Macan Turbo
 

I had been shopping for the JGC replacement for a while, irrespective of the accident. I genuinely like diesel. Criteria were:
- Snow capability: AWD a must, clearance a plus
- Better ride/handling than the JGC
- Tow hitch a must, roof rails a plus

Touareg TDI was where I started. It handled better, but did not "pop" enough. I could also feel strange rpm/shift/warm-up/sluggishness post-emissions diesel fix.

This made me move to Cayenne Diesels. Similar space to T-reg. Better drive (not by much but a bit) and much better interior. Much better warranty.. In case you guys are interested, they are now going for 4/50 + 2/unlim diesel warranty extension for all of them. With CPO, that takes it to 8 years...

I drove a few, the color/options of the close ones weren't right. I was getting ready to make a distance purchase. I thought I'd drive the Macan after a so-so Cayenne test. And wow, it was no baby Cayenne, it drove like a reasonably sporty car that had been reasonably well set up for the world. Neither audi nor bmw awd sedans have as good turn-in and steering unwind on slow turns. It felt good.

Drove the 4-banger, it felt peppy-ish, but reminded of the same engine of my A4 of yore and C's current GTI, pass. Drove the S a few times. Not bad engine, but not enough torque at low rpm. Hardly any, actually. The way to make it feel ok is to constantly work the PDK. I wasn't in love with that experience.

Found a lower priced CPO Macan Turbo. I imagined that the 3.6 instead of 3.0 would give it better bottom end, and it does. Even without high revs, the car gets going smartly. And since it's a turbo it has pretty much every option once a package or two are specified. The Turbo I drove had the hitch and the roof rails. It had steel suspension (but with adjustable PASM shocks) and I felt a connection to the road. "Steel is real". I wasn't particularly interested in air suspension. I liked the idea of having both as the Macan is not a very large car. Luggage space is reasonable, back seat space is tight if the front seats are pushed back.

I looked at several colors. I absolutely disliked it in black. Grays were meh. I thought blue, white and silver were the best. Having two silver cars as it is, I limited to blue and white. Between that, the roof rails and tow hitch, I found two white ones at Porsche of Conshohocken. The hotter one had a red/black interior, 20" RS Spyder wheels and air suspension. I passed on that one (it also had 42k miles) and got a sleepier stealthier spec, beige interior with 30k miles. Ida's shedding won't show as much. I also like that the 19" tires will be much cheaper to replace. 235/55/19 and 255/50/19 front and rear vs. 265/40/20 and 295/35/20 front and rear.

It feels a bit strange to be driving a CUV, capable or not. Magazine tests put it at about 0.90g and it does have 400hp/406tq. Gets about 22 to 23mpg on the highway, which is a bit low but it is very comfortable in the front row and very confident at high or low speeds.

Nice. I'm curious to hear how you like it as you drive it more.

And most importantly... Which snow tires are you putting on it? :)

Very nice! Congrats. That's a sharp car.

Congrats!

Congrats .

Yeah the 3.0 s was soft at start so 3.6 turbo sounds like a good choice.

Enjoy

Congrats! and . . . .


:needpic:

It does have a big schnoz. It's not really about looks. I have to admit the car looks pretty much a sleeper in white, no black accents and no large wheels. Who'd think it's packing 400hp?

It's about the drive. For me, while all Macans drove better than the Cayenne Diesel, the Turbo was much better than the S, mainly due to the accessible low rpm torque. It helps the chassis click into place. The PASM shocks help. It's genuinely nice to wring out on turns. Even in 2nd gear/tighter corners, the steering wheel unwinds just right, something many AWD cars struggle with. It's simply so surprising for a tall-ish heavy-ish vehicle, it plays tricks on your mind.

That has to be a great car to drive, I know how I felt about the Macan S and the turbo takes it up a couple of notches. Congrats... it is a really nice find plus I love it in white. Coincidentally my sister just traded in her macan S and it was white as well ... I think her car had 12 k miles but it was an ‘S’ so it would not have been what you wanted.

One quick note, I never saw a Macan without the side blades by the doors ... looks cool !!

Cograts!

A guy who works for me has a Macan S that he bought CPO earlier this year. He loves it.

Going to need a roof rack for skii's ?

Congrats! Are you having any trouble with the decrease in trunk space and space overall?

I bought the only Macan Turbo that I could find that had both roof rails and a factory trailer hitch. It helped that it was priced well, was an acceptable color combination. I didn't test drive the air suspension before the purchase, but having tried it through a loaner now (car needed a more thorough detail but they really wanted to deliver it on the 29th, so I took it merely "washed"). I prefer the steel feel for sure (I'm sure I'm in the minority on this).

