Porsche Macan review

Unsurprising, but good. You certainly won’t be shocked if you’re a Porsche owner, or have ever seen the inside of a Taycan. The leather is meat-free on lovely sports or comfort seats, the carpets made from recycled nylon, but it all feels … like a modern Porsche. Which is to say, excellent build quality and fit.

The seats are 28mm lower than the ICE version - which is nice when battery cars tend to have you sitting higher - there’s more room, a bigger boot at 540 litres (the Turbo drops to 480, because rear motor) and a decent frunk, useful for a squashy bag or charging equipment. That adds another 84 litres to the equation in both versions.

What about connectivity and screens?

A lot of both. Porsche calls it the ‘Porsche Driver Experience’. There’s a curved, 12.6in driver’s info display directly in front, a big central touchscreen and another (optional) passenger screen at the far end of the dash. Physical rockers and touch-sensitive buttons for the air-con underneath.

The good news is that Porsche has upped its game: the screens are ultra-fast, connectivity is excellent and there are the more modern options of downloadable apps and streaming services. There are also plenty of phone charging options, decent storage and a cooled wireless charging pad. Because phones get hot on those things.

The climate controls get their own digital touchpad on the centre console, which looks suitably modern but is easy to use on account of the five-strong row of rocker switches in the middle. Well done Porsche for not burying it all in a sub menu.

The passenger screen feels completely redundant; something you show off rather than actually use. Unless you’ve got a passenger catching up on a Netflix doc. But at least it’s directional, so you won’t be tempted to binge and drive.

Oh, and the voice control works well, meaning that you don’t really have to mess about with swiping the central screen to get things done. Safer all round. 

Anything else?

Well, you can choose the noise the Macan makes, and the slightly sci-fi whoosh is actually quite nice. There’s a band of coloured LEDs around the interior that changes depending on what’s going on (charging, drive mode, exit warnings), and there’s a decent dose of sound-deadening in this thing. Even on a Turbo’s 22in monster wheels, road noise is nicely suppressed (all hail the trick suspension), and there’s little to note in terms of wind noise. It makes the car feel more expensive.