The headroom
at the rear is surprisingly good for a car with such a sloped roof, but then
again, the rear seats are quite low set. Legroom is decent too and there’s adequate
space for two, but a third person would definitely prefer to take a bus. Though
passenger room is similar to a Q5, the 500-litre boot is 40 litres
more voluminous than the Audi’s. But this hardly matters because, let’s face
it, it’s not practicality that you’d buy a Macan for,
and most owners are unlikely to give up the driver’s seat.
2014 Porsche Macan Console
At launch,
the Macan comes with three engine options – two petrols and a diesel. All of them are turbocharged V6s, but
in typical Porsche parlance the ‘Turbo’ moniker is given only to the most
powerful, range topping 3.6-litre twin-turbo petrol variant. This motor
develops 394bhp and is pretty potent in the Macan
Turbo, which despite its 1,925kg kerb weight, can blitz past 100kph in a supercar-rivalling 4.6 seconds, on to a top speed of 266kph
according to Porsche. These are figures that are not hard to believe.
“The Macan Turbo gets to 100kph in 4.6 sec and will power on to
a top speed of 266 kph.”
2014 Porsche Macan s interior back seat view
Flex the
finely metered throttle pedal and the Macan Turbo
leaps forward with a mild chirp from the fat tyres,
the traction control light blinking momentarily as the four-wheel-drive system
works hard to optimally distribute torque to all four wheels. There’s hardly
any turbo lag and the engine response is immediate. On Porsche’s Leipzig test
track, with its brilliant mix of corners (modelled on
famous corners of racetracks across the world), the Macan
Turbo feels more like a supercar than an SUV. You can’t not
be blown away by the seminal driving experience in something that’s a
relatively lofty 1624mm above the ground. It’s easy to forget that this
is an SUV that’s also capable of playing mountain goat up a muddy slope. For
now though, I’m enjoying every bit of the Turbo on this tight yet flowing
track. The seven-speed PDK gearbox shows its class, swapping cogs seamlessly
and with lightning speed. The only spoiler is that it doesn’t downshift at high
revs, which leaves you pulling the left paddle to no effect until you’ve
sufficiently dropped speed.
2014 Porsche Macan Folded Rear Seats - 500-litre boot is usefully big,
well-shaped too.
With both turbos nicely spooled up, the Turbo’s
mid range gives you a nice kick in the kidneys, and
there’s no let-up till the engine hits the delightfully high (for a turbo)
6,700rpm rev limiter. It’s just a pity that for all its oomph, the Turbo sounds
quite wimpy. Apart from an entertaining burble from the exhaust, the engine is
just too quiet and has an insipid mechanical note to it.
“The Macan’s chassis balance and the way it darts into corners
make it hugely entertaining.”
There’s
nothing insipid about the way the Macan attacks a
piece of road though. The electromechanical steering is so wonderfully weighted
and accurate that you know exactly where the front wheels are pointing. The way
the Macan darts into corners, the confidence with
which you can clip an apex, and the sheer balance of the chassis make this the
most engaging and entertaining production SUV on the planet.
