Porsche Macan
Porsche Macan £46,344 WE SAY: SMALL, CLEVER TWEAKS TO THE MACAN PROVE HOW RIGHT PORSCHE GOT IT FIRST TIME
Not an all-new Porsche Macan, this, but one with a wraparound tailgate striplight to pay homage to the latest 911’s XXL lightsaber. A few fresh colours (be brave – ditch monochrome and pay £1,676 for Miami Blue) and a 12.3-inch version of the Cayenne’s snappy, sharp, slightly fiddly touchscreen. But thankfully no touch-sensitive centre console. So, eyes-free operation of the heater, sports exhaust or suspension-altering buttons isn’t a feverish, fingerprint-ridden struggle.
The hardest task for the facelifted Macan is cushioning the blow of Dieselgate’s fallout. You can’t buy a diesel-powered Porsche at all any more. The Macan is the bestselling Porsche in Britain, and would you care to guess which version swallowed the majority of that majority? It wasn’t the Turbo you’ve seen slithering around racetracks. It was the sensible, entry-level, 35mpg, 500-miles-to-a-tank V6 turbodiesel. And now, thanks to a scandal of Porsche’s parent’s own making and the resulting, clueless game of political hot potato, it’s been euthanised. In its place, for £46,344, the new baby Macan is a Porsche powered by VW. This engine’s out of the Golf GTI. Porsche doesn’t like the comparison, and is at pains to point out that the Macan’s version has its own turbocharger, bespoke software calibration, and has been tuned to work seamlessly with Porsche’s seven-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox. That’s standard fit – no manual, and no upgrade to Porsche’s newer eight-speed PDK, which is designed to house electric hybrid boost. Porsche hasn’t ruled out an e-hybrid Macan, but packaging anything bigger than a AAA battery while retaining the Macan’s roomy passenger cabin and 500-/1,500-litre load bay would be like trying to fit a widescreen telly in your hand luggage.
The engine is a successful transplant, albeit with a couple of predictable caveats. It’s a smooth revver, and with 242bhp and 276lb ft to deploy, it’s far from overawed by the Macan’s leaden