carmudgeons.com  

Go Back   carmudgeons.com > Automotive Forums > Car Talk

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 09-30-2018, 10:56 AM   #1
equ
Alphanumeric
 
equ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i
Posts: 9,580
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.
equ is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Forums © 2003-2008, 'Mudgeon Enterprises - Site hosting by AYN & Associates, LLC