Porsche’s new baby SUV in diesel guise offers up refinement and sporting prowess, coupled to impressive economy and plenty of desirability.
The gearbox is a seven-speed PDK, while the brakes and dampers have both been tuned to provide the Macan S Diesel with far sharper responses than a Q5. The driving position is also much lower than in the Q5, while the cabin itself bears little or no resemblance to what you’ll find in the equivalent Audi.
The emphasis with the Macan, inside as well as out, is all about delivering as sporting a driving experience as possible, even when there’s a cast-iron, common-rail turbodiesel engine pumping away beneath its new bonnet.
So, what is it like? In one word refined. In two words, supremely refined. And in four words supremely refined and quick.
There are all sorts of things about the Macan S Diesel that will impress you in the first few kilometres of your first journey in it – the precision and accuracy of its steering, the effortless power of its brakes, the apparent high quality of its ride and the feeling of sitting inside a compact but expensive automobile being just four such examples.
But it’s the smoothness and potency of the power delivery that will most likely leave the biggest impression, long after you’ve climbed out and walked way. That and the creamy interaction with the engine of the quite brilliant PDK gearbox. Combined, these attributes elevate the Macan S Diesel to a completely different level dynamically compared with any car in this class.