Never mind it shares a few corporate underpinnings, the Porsche Macan is much more closely tied to other Porsches than it is other VW Group cars. Some more brand sharing might be nice, though.
Brian Cooley reviewed the Porsche Macan Turbo for CNET and said it’s like a “five-seat Cayman” and was generally very glowing about it. That’s similar to what other reviewers have said about its driving dynamics
But Cooley harped for a good bit on the Porsche’s interior and Porsche’s stale infotainment setup. It doesn’t offer a lot of the systems And then the criticisms about the button-laden console, well, yeah that could get dangerous while driving. These are niggles, though, right?
The Macan is a genuinely nice place to sit. There’s no other SUV that’s quite so driver-focused and feels so intimate. Porsche got the sports car-feel on the inside exactly right, which isn’t easy when you’ve essentially started with a box-shaped vehicle. Of course, this comes with a sacrifice in space and utility, but what did you expect?
Thing is, when Porsche makes a rival to an extremely competent crossover like the Audi Q5, it’s hard not to make some practical comparisons. The Macan’s interior is no dive, but it really is hard to top the interiors Audi makes these days. And then you look at the stunning navigation screens and in-car tech Audi provides these days and wonder why you’re paying an extra $3,000 for navigation and Aha integration on a Macan.
I roll my eyes many of the complaints CNET has with in-car setups because I gather the majority of drivers don’t want or need much of these infotainment tools new cars are equipped with. And a Porsche is still aimed at driving, not being practical. But when you have access to clearly superior technology within your own family, shouldn’t you be able to borrow it?
Anyway, here’s Cooley’s review of the Macan Turbo and it’s apparently a pretty good car for looking out at the road, less so for real-time traffic reports and finding the “Off-Road Mode” button.
By Zac Estrada