For the most part, the Porsche Cayenne has
lived up to the crest on its hood. It’s quick, it handles well, and when you
line it up against its foes, the Cayenne is just plain better to drive. But
this is better than that. The agile new Macan is as much essence of modern
Porsche as can be stuffed into the shape of a small SUV. (Years after the first
Cayenne, that idea is still odd. But it’s apparently a thing now, so please
hold the letters - Ed.)
Okay, the Macan shares a chassis with the
Audi Q5. (Letters on this are fine —Ed.) But you’d need a magnifying glass to
find parts stamped with Audi’s interlocking-rings logo. Those parts total about
30 percent of the car, but everything you see, touch, and smell is Porsche. Of
prime importance, the springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars are Porsche-tuned,
as are the suspension bushings. Macan engineers claim that the Q5’s suspension
geometry was so good, they weren’t tempted to change it.
The
Macan's styling features plenty of traditional Porsche cues
You’d expect Porsche to keep the Q5’s
Quattro all-wheel-drive system—after all, Audi probably wouldn’t exist today
were it not for that technology. But while Quattro excels at putting power to
the ground, it can’t send as much torque to the rear axle as Porsche deems necessary
for neutral handling. (Remember, the Macan and Q5, like all of Audi’s
longitudinal front-engine cars, sit their heavy engines ahead of the front
axle.)
So Quattro is out, and Porsche Traction
Management (PTM), with its electronically controlled clutch, is in. PTM
continuously varies how much torque is sent to the front wheels. If the
situation demands it, the system can even choose to send no torque, momentarily
turning the Macan rear-wheel drive.
The
front seats provide great support and are fully adjustable but could do with
being slightly lower. Nevertheless, the seating position is fairly recumbent
On Porsche’s 2.3-mile test track, a few
steps from the Leipzig factory where Macans are built, it became clear this was
no Q5 in disguise. The track incorporates a wonderful variety of corners, even
a corkscrew that’s the doppelgänger of the big one at Laguna Seca. Through all
of them, there’s so little roll in the Macan’s chassis, it doesn’t feel like an
SUV. Compared with a Q5, its personality is almost frisky. The fat steering
wheel takes inspiration from the one in Porsche’s 918 Spyder, and even though
the center console is bedecked with a forest of buttons, it’s easy to find what
you need.
Headroom
and knee space are a bit tight for full-sized adults back here, and there isn’t
enough space for three to sit comfortably across the rear bench
Predictably, every Macan sold in America
will house Porsche’s brilliant seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic. Press the
Sport Plus button, and shifts go from friendly to fierce, but even in base
automatic mode, the gearbox somehow knows exactly when you’ll want a downshift.
It’s just one part of the Macan’s surprising track talent.
