2017 Porsche Macan Turbo with Performance Package First Test: More Is Better

By Mustaqim Jaed at May 27, 2020 Post a Comment

It’s been more than three years since we first got our hands on the Porsche Macan Turbo. With a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V-6 under the hood making 400 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, it shot to 60 mph in a scant 4.2 seconds and laid down a 12.9-second quarter mile. Porsche didn’t tune the Macan Turbo for drag racing only, though. It also stopped from 60 mph in only 102 feet and averaged 0.90 g of lateral acceleration.

For a 4,500-pound crossover, the ones are some critically astounding numbers. And the enjoy behind the wheel is just as commendable because it appears on paper. ?The Macan is the sort of vehicle you may get in and just pressure for hours?It?S equally at home on the song as it's far on the dual carriageway, and, truly extraordinarily, off-road,? Noted functions editor Christian Seabaugh.

If you may swing the close to-$seventy five,000 fee, you?Ll be tough-pressed to discover a extra practical overall performance car or a realistic automobile that?S extra fun to pressure.

But late closing yr, Porsche announced it might add an excellent quicker Macan to the lineup: the Macan Turbo with the Performance bundle. Costing $10,500 greater than a regular Macan Turbo, the Performance package deal adds 40 hp and 36 lb-feet more torque, as well as 1.2-inch large front brake rotors, Porsche Active Suspension Management, the Sport Chrono, and a sports exhaust.

Recently, we had the opportunity to test out the Porsche Macan with the Performance package. On top of the Performance bundle, our tester became also prepared with two other performance options: torque vectoring ($1,490) and carbon-ceramic brakes ($eight,one hundred fifty). Add in some comfort features and some appearance packages, and what started out as an $87,495 car shot up to $114,840.

And although that may be a high-quality amount of money to spend on a crossover, specially one that begins at $48,850, the Macan?S performance did a strong job of justifying its asking price.

It hit 60 mph, for example, in a trifling 3.7 seconds. And it ran the region mile in 12.Three seconds at 109.Five mph. Those numbers have been also remarkably constant from run to run.

?With Porsche?S fool-resistant release manipulate, every run is almost identical,? Referred to street check editor Chris Walton. ?However, I located a pair tenths with the aid of liberating the brake earlier and setting the shocks in softest placing. Upshifts are very clean and short as one would anticipate.?

For comparison, the Macan Turbo we examined returned in 2014 hit 60 mph in four.2 seconds and did the quarter mile in 12.Nine seconds at 106.2 mph. So regardless of the Performance package deal?S modest bump in power, it delivers a good sized improvement in acceleration.

Or as Walton put it: ?Man, that is brief.?

Our tester was no slouch inside the corners, either. It finished our discern eight in 24.6 seconds and averaged zero.81 g. In our lateral acceleration test, it averaged 0.Ninety three g. The ordinary Turbo wished a full 25 seconds to complete the identical parent 8 and most effective averaged zero.Seventy eight g. In the lateral acceleration check, it handiest averaged 0.Ninety g. Those aren?T pretty supercar numbers, however they?Re nonetheless admirable for a crossover that could seat 4 adults in relative consolation.

Curiously, our tester needed 106 toes to prevent from 60 mph?That?S four feet longer than the Macan Turbo with out the Performance bundle. That difference isn?T big sufficient to be large, and it could be the result of any number of things, but it?S still really worth noting.

In his notes, Walton praised the ?Firm pedal? And ?Very steady stops? But also cited, ?There was a chunk of wander, however, because the tires searched for grip.?

Out within the real world, where particular numbers are much less vital than ordinary sense, the Macan proved just as staggering. In Sport Plus mode, the automobile?S direct guidance, sturdy brakes, torquey engine, sticky tires, and properly-managed frame roll gave me a first rate amount of self assurance at the winding canyon roads north of Los Angeles. It?S nonetheless too large and heavy to absolutely idiot you into questioning you?Re in the back of the wheel of a real sports activities automobile consisting of the 718 Cayman, however it?S nonetheless far extra agile than its CUV shape would advocate.

The Macan turned into additionally perfectly glad to play the role of day by day driving force. It?S small sufficient to pressure in city visitors without any worries, however it nevertheless supplied a first rate quantity of cargo room. Not simplest did it cope with grocery runs with none issues, but it also easily swallowed a bicycle as soon as I positioned the rear seats down. And even though they?Re reinforced for more lively driving, the front seats proved to be flawlessly snug even after numerous hours of using. Larger drivers won't have the equal enjoy (test out the Comfort and adaptive sport seats for your self), but different owners would possibly also be up for road tripping their Macan.

Of direction, the biggest question here isn?T whether or not or not the Macan Turbo with the Performance package is fun to force. Or whether it?S practical enough to apply day-to-day. It?S whether or not or no longer the Performance package?S charge tag offers enough price to make it well worth adding to the Macan Turbo.

Unfortunately, that?S now not an smooth query to reply. That?S partially because it?S not as easy as asking whether or not an additional forty hp is really worth extra than $10,000. On the Macan Turbo, Porsche Active Suspension Management is a $1,390 alternative. The Sport Chrono package deal then provides every other $1,310 to that, and the sportier exhaust tacks on another $2,930 on pinnacle of that. Even if you don?T account for the slightly large brakes, those 3 options by myself take $5,630 out of the charge of the Performance package deal. Add inside the stronger acceleration and advanced managing, and it makes a robust case for itself.

The Macan Turbo truely doesn?T lack power, however for lots of customers, the Performance bundle might be really worth the price truely due to the fact they need to own the best possible model of a vehicle.

If Porsche eventually introduces a true Macan Turbo S, however, that completely changes the situation. And with Mercedes-AMG set to introduce the 503-hp GLC63 S and the BMW X3 M rumored to make somewhere around 450 hp, Porsche might be forced to do just that.

But in the meantime, the Macan Turbo with the Performance bundle takes the already extremely good Macan Turbo and provides an additional dose of power. If you need the satisfactory Macan cash should buy, that is it.