Porsche’s new baby SUV in diesel guise offers up refinement and sporting prowess, coupled to impressive economy and plenty of desirability.
Admittedly I only drove it on mostly smooth German roads, and around Porsche’s test track at Leipzig where the car is built, but the overwhelming impression I came away with was that of a supremely well-resolved car. Not perhaps the full blown ‘sports car’ that Porsche would have you believe, but something pretty close all the same. Call it the world’s most practical four-wheel-drive fast hatchback and you wouldn’t be all that far away.
It feels in a different league from the Q5s and BMW X3s of this world when it comes to pure driver appeal, yet the compromise it demands in refinement and comfort don’t really seem to exist. The Macan is as fast as it is refined, as roomy as it is agile, and as sporting as it is comfortable, which gives it a unique breadth of appeal.
It won’t come cheap though, and we hear that the price will be lower than a Cayenne’s, but not by much when it goes on sale. However, if you want the best sporting compact SUV that’s currently made on your driveway, one that boasts a suitably exclusive badge to match, you should definitely consider buying a Macan once Porsche launches it in India.
Steve Sutcliffe