Review and test Porsche Macan S

In two years’ time it will be time: then the all-new Porsche Macan will appear, which, sit down, will be fully electric. Which in turn means that if you want to experience the Macan in the glory that Porsche once intended, you will have to strike now…

What is different about this, now third form of the Macan? Well, not so much per se. Frankly, it’s more of an extensive facelift than an all-new model. And even more honest: we are not equally happy with all the novelties. Of course, this Porsche Macan S traded in its 3.0-liter V6 for the newer, 2.9-liter biturbo V6 that was already in the Macan GTS, for example. It is 26 hp stronger than its predecessor and you can never object to that.

The power of the Porsche Macan S

It now produces 380 hp, which is of course more than enough to show off the Porsche DNA. The pulling power also went up with the arrival of the 2.9, from 480 to 520 Nm. The 0-to-100 time is now 4.6 seconds, half a second faster than before, and the top has been increased by 5 km/h to 259 km/h. And that while the Porsche Macan S (the microscopic bit of 0.1 l/100 km) has also become more economical. All very fine.

A few things have changed on the inside as well. Most striking is the new center console, where all the buttons have been replaced by one large, smooth, touch-sensitive panel – more like the Panamera, that is. In general, we’re not in favor of buttons going to buttons, but in this case it all works smoothly and properly, so we don’t have to worry too much about it.

Also a new steering wheel

The 911’s steering wheel has also made its way to the Macan, the gauges have been slightly modified (three round, two analog and one digital) and the infotainment has been upgraded and a new interface that works superbly – everything is easy to understand. find and operate. Furthermore, the changes concern small things like mood lighting and some new fabrics and the like.

The chassis and driving behavior hardly changed, and that was not necessary for anything. The Macan therefore remains the best driving (by some distance) mid size SUV on the market that combines comfort, outstanding performance and superior sportiness like no other competitor. You can choose the degree of sportiness yourself with that still somewhat cheap-looking rotary knob on the steering wheel, where Sport and Sport + really deliver substantially different driving characteristics than Comfort or (getver) Eco.

The Porsche Macan S facelift also looks different

All hallelujah, so what were we talking about in the beginning? Well, that look. Things have definitely improved – the new LED headlights are very nice, and we can live with most of the new colors and wheels. We just don’t understand why Porsche went so crazy with those big black pieces of plastic on the nose.

According to the brand itself, it is intended to make it look wider, and yes, it works. But certainly in a lighter body color it also looks like a goth girl who decided to turn her lips on extra black for a bat party. It looks quite caricatured Tintin in Africa-ish.

Well, taste is personal and does not diminish the undeniable qualities of the Macan. Although we would always go for the GTS. It is admittedly another 20 grand more expensive than the already not cheap Porsche Macan S, but then you also have the Macan perfection.