The "Turbo" is a pretty big thing. It's an amazing machine, feels very different from the base and even the S.

I think it's long enough for skis if it's just two people, roughly 3-series/a4 size with the seats down. I do have a ski holder, I will need the cross bars that would go between the rails and the ski rack.

Picking up after detail was nice as well, almost reliving the new car feel. I don't think I've been this excited about a purchase since the Boxster (which itself was a peak since the 06 Cayman that I bought new).

Not yet. We'll see...

congrats again

it is nice driving a new car(or like) again, I have had two old cars in a row(1999 and 2001)

Looks good. Especially without the blade things along the length of the vehicle.

A lot of happy Macan owners out there. Seems like a good bet.

I like the blade on the lighter colors, though over time paint and plastic may wear differently. I was thinking of wrapping mine in gloss black (to match the spoiler) keeping it reversible. Also needs a little light tint on the front side windows.

Put a few hundred miles on. Likes:
+ steering
+ seats
+ hard to believe grip on turns given the height (matches most sports sedans)
+ great power but very progressive throttle, so no surging
+ PDK
+ Reminds of the b7 rs4. Total power is similar but the delivery is lower in the rpm range. The suspension/steering of the rs4 was unmatched among Audis, but feels similarly tuned to the Mac turbo. Of course, no NA v8 soundtrack.
+ Quality build, no pips or squeaks.
+ Width. It's not as wide inside as the 5er or the Cayenne and that is a positive. Width is a negative in my tight area. The cabin feels just right up front.
+ Surprisingly good visibility, I expected worse from the rear.

Perhaps minuses:

- Feels a bit front heavy. I guess I'm crazy but I do feel the 55/45% not just because I read it. It doesn't affect steering with so much power going to the rear, but the car does feel on its nose at times with not as much heft in the back. So did the spectacular rs4.

- Feels short in two ways. One the wheelbase, so it's less like the 5er and more like a Golf R. Turny. Also interior could be longer. I was originally shopping for a Cayenne and bought this within a week of first test drive.

Seeing yours got me looking at them...

Alex

Fast SUVs and crossovers seem really silly to me, but I am clearly in the minority on that one.

I completely agree, John. I feel quite strange in a crossover, never expected to own one. Where are the fun to drive, long trip comfortable wagons with AWD that is not front-biased? I don't see any. Height does have a snow/ice advantage. I've paid for (or ignored) enough damage over the years.

I wasn't looking for something fast. I actually would have been happy with the v6 diesel engine in it. Was shopping for the Cayenne diesel, but the handling left me wondering... Among the Macans, the turbo had the best low end torque, most complete equipment, best engine sound and generally luxurious feel. So I ended up with something quite fast.

If I undid this purchase, I'd still be shopping for a Cayenne diesel or an f-pace. I didn't have unlimited time, so only drove the 4-cylinder f-pace. It is better in terms of length and weight distribution. But there are many things the Macan is better at. Porsche-ness, that feel of solidity, cabin details also snow grip (it turns out the f-pace does struggle a bit though in a good overly rwd way). But then you're in a jag with unknown depreciation even if I was going to overlook expected reliability. It is the "simpler" vehicle though.

I tend to agree with John on this. But I got a Macan S as a loaner a month ago. It was fine. Seemed like a tall GTI to me. I still prefer the handling of the Cayenne.

That car was much slower than I thought though was the only drawback.

I expect this is solved with the Turbo engine. That likely makes it actually fun to drive.

Only the base Macan reminds me of the GTI (as they share an engine) but its drive, comfort and highway feel is very different (and well, better, as in more isolated).

The turbo reminded me of the b7 rs4. The S was surprising to me as well, like the engine didn't match the weight of the car. What am I supposed to do, keep on the paddles and rev like crazy in a CUV? But they are very popular so I guess people figure it out.

I used to think "sport wagon" >> "sporty SUV".

But once you state that winter driving is one of the key purposes of the vehicle, then you realize, "Damn 5 inches of ground clearance sucks and I wish I had more. Oh shit, that's what SUV's are for".

That aha moment made me realize that SUV's don't deserve nearly as much shit as people give them.

Oh and as for being fast......... pffft. Why not?

That said, if I could have only one fast car it wouldn't be the SUV. My truck is fast enough. (It does have >300Hp though)

Your truck has more than 300hp?! That's not that different from the Mac (the murbo?) having 400.. I actually think the v6 diesel (merc, porsche, vw, jgc all the same) 250hp/400-425tq is about perfect for most utility/truck vehicles unless you need serious towing. Even then, it should be biased towards torque.

