The Porsche Macan is one of the best sports SUV’s on the market offering drivers the true sports car feel for the road. The Macan’s smooth, performance oriented suspension allows it to wind through the corners with best of class road handling. Also, if you upgrade to the Sport Chrono transmission you’ll get rewarded with a perfectly synced acceleration and deceleration utilizing the engine compression to offer the maximum performance. So, when it comes to on-road performance the Macan is tough to beat.
When it comes to good looks, the Macan is also one of the best in this category. Really athletic stance, low roofline, sleek lines, and overall great styling. The interior is just as refined, and you get a high end, premium riding experience from the front seats of the cabin. However, the new updated grill on the Macan is a bit more muted compared to previous generations. The past Macan’s offered a “Shark ‘s Head” type front end with the shark tooth aggressive grill. Perhaps some like the new look, but I was so much in love with the past look and it’s difficult for me not to take off some points here. It’s weird how the grill of your favorite car turns out to be one of your favorite styling queues.
The snow driving performance is amazing with the Macan, and please equip this with the best rubber you can find. Tires make all the difference in snow driving, and even though the Macan’s amazing drivetrain offers you enormous snow traction, the rubber is 70% of your traction component. Don’t be the idiot who takes their $100k sports SUV up to the snow and crashes it into the first snowbank because you didn’t get good snow tires.
When it comes to roominess for the driver, back seat passengers, and your gear the Macan is tight. You gain a lot of road performance from its compact design, but forego some utility in this category. The Macan is ideal for 1-2 skiers. Just fold down the back seats and throw all your gear in the back. However, if you’re trying to get 3-4 adults into this vehicle, make sure everyone is 5’10” and smaller. You’ll certainly need a roof rack, or moon-pod if you’re thinking of more than 2 skiers.
For 2023 Porsche made a tough decision to eliminate the Audi 3.0 6 Cylinder Engine, which defined the Macan S. I’m sure there were many reasons for the change, but I have heard that both the Audi 3.0 and the Audi 2.0 engines have mechanical problems including excessive oil burning. I have had the Audi 2.0 engine, so can testify to it’s high thirst for burning oil. The only true Porsche designed and built engine in the line was the 375 HP 2.9 GTS engine, and now resides in the Macan S. This is the model to get!
When it comes to configurations, Porsche has a good line-up for 2023. I really like what they did with the base model, offer the Macan T as a great package to include the Sports Chrono, Bose Sound System, and better seats. The base, base only comes with cloth seats, which seems quite strange for such an expensive, high end vehicle. As I mentioned above, Porsche has eliminated the old Macan S configuration, and now it’s the equivalent to the previous GTS, with the best engine of the line-up. For those who really want to go, the new GTS has the Porsche 2.9 engine, with a tuned up HP reaching 434 HP.
If money is no object, then you’d probably just want to run out and get the new Macan S or GTS fully loaded with all the goodies. These will run you $90,000 – $115,000 depending on the options that appeal to you. At the $65,000 price point you’ll get the Macan T, which is a bit under-powered with the Audi 2.0 engine. Certainly does not offer that exciting boom out of the gate you’ll find with a higher performance engine.
Here’s where I step in and offer you an alternative of the BMW X3 M40i as the superior option – if you’re open to different brands and styling. The X3 M40i offers the same road feel, acceleration, fun, refinement, etc, much more room for passengers and gear, better mpg, higher ground clearance, better service and warranty agreements, and arguably longer road life. You can get a very well equipped BMW M40i for about $65,000, which in total life of the ownership (birth to death), will save at least $35,000 in total ownership expense. This, in conjunction to Porsche’s misstep on the grill, now earns BMW M40i the rank #1 in this highly competitive category. Driving the Macan vs. the BMW, it’s tough to really say which one out-performs on any given road. They’re both amazing to drive.