krabman

I actually knew that but forgot, thanks for the reminder!

Pavegeno928

I looked under the hood. Says Porsche. I'm good.

smohr33

I'm sure you realize the Macan is built on the (1st gen) Q5 platform... Have you ever looked closely at your 1st gen Macan?

My 2018 GTS is littered with Audi parts. All over the engine bay, suspension, brakes etc...

Pavegeno928

I heard the new mid-Engine Corvette is built with Chevy parts...

///Bruce

When you say there's no difference, then why buy a Porsche Macan at all? Why not just buy an SQ5? Personally, I like unique. Not run-of-the-mill mass produced. I own the 3.6L Porsche engine over an Audi. Reason is simple: how many Porsche's engines are still on the road compared to Audi's engines? I bought a Porsche because at it's soul, it's a Porsche and not an Audi knock-off. I want to believe this since it's my first Porsche and because of the price I paid for the exclusivity.

As a former BMW M3 owner (four...), I liked the exclusivity of BMW's M engines. Same went for my previous 09 ML63 AMG, 09 GT500KR (x2), '62 MGB, 09 C63 AMG w Development Pkg, etc.

smohr33

Porsche built 350,000 1st gen Macan's, there is nothing exclusive about any version of this car whatsoever.

There are a few of you in here that are really on your high horse - the Macan is a great car and I love mine, but it's been an Audi parts bin car since its inception, crawl under one and there is no refuting it.

jll1011

Whatever the parts used, I really like the car. I didn't drive the Q5 before purchasing my Macan, so I can't compare. Is my assumption correct that Porsche has made some engine management tuning changes to the engine? We all know that the PDK is a differentiator as well as the overall styling. I also assume the interior appointments are different than an Audi (leather dash, seating, interior design, etc.). Bottom line, I enjoy getting up every day and getting in it regardless of the parts!

Mark in Baltimore

I test drove an Audi SQ5 before I bought my Macan. I liked it and thought it had decent power and handling, but I absolutely hated the loose, game console steering feel. Also, the Audi wouldn't let me left foot brake, super annoying for me in heavy traffic. With the Macan, there are no issues applying the brakes while on the throttle.

rasetsu

I test drove a 2015 and a 2018 SQ5 extensively before buying my Macan. The SQ5 is definitely the more logical way to spend the money but I felt the driving dynamics of the Macan GTS to be much better with the transmission being the main differentiation. Also the faux exhaust outlets on the 2018 SQ5 were a major turn off. If my budget restricted me to a low optioned Macan S or a SQ5, I probably would have gone with the SQ5.

CarGuyNVA

Agree, I pretty much felt the same re: the SQ5 (both gens). However, overall I think you get much more for the $$ versus the Macan (but an enthusiast’s selection of a vehicle is rarely about just the value, as I know all too well!).

That said, sure, I could live with and enjoy an SQ5.

chuckbdc

Just take each for a test drive. If you can't tell the difference, or if it doesn't matter to you, no point in being here is there?

manifold danger

As others have said, buying a Macan for exclusivity is ridiculous. If you want that, go buy a Urus, Bentayga, or Cullinan. Hell, even a Levante or Stelvio would be more exclusive than a Macan; Porsche sells a billion of these things. I've actually seen far fewer SQ5's on the road than Macans in my area. I could count them on one hand, actually.

I can get on board with the "soul" thing- but I'm not fooling myself into thinking that this is a bespoke vehicle unique to Porsche. I considered all the other cars out there, and decided the look and feel of the Macan is exactly what I wanted. I'm fine with the parts coming from wherever, because Porsche had a hand in engineering this car to a standard that works for me. And that's all I care about!

This is becoming similar to the whole "in-house movement" thing with watches. It just makes more sense from a business perspective to "share" parts or even entire functional components (e.g., Tissot, TAG Heuer, even Panerai and Hublot), rather than spend tons of time and resources developing something from scratch that 99.9999% of consumers would never be able to tell the difference on. For those who that means a lot to, there's a market for them. But you pay for that exlusivity (e.g., Rolex, JLC, AP, etc.)

Does it bother anyone that a Pagani has a Mercedes engine? Or Lotus using Toyota engines? Or even McLaren outsources their engine building to Ricardo (based on a Nissan engine IIRC)?

