When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I ordered a 2023 GTS early this year and like many of you, mine saw many delays - taking 9 months to arrive. I had sold my prior DD and was driving my 1-ton truck for 4 months when I was in the neighborhood of the dealer in May and went in to use the restroom - in the showroom was a 2022 S that had come in the night before, but the party who ordered it passed. The GM asked me if I wanted to lease it and just turn it back in when my GTS came in. So I did and when my GTS came in two weeks ago they took the S back and I drove off with my new GTS.
S vs GTS - it may be too soon to give a good review, but I wanted to share my "initial" observations of the differences. If you are considering one or the other, you can't go wrong either way.
Ride Quality - GTS has air suspension with Pirelli summer tires - S had standard suspension with Michelin AS tires. Both with 21" wheels with 265's in front and 295's in rear.
S - found the ride quality of the standard suspension with Michelin AS tires to be excellent. Very nice ride, sporty when in sport mode and comfortable when in comfort mode. Not the best at absorbing bad pavement on freeway at speed - but still way better than my 2018 Golf R on same stretch of road.
GTS - ride quality with air suspension and Pirelli summer tires - can immediately feel the difference in the tires - both in terms of performance (much improved), ride quality (worse) and road noise (more noise). All the good things of the air suspension, such as how it simply soaks up thes same bad pavement on freeway and bumps, that gave the S some challenges - seems to be offset to some degree by the stiff sidewall and road noise of the Pirelli summer tires. Note I have insulated glass on my GTS and that is an improvement - but the noise level from the Pirelli summer tires is still louder than the Michelin AS tires.
Nod - S - I would chalk this up to the tires, not the suspension
Handling
S- in comfort mode it is a really nice SUV and a great DD. In sport mode it added to the sport feeling, but still feels top heavy and has some body roll. Tires work ok, but are behind the 8 ball when spirited driving ensues.
GTS - in comfort mode it is a nice sport SUV - air suspension working as hard as it can to offset the Pirelli summer tires - in sport or sport plus - very sporty - more direct feedback and less body roll than the S.
Nod GTS
Throttle Response
S - very lazy - long push before you get much juice - it is there, but you need to hammer the go pedal to get at it. Always drove in sport mode.
GTS- in comfort is as sporty as sport on S - in sport plus it is much more aggressive and immediate
Nod - GTS
Seats
S- The S had 14 ways in leather - super comforable - a great DD seat. heated but not cooled - would add cooled if I ordered - overall a great seat for this car.
GTS - The GTS has 18 ways in alcantara (GTS interior) so they hold you much better and are very comfortable overall - in and out of the car you notice the side bolster, my guess is that the side bolster will show some wear in a few years. Great seat, but may be overkill and 14 way are a better choice for a DD.
Nod - draw - both great - personal prefernece - for sport 18 way for DD 14 way
Stereo
S - S came with base - which to be honest was better than I was expecting and frankly I would not get the Bose over the base - not worth the $ - I usually download tunes from Tidal, which allows you to download hifi tunes and they sounded great in the base stereo in the S. Overall for a base stereo it was perfectly acceptable.
GTS - Burnmeister - no comparison really - simply great sound - compared to base or Bose it is really worth the dollars. The better comparison is what could you get for $5k in the market to upgrade your base or $4k for the Bose - end of the day you could not touch the Burnmeister with $5k in upgrades (amps and speakers) to the base or Bose systems. That makes the Burnmeister a great value. A better comparisoin is I replaced my truck B&O stereo - $9k - added sound deadening (firewall, dash, doors, floor, behind rear seat), all speakers, new amps (1,000 watts for speakers and 500 watts for sub), upgraded subwoofer and all still runs through OEM head unit to make it integrate best. That is an amazing system, and the Burnmeister is every bit as impressive - Burnmeister won't go as loud, but overall sound quality with Tidal tunes is very similar and when driving a little better as the outside noise in a 1 ton diesel truck rolling on 37" AT tires is more than the GTS.
Nod - Burnmeister - GTS - I would pay the $5k for the Burnmeister everytime - if you like tunes this is a must have option - if listening to radio or podcast - get the base! Bose is a waste of $.
Interior
S- Full leather, but otherwise not a lot of boxes checked here - very nice and honestly everything you need in a DD - never felt like I was missing anything except cooled seats.
GTS - GTS interior (red stitching), leather dash, sport package (adds carbon interior), carbon illuminated doors seals, Burnmeister (dash speaker grills are black - really nice touch), insulated glass etc. A lot of boxes checked here
Nod - GTS - in spite of the significant add in cost for all the upgrades I included- the GTS interior features make it feel special where the S was a nice SUV, but nothing special.
