one yet.

Note the Alfa please. The moment you put it in the mix, people will say it sux because of uk own reliability and lack of dealer support and unpredictable future for the brand/model in US.

Btw I actually cross shopped Macan S and Turbo ageist M3 and C63 back in 2015.... and I agree Macan is not a performance car. Even turbo and pasm don't make it one. And for SUV is very small. What it is though is a chance to have 60-70k new p-car daily badge and it is a very good p-car just not a performance car....

[dkhm3]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I only drove an S with 340 HP, it also had a setting for suspension, some sort of 2 part dampening setting (i am not sure if that is PASM or not). It also had sport / sport plus modes etc. Here were some of my findings-

1) the 340 hp just felt awfully slow, I mean I know it's an SUV but i expected a little more get go
2) even with suspension in max firmness, it just did not feel dynamic in any way and still floated quite a bit
3) the interior is super dated, i know 2019 is a refresh and it needs it as that navi and overall interface layout is prehistoric
4) last but not least is the price... the S model can cost up to 80K, I just don't see how anyone would purchase that car for that price

Again, I know the GTS and Turbo exist but then u can easily almost step into x5m territory with the 90k turbo... i just dont see the the appeal at all. At least in a Q5 which is very cheap, you know what you're getting yourself into. The Macan to me seems improperly advertised as a truly sporty SUV which it does not feel like.

I usually agree with you- but the Macan is an amazing car for me.

We have a base Macan in my extended family loaded with luxury options, and 0 performance ones. I have also test drove a GTS as well.

Yes, the interior is basic, but the dynamics of the suv really connects me to it, even the base Macan which shocked me. I have driven the previous gen q5 as well, they are completely different cars based on the same platform.

I would honestly take a nice Macan Turbo over my X5M to be honest. I won't get into details, but it is not as rewarding to drive.

[JackieChiles]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I only drove an S with 340 HP, it also had a setting for suspension, some sort of 2 part dampening setting (i am not sure if that is PASM or not). It also had sport / sport plus modes etc. Here were some of my findings-

1) the 340 hp just felt awfully slow, I mean I know it's an SUV but i expected a little more get go
2) even with suspension in max firmness, it just did not feel dynamic in any way and still floated quite a bit
3) the interior is super dated, i know 2019 is a refresh and it needs it as that navi and overall interface layout is prehistoric
4) last but not least is the price... the S model can cost up to 80K, I just don't see how anyone would purchase that car for that price

Again, I know the GTS and Turbo exist but then u can easily almost step into x5m territory with the 90k turbo... i just dont see the the appeal at all. At least in a Q5 which is very cheap, you know what you're getting yourself into. The Macan to me seems improperly advertised as a truly sporty SUV which it does not feel like.

My wife had a loaded up Macan s with air suspension and now has a x5m.

The engine in the Macan is the only downside. Pdk is incredible and better than the 8 speed in the x5m which is also excellent.

The x5m handles well for a large suv but the Macan handled and ride way better. The suspension tuning, handling balance and compliance is not comparable at all. The Macan kills it.

It’s an excellent sporty suv. If we didn’t need more space we would still have it. The turbo and gts models have notably more power and are awesome cars.

[Funf6cyl]

Originally Posted by JackieChiles

My wife had a loaded up Macan s with air suspension and now has a x5m.

The engine in the Macan is the only downside. Pdk is incredible and better than the 8 speed in the x5m which is also excellent.

The x5m handles well for a large suv but the Macan handled and ride way better. The suspension tuning, handling balance and compliance is not comparable at all. The Macan kills it.

It’s an excellent sporty suv. If we didn’t need more space we would still have it. The turbo and gts models have notably more power and are awesome cars.

Spot on! I absolutely love my Macan GTS and it’s also my favorite liking SUV. No bad angle and the interior quality is exceptional (especially at the price point). I have as much fun driving it as I do my Porsche sports cars because of the driving experience it offers.

[Racer20]

I was pretty impressed with the Macan GTS that I drove. Of course it's not an M3, but for a DD SUV, it's a lot of fun. That said, I test drove a B9 S4 immediately after and the value proposition of the Macan simply wasn't there for the extra $25k. If the S4 wasn't so damn good for $65k, I'd have a Macan GTS sitting next to my F80 right now.

[Nikolas]

Huge Porsche event last weekend at Laguna Seca! Anyone else there?

[BluM4]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I only drove an S with 340 HP, it also had a setting for suspension, some sort of 2 part dampening setting (i am not sure if that is PASM or not). It also had sport / sport plus modes etc. Here were some of my findings-

1) the 340 hp just felt awfully slow, I mean I know it's an SUV but i expected a little more get go
2) even with suspension in max firmness, it just did not feel dynamic in any way and still floated quite a bit
3) the interior is super dated, i know 2019 is a refresh and it needs it as that navi and overall interface layout is prehistoric
4) last but not least is the price... the S model can cost up to 80K, I just don't see how anyone would purchase that car for that price

Again, I know the GTS and Turbo exist but then u can easily almost step into x5m territory with the 90k turbo... i just dont see the the appeal at all. At least in a Q5 which is very cheap, you know what you're getting yourself into. The Macan to me seems improperly advertised as a truly sporty SUV which it does not feel like.

My wife drives a Macan S and she loves it. I agree with you about the acceleration and suspension. However, the quality of the interior material is MILE better than my F82. She also has the 14 ways seat. It holds much better than the F82's when I drove on the curvy back roads.

Oh, the DCT is not as good as the PDK. PDK likes an AI that knows exactly when I want to shift.

[MaynardZed]

Still having a blast with the GTS on the track since my race car sits dormant until my race shop can get to it. Had a great little rabbit to chase (Ariel Atom) on Saturday which helped me cruise to any east time trial win.

Sunday the track wasn’t offering any decent times as it tried to recover from some overnight storms.

[MaynardZed]

More track fun in the 991.1 GTS. NASA time trials at Arizona Motorsports Park, TT3 personal best lap of 1:48.894. The Porsche is stock except for Cup2 tires.

For comparison, my best lap time in the M4 at this track was 1:54.352 on R888’s. The M4 would also be in the “faster” TT2 class because of it's tremendous power. Best lap in my E36 race car here is 1:50.1 I believe.