New Porsche Macan: What we love

It was 2014 and the whole world sat up and saw what Porsche had achieved. It had launched a compact SUV. One that will take on the Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3 and the Audi Q5. Surprisingly the price tag was also something which everyone noticed. The vehicle was priced closer to the bigger Cayenne and in some variants, also eclipsed its price. That was 2014.

After a few months, Porsche realised their mistake and reduced prices. This helped sales of the Macan soar. Porsche says that they have sold close to 3.5 lakh units globally. Nearly half of these were sold in the Chinese market alone. A place where the 2018 Macan facelift was previewed first. Porsche says that they will first launch the facelifted Macan in the Chinese market by the end of this month. Other markets will receive the compact SUV towards the end of 2018. Here is a look at few of the things we love about the new Porsche Macan SUV.

Compact yet premium looks

The Porsche Macan always looked good. It had carved an identity of its own and was never called the baby Cayenne. It is a good thing and the facelift carries forward that trend. The headlights now are 3D LED units. The tail lights too have been revised and feature LED lighting. The latter has three strips and these look very good in the night. In fact, Porsche seems to have taken a leaf off stablemate Lamborghini for this tail light. These units are similar to the ones in the Q8 as well as the Urus SUVs. As is the norm with facelifts, both the front as well as rear bumpers have been replaced with fresher units.

We also like the new alloy wheel pattern that Porsche has adopted. The previous units were a tad bland in that aspect. Speaking of which, Porsche has made sure that the tyres are of different sizes for the front and rear. The front ones are a tad slimmer when compared to the rear units. The company explains this by saying that they wanted the vehicles to make optimum use of the traction available. We will elaborate on this later. There are also new colours which have been added to the mix and go nicely with the Macan’s youthful nature. These colours are Mamba Green Metallic, Crayon, Miami Blue as well as Dolomite Silver Metallic.

As far as the cabin is concerned, there is a new Porsche

Communication Management system that has made the screen size go up from 7 inches to 11 inches. This is a touchscreen console and delivers the vital information like the speed, odo reading, distance travelled, time as well as the fuel efficiency. One can also rearrange the tiles on this console in the same fashion as the others cars in the Porsche portfolio. The air conditioning vents too have been redesigned and now sit above the touchscreen infotainment system. Porsche has also given the Macan a GT sports steering wheel which is the same unit used in the sportier 911. We like the texture and feel of this unit. In addition to this, the steering also hosts the buttons for the mode change as well as the Sports button. However, the latter two are being exclusively offered with the Sports Chrono package. The package is optional and one has to pay extra to buy it. One can also specify the interior upholstery with different leather packages.

Gizmos galore

Yes, the new Macan is the closest to an autonomous Porsche one can buy today. All the Macan variants will be equipped with a Connect Plus Module. This helps keep all the Macans connected to each other and while the driver may not know this, his driving pattern, as well as usage, are monitored centrally. There is a specific off-road Precision App that the owner can download. This one coaches him/her depending on their off-road usage of the Macan. It analyses the driving patterns. Porsche says this will not only help the driver better utilize the Macan off-road but also help the company fine tune the next-gen Macan for off-road use.

The Connect Plus Module also helps collect data for real-time navigation. This also helps the driver send out voice controls to the Macan in an effective manner. Traffic Jam Assist is also part of the deal. It is, in fact, an advanced version of the adaptive cruise control. It will follow the vehicle ahead at the same speeds. If that vehicle speeds up, the Macan will also keep up while maintaining a safe distance. The driver doesn’t have to do anything here, except perhaps indicating when making an overtake. The Porsche will also automatically adjust its speeds should the driver ahead brake or slow down. If the Macan driver is inattentive, then the vehicle will brake on his behalf. Very nice!

You spoke about off-road, what are the specials here

Porsche Traction Management is now available on the Macan. It is Porsche speak for all-wheel drive and is similar to Audi’s Quattro or the Mercedes-Benz 4MATIC. The aforementioned mixed tyres ensure that the Macan which is basically rear-wheel drive receives more power to the rear. The lighter front helps the vehicle to be steered precisely. Porsche says that the steering has a motor of its own now and is lighter than before in city speeds while helping build confidence with a heavier setup for the highway. Because of the new 21-inch wheels, ground clearance too has improved a bit. The new bumpers afford more wading depth as well as approach and departure angles. While we like this aspect, it is not sure how many of the new Macan owners will want to dirty their seven-figure SUV.

Porsche further elaborates that the enjoyable handling of the Macan has been fine-tuned and this includes slight revisions to the chassis as well. Comfort also has been factored here especially given the bigger tyres on offer now.

Any new engines?

Sadly there haven’t been any details about the engines. We expect Porsche to come up with revised versions of the existing engines. This means 3.0-litre motors in both petrol and diesel. The base version is expected to make around 300 PS of power while the top spec one should make 455 PS. A rumour is being floated around that the V6 3.6-litre turbo-ed petrol unit will be replaced and in its place, the smaller 2.9-litre unit will be used. As in the Panamera, the latter will develop around 440 PS of power. An 8-speed PDK will now be made standard, we hope. This will make things very interesting as the PDK, Porsche speak for dual clutch, is one of the fastest gearboxes this side of F1 units.

Since Porsche, just like the others in the VW group, is planning to go all-electric, we expect them to come up with a plug-in hybrid version. While a full blown battery powered Macan may be still a bit further away, it makes sense to have an electric version, mild as it may be, in the lineup.