Does it REALLY matter?

roule

I wonder if over on a Lamborghini forum there were screams of bloody horror when Lamborghini started using German engines?

Exclusivity is a luxury, desirable to some buyers, but I would contend is a poor indicator of superior performance or quality or value. Some of us put a much greater value on vehicle capability than on how many shades of seatbelt colors are offered.

Let's be clear: any jalopy can me made "exclusive" by dumping in lots of custom paint and leather. Entire television shows are dedicated to the art of pouring money into polishing automotive turds. Exclusive performance is another matter completely. As you pointed out, BMW has a wonderful tradition of putting serious engineering effort to making the hardware in its M cars a step above. Or at least they used to. BMW has massively disappointed recently. But then, so has Porsche. When a cheap GTR or Mustang or Camaro can leave the Germans in the dust on Nurburgring, then they have strayed too far into luxury barge territory and lost focus on what "ultimate driving machine" is supposed to be.

Of course we saw it coming as soon as Porsche re-tuned the Toureg to cash in on the first ute wave. Exclusivity be damned, every VW brand is flogging utes now, what's exclusive about any of them? Why would anyone expect performance exclusivity from a mainstream Macan? What may have been fresh in 2015 is thoroughly stale today. The competition has caught up. Even the Macan Turbo w/PP is hardly "exclusive", it's been trounced by several other more powerful utes and the VW group is busy trying to cash in with the BennyGaGa and Urooooos. Aside from the new 992, there's nothing much exclusive at Porsche these days. Porsche for now has to swallow its pride and soldier on with relatively minimal retuning of shared engines and platforms, they have no choice. With the financial beating that VW has taken these last several years, don't expect much performance exclusivity out of any of the "affordable" VW group brands, including Porsche. In the utes anyway, Porsche offers a fantastic option book but not much advantage in terms of performance, relatively speaking. Objectively you have to admit that Porsche isn't punching above their weight. Other cars do. For example, Corvettes are relatively cheap but that doesn't stop them from easily keeping up with 911s on and off the track (and yes, despite old stereotypes, you can get high quality leather interiors in a Corvette if you pay for it). Bang for the buck and amazing performance keeps the humble Chevy in very exclusive territory, and the C8 will be even better, going head to head against the 992 that starts $40 k more expensive while missing key mainstream features. I just don't see Porsche trying that hard to please the customer these days. It's like they're holding back. Paying for Entry & Drive or Carplay. Seriously Porsche? Those aren't exclusive, they're freebies from any other brand.

Another point: Audi is no slouch. Their engine reliability has been just as good as any other mainstream maker. For many years now they've offered excellent touring cars, especially their AWD models. The R8 is arguably as good or better than Porsche's 2 seaters in every meaningful way. They are just different, as touring and sporting cars should be. While Audi has always emphasized all-weather performance and more comfortable accommodations with somewhat softer tuning, Porsche has in the past tended to offer more hardcore sporting drivers cars ... until the ute boom anyway. The mainstream Porsche utes and Panameras are definitely not sports cars. They are just different flavors of corporate platforms, with a much more extensive option book for customization. When all is said and done, a highly customized Macan may be configured to be more exclusive, but an SQ5 will keep up on real world roads just fine.

///Bruce

I hear you. You made so many points I find it hard to respond to them all. I WAS a hard core fan of BMW’s. Specifically the M brands since they were overbuilt. But now I wouldn’t touch one. BMW has lost their way.

Now i I drive my first Porsche ever. With Porsche using the Audi frame is IMO not sacrilege. And the fact the drivetrain and interior are all Porsche makes it exclusive to me.

HP? Performance in handling? ALL brands do this every year. New today; passé tomorrow. I look at my cars in years. Not with the mindset of constantly chasing HP and handling. Yet in every case I try to constantly improve my cars and attempt to make them ‘as they should have been built ‘.

The first items i work on are tires tires, suspension and brakes. Only then do I pop the hood.

But it that’s me...

I'm a Driver; not a Commuter.

stilest

Look at it this way.... Perhaps it is Audi who has the privilege of utilizing Porsche parts, not the other way around.