MSRP
S- $78k
GTS - $109k
Nod - S - that is a lot of coin - you got to really want the GTS, given how nice the S is. But to be fair, if I ordred an S MSRP would be closer to $97k - so that gap closes a lot as I get everything I want.
Overall Impression
S - super nice SUV - great DD - perfect car for 90% of the time and I would have been very happy to drive out the lease on my 2022 S, with $78k MSRP seemed like a good value.
GTS - Lot of extra dollars over off the showroom floor S, but with all the boxes I checked the GTS became very personal to me, exactly what I wanted and feels special when I get in, it enhances the driving experience, and has better tunes.
What would I change?
S - If I ordered an S with Burnmeister it would be a big improvement in the DD experience - I would stay with the Michelin AS tires and add air suspension - all in all that would be a good value and great DD
GTS - I got exactly what I wanted - and if I could have the same package with 14 ways for the same cost I would have done that (after driving the S with 14 ways a few months - I had 18 ways twice before). I built a GTS with all my specs, with 14 ways and it cost $3k more than with 18 ways and the sport package version and you did not get deviated stitching (red in my case) or same wheels. To get added red stitching and wheels it was $7k more. I preferred to trade off the 18 ways and sport package and the lower cost.
Overall Winner?
Anyone who orders a Macan, Macan T, S or GTS to their spec will be very happy. Enjoy what you have and if considering a Macan you can't go wrong - best sport SUV on the planet!
Yes great car in any spec. For me when I optioned out a Macan S to my liking it was $3000 more than a similarly optioned GTS. I was fortunate to be able to get a GTS allocation as many who want one may not be able to get the order.
Great review. Should have ordered the Burmeister as money was no object.
My Goodyear Eagle it came with are getting down at 18K and weren't that good anyway. Will replace with Michelin AS.
Great review, thank you. My 22' Macan GTS is the most expensive car I have ever ordered and I am so happy that I wouldn't change one thing with the way I spec'd mine. I built this car SO MANY TIMES on the Porsche simulator and was always making changes. To be honest, the "S" is probably the new sweet-spot for the Macan, but I have no regrets with my GTS and reading your review confirmed that.
While I have not heard the Burmester system in the Macan, I am very happy with the Bose system. Honestly I think the $2930 I paid for the Sports exhaust is the best "sound system" that is available for the Macan. I find myself turning off the stereo and opening the sunroof to listen to the exhaust a lot more than I thought I would.
I have sports exhaust on my S and I would imagine it sound the same considering both have the exact same engine
but the tuning is different
I have driven the S but not the GTS .
My son who drove both, tells me that exhaust note on GTS is different than S
and I have noticed that in other models like 992 S vs GTS even with same engines
the reason I am asking
I have GTS on order and it keeps getting delayed by at least 2 months
my dealer has an S coming in a week, with acceptable specs , and I am thinking of picking that up as I got tired from waiting on GTS
but the tuning is different
I have driven the S but not the GTS .
My son who drove both, tells me that exhaust note on GTS is different than S
and I have noticed that in other models like 992 S vs GTS even with same engines
the reason I am asking
I have GTS on order and it keeps getting delayed by at least 2 months
my dealer has an S coming in a week, with acceptable specs , and I am thinking of picking that up as I got tired from waiting on GTS
I think the tuning only effects the HP numbers, but even that is arguable because I have seen videos of an S vs GTS having very similar, nearly identical performance times. The exhaust sound is all based on the exhaust system/muffler setup. Unless the sports exhaust on the GTS has some kind of different mufflers/setup than the S it should largely sound the same.
but the tuning is different
I have driven the S but not the GTS .
My son who drove both, tells me that exhaust note on GTS is different than S
and I have noticed that in other models like 992 S vs GTS even with same engines
the reason I am asking
I have GTS on order and it keeps getting delayed by at least 2 months
my dealer has an S coming in a week, with acceptable specs , and I am thinking of picking that up as I got tired from waiting on GTS
Where are you located and when did you originally order your GTS? I ordered my GTS in early September and was told it would be at my dealer no later than mid November... I'm in the Boston area.
Where are you located and when did you originally order your GTS? I ordered my GTS in early September and was told it would be at my dealer no later than mid November... I'm in the Boston area.
I am in Pittsburgh
my car was supposed to be here 9/30 , then 10/7 then 12/9
and the problem I am having is I am driving my 718 Spyder on Cup 2 tires , was expecting the GTS to be here , and unfortunately Mother Nature is not cooperating , it seems colder weather has been fairly early this year.
10-18-2022, 10:30 PM
2023 GTS Replaces 2022 S - Early Review
