Porsche Macan Turbo - long-term-review

The Porsche Macan was away from us for a bit, after a coach crossed the dashed white lines on a winding country road and I took avoiding action, trading a head-on with the family for smashing both left-side tyres into a hidden drainage kerb. Result: new rubber needed but remarkably little other damage bar a scuffed wheel.

While Porsche checked the Macan Turbo over, I got a glimpse of what life will be like without it – and I sorely missed the way it drives. Not with regards to any on-limit, dab-of-oppo nonsense, but in terms of how well sorted the Macan is when you do everything else. The steering, throttle and brake response and body control are all exemplary, and that dynamic polish, which so few manufacturers can nail, make it downright enjoyable and therefore oh-so special all of the time.

Is it really that good though? Is Porsche that s*** hot at tuning its cars? Experience says ‘yes’ but to double check, I borrowed an Audi SQ6 e-tron, which shares its Premium Platform Electric underpinnings with the Porsche. That means the same 100kWh battery, the same wheelbase, and exterior dimensions to within a few millimetres. Yet the pair feel (and look) completely different, to the extent that if you weren’t aware they were related, you’d never know.

Let’s start with the whole driving-about thing. In the Porsche you feel low, the wings rising up to help place the car, whereas in the Audi I found myself lifting the seat to better see the front end. The Porsche’s steering wheel feels spot on too: thin rimmed, small diameter, just like a 911. Whereas the Audi’s isn’t circular, in shape or rim circumference, and although the perforated leather and thick stitching look good, the wheel’s not as nice to hold.

Those same steering wheels telegraph up very different messages to the driver, too. The Porsche’s feels connected and gives a sense of the heft to turn two big front tyres, whereas the Audi’s (purposefully) disengages you from that experience. It’s the same with the ride: the Porsche firmer, the Audi with an extra layer of isolation, though both still bump along a bit on big wheels.

I prefer the Macan, but I can see the appeal of both, how the Porsche might feel heavy-handed and become tiresome, and how the Audi will give harried parents fewer streams of information to process.

The Audi too, offers slightly less oh-god levels of performance, its 483bhp (510bhp with launch control) significantly below the 576bhp (and 630bhp) of the Porsche. It’s an Audi S model after all, more Porsche GTS-spec, whereas the Macan Turbo would line up against a theoretical RS. Frankly the Audi was always more than ample – and in it you never need to pre-warn passengers that the afterburners are about to be lit, as you do when you overtake in a Macan Turbo that’s spitting out over 800lb ft.

The distinction between the two extends to everything you see. You might recognise a rebadged steering wheel or similar sat-nav in a VW and Skoda, but all the screens and buttons are different sizes and in different places here. Neither is perfect, mind: the Porsche’s graphics are clearer, Audi’s alternative having the same slightly too aggressive vibe as the perforated and heavily stitched wheel. But the Audi’s central screen is bigger and higher and therefore sooner in your eyeline. And I don’t love either’s air con controls: yes, the Porsche has physical controls but they’re way down, whereas the Audi’s touchscreen controls are at least in line of sight.

Verdict? The Audi was nice, but too much like a trim level upgrade to be worth £90k+. It doesn’t have the Porsche’s dynamic sparkle, so (impoverished journalist cliché incoming) I don’t know why you wouldn’t buy the cheaper and less powerful EV. As for the Porsche, it’s ace all the time – but it has me wondering whether said sparkle exists further down the range too. We’ll find out before our time with the Macan Turbo is up.