Questions - Taking the Macan Off-Road
 

I will just say first off, I am probably not your average Macan potential owner. Im looking at a Macan for my next car after my Lexus ES300h lease is up. The Macan seems to check every box when it comes to luxury, performance and being able to take it off road. My questions are really around how it handles off road. I’m not looking for a rock crawling monster. I had a jeep wrangler in the past and currently we have a 4runner limited for any real off-road needs. I live in Denver Colorado and spend a lot of time in Crested Butte as well as Fruita. Skiing in the winter and a lot of mountain biking when the trails are not covered in snow. I found out too quickly that my Lexus ES cannot handle some of the trail head parking lots of frequent.

For reference, I would be planning to go Offroad on easy to moderate fire roads. Fire roads that would lead to trail access and snow covered ski area parking lots. The hardest thing I would do in the Macan is White Rim in Canyon Lands. That would be a stretch. Yes, I have done white rim previously and know what the road is like. Granted that was five years ago in a jeep wrangler.

i’ve seen plenty of videos online with the Macan off-road, however I always take them with a grain of salt. What are peoples real world experiences off payment? I would be looking for an AS suspension, however it’s expensive and sometimes I question if I truly need it. The cool factor of raising and lowering the car and draws my off-road sense to it. Ground clearance always wins in the end.

Proper tires also make a world of difference off-road and in the snow. I checked the tire options on tire rack and was rather disappointed. The staggered rims really limited my options. Personally, I do not get hung up on rim designs. I would be perfectly fine running 18 inch stock wheels on any Macan model they would fit on. Have people squared the rims for snow tires and what size was used? For summer driving, what have people used as far as all season/terrain tire or rim combinations (including square options)?

I saw online there is a skid plate option. From what I saw online it didn’t look like actual skid plates. It looks like a front and rear bumper facia made out of aluminum. Does that sound right? It look kind of useless. If needed, are there actual skid plates for the Macan?

I my last question is, what is the 12 V access in the trunk area like? I have a small home built on board air set up for mountain bike tires and what not. Is there access to a high amperage wire in the trunk area or is it possible to run a decent gauge wire from wherever the battery is to the trunk area?

Thanks for taking the time to read my crazy questions.

@ImpliedConsent

I have a 2017 Macan with the staggered 18" setup. I have Pirelli Scorpion Winter "NO" spec tires. There is an air pump behind the left rear panel in the cargo area, as well as a 12 volt outlet to operate it. The pump is held in place with a velcro strap. I have been down some unpaved roads in Cape Cod Massachusetts and the Macan seemed to handle it ok. This is not a Jeep or a Toyota Highlander. See attached. Looks like ground clearance is 7.4".

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I read this and your other post. I'm going to try to assist:

I've been offroading for decades. The number one piece I put on is skid protection. Since we are very limited, we have to use the plastic protection. All those "skidplates" are garbage and offer zero protection. Eventually I'll get a shop to make one out of 3/8" steel plate. In the meantime, avoid "black" type roads. Fire roads should be fine, it's the extreme (i.e. large transmission-ripping rocks) to avoid.

Air suspension, IMO, is a must. This gives a ~10" ground clearance (better than all Subarus) and a better approach angle. We have to seriously watch the angle, we have two big honking intercoolers to protect. Admittedly, I broke the 10" clearance AS when I used lowering links, but I still have "decent, not great" clearance. Probably more of a 8-8.5" now.

Tires are obvious. I have 21s's now, but my offroad wheels are off a '16 with 19" and Pirelli winters. We are VERY limited on any offroad tires (I prefer BFG KO2s), which is our biggest challenge. The winters work fairly decent without much drama. I've never been stuck with them, but then again, it's kinda tough to get these Macan's stuck. I stuck with the staggered OEM setup. Not that I'd admit, but (safely) hooning it is pretty damned fun.

I've done that White Rim loop in a F-250 monster. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. There are some tricky spots, but I think we can easily navigate at a nice, slow even pace. The AWD system is pretty legit.

I don't do "muddin'". I leave that up to the enormous Jeeps and pickups (fun to watch though).

That 12v access is legit. You already have an air pump (not very powerful), but it works. Alternatively, you can add another more powerful air pump. I also use that 12V to: keep on a CTEK charger (winter kills batteries), keep my handheld HAM radio charged (recommend an alternative to cell phone) while driving.

