New Porsche Macan SUV first look review

We get a ride in Porsche’s new, smaller SUV to see if it has the goods to become its new best-seller.

Published on Jan 05, 2014 04:27:00 PM

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One thing’s for sure – this car feels nothing like a Q5, even from the passenger seat. Lower slung, massively grippier and blessed with an aggressive power-to-weight ratio, the Macan is seriously quick. With 394bhp from its 3.6-litre petrol V6, the Porsche Macan Turbo is easily the quickest of the range. It pulls strongly from 2,500rpm all the way to its 6,800rpm redline with a flat-six-like snarl, and you are shoved back firmly in your seat. This car feels like it can easily match the incredible claimed 0-100kph time of 4.6 seconds. What comes as an even bigger surprise is that the 335bhp Macan S (also turbocharged but not to the same extent) feels almost as fast in most situations.

It’s the 254bhp Porsche Macan diesel that’s likely to be the mainstay in India, and here too performance is more than adequate. There’s definitely more zing here than the 245bhp Audi Q5 diesel we have in India, and Porsche’s gearbox seems to be much quicker than the hesitant Audi unit.

It’s difficult to really tell without being behind the wheel, but the Macan also feels like it has plenty of front-end grip. With less understeer than the Audi Q5, it feels agile and quick to change direction. The rear rolls around a bit, though, especially during hard cornering, but that’s understandable – this car lacks the active anti-roll bars you get on the Cayenne.