Porsche Macan Turbo - long-term-review

Belatedly, some first impressions. The first of which is the pointy end. You couldn’t call it beautiful, but it’s about as good as an SUV is going to get. The bonnet and wings curve and bulge in all the right places, the DRLs (the badge-level light clusters) give it a futuristic edge, and the Turbo-specific bumper, intakes and massive front splitter endow it with plenty of presence.

For all the success at the front, the back is – literally and metamorphically – the opposite. I’ve nothing against the coupe-esque roofline (at least until our family trip to Center Parcs) but while the original Mk1 Macan still looks modern and fresh, the Mk2 Macan’s butt is anonymous. Blame the swathes of black plastic – and it’s made worse by the Turbo’s (fake) vents, which make an attempt to carve into the bodywork but look half-hearted compared with the Lotus Emeya.

The interior is similarly of two halves. From the driver’s seat it’s a Porsche, right from the first time you drop into the seat and grasp the small-diameter and thin-rimmed steering wheel. And for all the positive ambience of being in a Porsche, what the Macan also nails is usability: the dials are easy to read and quickly configurable; the central touchscreen never lags and the layout is understandable; and there are actual physical controls for the volume and air con. It just works.

Rear seat passengers will feel shortchanged though. The actual openings are much smaller than the doors themselves, legroom isn’t great, and with that low roofline and without the optional panoramic roof it’s all a bit dark. Luckily the only occupants to date have been six and four and aren’t overly critical – but it feels a step down in terms of practicality after the Skoda Kodiaq we ran before.

A week later though, and the indulgent space offered by the Skoda is a distant memory – the kids aren’t bothered and we’re yet to load up the boot for any big trips. What instead perpetuates (and still does a month later) is just how well sorted the Macan Turbo is to drive.

Automotive journalists long ago exhausted the list of Porsche similes (and exactly how many have handled an actual gun to make the ‘rifle-bolt gearchange’ comparison?) but from the linearity of steering to modulation of brakes, from the control of the body to the tuning of the throttle, it’s all absolutely spot on. It’s enjoyable to drive purely from that perspective, the depth of development clear. No, it doesn’t ‘feel like a 911’, but it does feel like a Porsche.

It feels like the previous ICE Macan, too. It has that same broad-shouldered sensation, the impression that it’s a squat little thing on four fat tyres. There’s some low-speed nibble, as you’d expect from 22in tyres on a range-topping Turbo model, but it smooths off the worst impacts. However, it doesn’t have the witchcraft higher-speed ride of the Cayenne S that Top Gear ran previously (which was also on air suspension and 22s).

Still, despite having 2.4 tonnes to shift, with that battery weight down low, over 800lb ft, 400mm front brakes, and the optional £1,445 rear-wheel steering, it stops, goes and steers like few other SUVs out there. It could be 400kg lighter. It’s our reigning ‘Performance SUV of the Year’ for a reason. No wonder I’m barely topping 2 miles per kWh…