Hope this helps. One more - my dog goes everywhere with me. I bought a heavy duty seat cover hammock. It'll protect that back seat.

Hi could you let me know who makes or who you recommend for that rear seat hammock? Thanks

I bought this one:
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It protects the sides, has access to a seatbelt latch, is heavy duty. The buckles are strong (I found this important) when getting things tightened down.

Living on 3 miles of gravel roads etc. a decent skid plate (not this piece of cr*p cardboard that passes for one to save weight) is an absolute number one priority, followed by air suspension, tires, exhaust etc. in that order. If you plan on fording, re-routing the exhaust is also a must as well as regularly draining/refilling the transfer case (a definite weak point in Cayenne and Macan). Here is a picture of my skid plate on the V8 Touareg in stainless steel and you'll notice I included an access port to change oil using a Fumoto valve. Good luck!

siberian

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The quick answer is NO. I live in Colorado too. I have a dedicated off road vehicle. I wouldn't take our 2020 off roading. The only off roading our Macan does is when one of the wheels jumps the curb at a Starbucks drive thru.

In deference to the above Cali transplant latte expert - I forgot one more piece of protection: mud/rock guards on all four corners. Easy to install (fronts need 3 x small holes drilled, each side. rears use existing screws) and you'll be glad you did.


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Does it defeat the magnetized rear window which draws every piece of crap onto it? I have the rear guards on the Touareg btw, didn't bother with the fronts due to step bar.

And again it's reason I will never sell this car it is not a dedicated but an EVERYDAY whatever the weather throws at you car. If my 2008 V8 air suspension Treg can't make it, it's time to get my Siberian Huskies harnessed.

siberian

Nope. That was my hope as well, but no. I think the magnetic properties of that damned back window is a true force of nature.

As usual it was designed and studied with you in mind... so many annoying little things...

siberian

Another data point:
I picked up my 2018 Macan GTS via Euro Delivery.

Part of the program was a ride/drive on both the FIA certified track in Leipzig, and a demo run (as passenger) through an engineered gelände (terrain) course adjacent to the track.

My instructor was a former Kommando (Special Ops) in the Wehrmacht (German Army). He had jumped out of many C-130s, and I flew them for 2 years out of Frankfurt in the early 80's. So, we hit it off during the pre-brief. I only mention this because he seemed quite motivated to demonstrate to me how badass both he, and the Macan turbo (stock) were both on track and on the terrain course.

The OFF ROAD mode was pretty damned impressive. We ascended and descended ridiculous slope angles, traversed a 30 degree incline and got airborne cresting a hilltop at full throttle. I was, frankly, scared sh*tless a couple of times. Extremely late braking from 120mph+ into a hairpin turn on the track was tame by comparison.

After the terrain course, we returned to the pit area and I was surprised that the Macan had zero damage. After the thrashing, I was sure there would be panels, rockers, or bumpers missing from the car. Nope. Instructor told me most of the Macan's are sold in China- and that more than half of their roads there are not paved- so they are engineered for unpaved.

I've never driven mine on worse than logging and Forest Service/BLM fire access roads- but had no trouble on sand, gravel, organic debris or mud. I am running Michelin Alpin N-Spec winter tires on it since last winter. Drove most of the Powder Highway in BC last ski season (pre/early Covid), through deluge freezing rain, over a foot of new snow, some patches of glare ice and lots of gravel/unpaved secondary roads. Zero problems. The Macan Air Suspension, drivetrain, PDK OFF ROAD mapping and HILL features all work splendidly. It feels like a rally car when pressed on unpaved surfaces and has never bit me in the ass. Lots of fun. More capability than 99% of owners will ever use, even jumping a curb in the Starbucks lot.


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Awesome photos, Liste-Renn.

My only gripe is that "magnetic" rear window. I drove a 30-mile gravel road between Gateway, Colorado and Moab Utah once- awesome route (Gateway to Moab) and the Macan remained fairly unsoiled. Not so the rear:

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Gratified to see the dirty rear window/tailgate! My Macan does exactly the same thing - the rest of it stays clean but for some reason dirt accumulates in the back. Must be some weird air flow dynamic back there!