- Beautifully-styled cabin with plenty of high-end tech
- Impressive levels of practicality
- Gives SUVs that fun factor
- Pricey to buy and expensive to run
- Piano black console shows up mucky fingerprints
- Six-cylinder version sounds far sportier
Introduction
The five-door Macan is a five-seat family SUV with attitude. Customers can select from a range of models starting with the standard Macan (which is anything but basic) and working up to the mighty Macan GTS.
The Macan T (T stands for Touring) sits just above the entry level car when it comes to price. But it’s worth noting that for just a little extra outlay, the Macan S can be purchased. This offers faster responses and features a larger V6 2.9-litre engine.
However, that said, the Macan T has plenty to shout about in its own rights. There was quite a demand for the four-cylinder base Macan line-up to be expanded, especially with an eye on running costs and the environment. And that’s why Porsche launched the Macan T. It gets the same powertrain but with lots of additional tweaks, including damper upgrades, styling enhancements, smarter alloys and some other cosmetic enhancements.
The Macan is a car that will tick all the boxes for any active family and will also gain lots of bonus points and street cred on the school run.
The Macan T has some distinctive design cues to help it stand out in the car’s line-up. For example, the rear spoiler, grille, door mirrors and side blades are painted an Agate Grey metallic shade, as is the PORSCHE logo and model name on the tailgate.
There are high gloss black side window trims, two gloss black twin exhaust pipes, black roof rails (£245 extra), tinted LED headlights including Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (£618), privacy glass (£333), tinted LED taillights (£539) and 20-inch Macan S wheels painted in dark titanium that added an extra £387 to the cost.
The interior is premium quality throughout with leather upholstered seats featuring smart contrast stitching. There are Porsche-badged carpets, Porsche crests on the front seat headrests, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, plus a wealth of top-notch technology to explore.
Features include Apple CarPlay with Siri voice recognition (there is no Android Auto on any Porsche models), a smart infotainment screen is integrated into the dashboard and there is a DAB radio, three-zone climate control, navigation, wireless charging, a reversing camera and plenty more besides.
Behind the steering wheel are three dials making up the driver information display. The central dial shows the digital speed readout, revs and gear selection. The left side is more fuel and trip-based while also showing the speed in a more traditional format. And the right dial can be personalised to show radio stations, phone calls, navigation details, tyre pressure and even a stopwatch for speed testing.
There is a chunky gear lever and each side are numerous touch-sensitive controls for climate control and the likes.
Everything is easy to operate on the move, although the black console panels do start to show fingerprint marks after a short while.
On The Road
Handling & Performance
The Porsche Macan T is powered by a four-cylinder, 2.0-litre petrol engine delivering 265hp and 400Nm of torque. It can sprint to 62mph from a standing start in 6.2 seconds and maxes out at 144mph. Not bad for a family SUV that weighs 1,865kg.
The front-engine, all-wheel drive model has Porsche’s excellent seven-speed PDK transmission, with paddles for extra fun and there are drive modes to flick through to change the handling and reactions of the car. These are easily adjusted via a dial on the steering wheel and modes are called Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual. If you fancy some added firepower then press that drive mode button and everything from the acceleration to the gear shift sharpens up as the Sport Response function kicks in and counts down from 20 to zero.
When it comes to handling, the Macan easily upholds Porsche’s reputation for developing SUVs that can respond to more enthusiastic driving. The acceleration is sharp and there is a constant stream of power on tap. It’s ultra-grippy and sure-footed when pushed hard into and out of tighter bends with no sign of body lean at all.
It feels balanced at all times and can easily put in a shift clocking up long motorway miles too. The refinement within the cabin is excellent thanks to some enhanced suspension tweaks and upgrades on the latest model. This helps to cushion the ride while top quality insulation protects occupants from any engine, road surface or wind noise.
The performance is lively enough, but if that’s a real priority, then it is worth thinking about paying that £1k extra for the added firepower the Macan S brings to the table.
Space & Practicality
The Porsche Macan is a mid-sized family SUV that stretches 4,726mm in length, is 1,927mm wide (with mirrors folded) and 1,606mm tall. The wheelbase is 2,807mm and that makes for a very spacious cabin with ample room for five adults to sit comfortably.
The boot, accessed via a powered tailgate, is also well-sized and can swallow 488 litres of kit, increasing to 1,503 litres with the 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats dropped flat.
Elsewhere there is a lockable glovebox, deep door bins, a central cubby box with USB charge ports, two front and two rear cup holders, plus a practical tray. There are also a couple of clothes hooks on the B pillars to hang jackets from.
The front sports seats feature eight-way power adjustment and the steering wheel can be manually moved to find the ideal driving position. Memory settings can store different driving positions just in case more than one person uses the car.
The all-round visibility is good and the test car also featured an electrically extending towbar as the Macan can pull a trailer or caravan weighing up to two tonnes.
And it’s worth remembering that the all-wheel drive Macan T is capable of venturing from the safety of the road to tackle more challenging terrain. It can wade at depths of 300mm and has a ground clearance limit of 187mm.
Ownership
Running Costs
The Porsche Macan line-up is priced from £50,800 for the entry-level model and rises to £68,800 for the most powerful GTS version.
Our test car cost £53,970 but a number of optional extras such as Carrara White paint (£674), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (£1,052), an electrically extending towbar system (£858), a Bose surround sound system (£834) and a number of other add-ons saw the price increase to £60,841.
When it comes to the daily running costs, the petrol-powered Macan can deliver a combined 26.4-28.0mpg with carbon emissions of 229-242g/km – under WLTP testing.
So, clearly quite regular stops to refuel then, and that CO2 emissions figure would see quite an expensive first-year road tax bill of £2,015, dropping to the standard fee of £165 after 12 months.
But there is more bad news on the financial front. All ICE cars costing in excess of £40k are subject to a premium car tax levy which was introduced by the government. This starts after the first year and costs £355 for the following five years.
Our Macan, as tested, sits in insurance group 44.
Verdict
The Macan is the best-selling Porsche in the UK and while it may lack the sheer pace, sound and brutal handling of the likes of the 718 and 911, it proudly carries the company’s flag for great performing SUVs.
It looks impressive from any angle, is practical, can venture off-road and is also really pleasant to drive. And it can cater for all eventualities with a sensible Normal mode or adrenaline-rich Sport Plus option.