Yeah, it's 308 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque.

I rarely floor the throttle or get to max RPM. It's not exactly a refined experience, and would likely just spin a rear wheel anyway. But it's there when needed.

I still have the E61.

Not a lot of SUVs match it for cruising range or afterburner on the highway.

JL covers ground clearance.

Turbo covers insanity.

boxster just because.

Volt because it’s a cheap experiment.

I don’t think I’m out of touch with speed. I’m just snobby and have a high bar.

Agreed. Our fleet is about perfect:

X5 5.0 with adaptive suspension—excellent family and road trip car
718s—awesome fair-weather commuter/sports car
240 convertible–excellent small family, commuter, sporty car that can do the open air thing.

Plus, father-in-law with V8 Ram pickup.

I think I've gotten boring in my old age and don't really care much about straight line speed. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that because I've been driving the Mazdaspeed a lot and it's not fast.

Still thinking about downsizing the fleet.

CX-5 - Marisa's car, neither of us love it, it may get replaced next year, who knows. It's slow, handles okay, but is typical CUV... affected by crosswinds, no power, automatic, blah. I hate driving these things.
Ram 6.7 - Pretty much the perfect pickup truck. I really love it.
Mazdaspeed3 - My daily driver and winter beater. Relatively fun to throw around, and dead nuts reliable.
Boxster S - Occasional commuter, road trip car. I like it, but I feel like for how little we use it, it's kind of a waste, and I'd really rather have that money in investments. Though we're about to take it to our yearly trip to northeast PA and I love love love it on that trip, driving winding roads with the leaves falling.
BMW - Race car. Sold, gonna miss that one.
RX-8 - New race car.

Funny.. my old-age boringness has manifested in not caring about cornering speed. I'm too old to go around a corner on a public road with the tires anywhere near the limits of traction. I do care about body roll and transition feel, but beyond that.. meh.

I'm not really a power whore either, but the occasional zoom-zoom is still remotely entertaining.

Cornering speed was never about absolute cornering speed for me, it was about feel and balance. The insane levels of grip from modern tires on wide wheels raises the car's capability to the point that it's often dangerous to dance on public roads. The answer to that question really is an NA Miata...on crappy tires at that.

Straight line speed...I don't know. I spent a day driving a friend's heavily modified sixth gen Camaro SS last year. It didn't have that much done to make more power, so it wasn't obscene, but driving on the freeway and getting into the throttle a bit was, um, eye-opening and usable often enough that it still sits in my head a year later.

OTOH, when I'm out with my wife, or kids, or any passengers, I'm pretty mindful of any driving action/maneuver that may be "fun" because it's not fun for them. At all. No matter what car. Unless it's someone like minded and looking for that experience.

Nice interior that's a decent place to sit forever, does the things you need it to do (back seat, cargo, etc), few things that drive you nuts, a solid and connected feel when driving, enough power to move when you can AND need to, and something that just makes you feel good to have.

Think that was a long winded way of saying, I want the cars I want now, not the cars I want to want.

I agree with the fast statement, but I have driven mind numbing boring POS SUV's and I have driven SUV's that are fun to drive.

Handling and road feel are important. If you don't need a third row, or huge storage capacity, the Macan S is an awesome choice.

Definitions of fun are important too. My first Exploder was a fun SUV, but the highway ride was not the fun part. It was a 2 door, 5 speed manual. The angle of approach and decent (distance from axle to bumpers) let me have a lot of fun with it off road. Might not have been as much fun as a Jeep Wrangler off road, but I could keep up with them. My Exploder took me places 99% of SUV's have never been

Yes yes yes.

I am quoting what I think applies to the Mac turbo. Decent interior, usability (not as much as a mid-sized suv, but we will see), solid & connected handling (more so than my 535i or pretty much any other passenger car younger/larger than an e90), more than enough power.

And yes, to Clyde's point, it's no fun to slam your passenger or dog around (plus my dog will get me back later :eek:). I hate being a passenger to someone who is pushing it. I want to be chauffeured.

To be honest, I barely get enough time in either the Boxster or my higher performing bike (Duc multistrada) these days to even justify keeping them. I think I only managed 3k miles over the last 12 months on the 981S, while I had a good bit more the first year and a half I had it.

Pi miles:

Cute.

Nice

:lol:

Should have waited an extra mile, though, no?

I mean, if you're rounding.

:bustingup

Or waited another 282744

True, but the digits matter... Anyway I'm missing a dot and I didn't deal with the song & dance of adjusting the trip.