Porsche’s foray into cars with more than two doors has been quite successful, with the Cayenne and Panamera making up more than 65% of unit sales. Now the company that began with a single sports car model is expanding into the small, premium SUV market with the Macan.
What is it: Porsche says this is not quite an SUV but a sports car with the more practical body of a compact wagon. Two models are available at launch, the Macan S and Macan Turbo.
Design: Porsche has chosen to play it safe with the Macan, grafting over most of the company’s styling cues from its sports cars. It works like a “Best of Porsche” styling exercise, with a 911-shaped greenhouse behind 918 Spyder-shaped headlamps. The tall doors feature “side blades” at the bottom, also from the 918 design book. These can be altered in color to contrast with the body panels. The resulting wide and flat-looking body works surprisingly well on the compact SUV body. In the front bumper are huge black maws for brake cooling and engine air intake. 18-inch wheels are standard on the Macan S, with the Macan Turbo packing 19″ wheels.
The cockpit features a multi-function sports steering wheel, also styled to look like the 918’s. Behind the wheel are three round dials as the main gauges, and paddle shifts for the seven-speed gearbox. The right dial houses a 120-mm high-resolution color display. The center console slopes forward, with the gearshift set high. Multiple buttons as found on the Cayenne and Panamera surround the cambio. Standard trim includes piano black with Alcantara inserts, with carbon fiber and dark walnut trim available as options. Macan Turbo features available 18-way power sport seats.
Engine and transmission: Macan launches in the Philippines with two engine options. The first is a twin-turbo 3.0-liter direct injection V6, in the Macan S. The high-revving engine develops 340hp and 460 Nm, and can power the car to 100 kph in just 5.4 seconds, on to a top speed of 254 kph. If that seems too tame, you can opt for the Macan Turbo, which packs a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6. This one has 400 hp and 550 Nm. The 0-100 kph time drops to 4.8 seconds, and top speed goes up to 266 kph.
A few months hence, a 258 hp 3.0-liter diesel and a 237 hp 2.0-liter inline-four turbo gasoline engine will be available as well. Even the 2.0 is no slouch, capable of 100kph in 6.9 seconds.
The seven-speed PDK twin-clutch transmission is standard on all cars. Drive is apportioned to all four wheels via a multi-plate clutch.
Suspension: Macan features suspension that would be at home on a sports car. “Extra large format” double wishbones are at front, with independent multi-link at the rear. The Macan Turbo features six-piston monobloc fixed calipers on the front brakes, with four-pot calipers at the rear.
Built in: A new 500-million euro factory in Leipzig, Germany. The line is geared up to produce 50,000 Macans per year, including the one awarded to company endorser Maria Sharapova.
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