Does anyone know why the tow capacity (braked) for the Macan was reduced from 5,291 lbs. to 4,409 lbs.?

When I placed the order for my wife's Macan in December the tow capacity was listed at 5,291 lbs. in the technical specs listing on the Macan configurator web site. At some point since then it was reduced to 4,409 lbs. That's what you will now see on the configurator web site. The Owner's Manual which I received last week also now shows 4,409 lbs.

This is important to me because I was planning on using the Macan to tow my GT3 to track events. With the new tow limit I can no longer use the closed trailer that I was planning to buy. I now have to get an open trailer to keep the weight within the new limit.

Does anyone know for sure why Porsche lowered the tow capacity? My dealer doesn't know, but the chief mechanic's guess is that the weakest link in the chain (engine, brakes, transmission, suspension, wheelbase) is the PDK transmission.

Personally, I don't care about pushing the transmission hard. If it wears out, I get it fixed. What I care about is safety/controllability issues. That would related to the car's brakes, wheelbase, and total weight.

Anybody have any explanations or opinions?

 

It's now the same as the Audi Q5 so I would assume the limiter is the rear brakes.

 

Didn't see that. I too am planning on using it to tow my GT3 to the track. I have an open Featherlite trailer (1,300#), even with that, looks like I will be pushing the weight limit. Irritating that they changed it after I ordered it.

 

Many state that you should never exceed 70% of rated tow weight. Given how litigious the US is, I would think no manufacturer would rate a vehicle at a weight it couldn't safely tow. Is my logic flawed?

That said, would it be crazy to tow 4300lbs with a Macan?

 

IMO if you insist on towing your GT3 with a Porsche, get a Cayenne instead, preferably the Diesel one.

 

I agree. I have towed over 10,000 with a Cayenne pulling my Trailex enclosed trailer. Our '11 "S" did a great job and the '14 diesel even better. Besides the obvious increased power and rating of the Cayenne you also have a wider track and slightly heavier vehicle to counterbalance the trailer. I looked at the Macan as a possible future replacement but the size and tow rating turned me off.

 

Looks like I will keep using my trusty Tahoe to tow my car. Don't want a Cayenne - wanted to downsize from my current Cayenne to the Macan.

 

Why? That makes no sense at all. Do you think mfgrs. place these ratings at the maximum capability of all the components in the driveline? I bet the mfgrs. already include a "fudge factor" in their ratings, no need to include my own fudge factor. Now using trailers with brakes is a no-brainer but most states require brakes on trailers rated for anything over 2500 - 3500 lbs anyhow.

Yes, that is curious why Porsche lowered the rating, I had just looked on Porsche's web site last week and saw the 55xx lb. number myself. Personally I'm not concerned as long as it's over 4,000 lbs although I have towed in excess of 6k with the Cayenne I don't anticipate that need w/ a Macan.

 

agree w/ you Bill, theres a huge fudge factor is tow weight as witnessed by cayenne's pulling more than the 8000 limit. I see this in other makes as well. My only reservation would be in Hi altitude areas.

 

Perhaps Porsche adjusted the North American towing capacity rating of the 2015 Macan to bring it more in line with the looming J2807 towing standard, which domestic automakers like Ford will finally respect for MY2015. It would be interesting to see if the Cayenne's numbers have come down too for MY2015.

Check this out:

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/02/...or-gms-trucks/

 

The Macan is for my wife. Tried to get her intersted in the Cayenne but she didn't care for it. To be honest, I didn't either. I don't want to buy a 4th vehicle just for towing a few times a year. Doesn't make sense. If the Macan is competant at towing a featherlite (1000lbs ish) + my GT3 (3200lbs ish), it solves a problem for me. If not, I continue to drive-to or maybe I'll rent a U-haul.

BillW, I agree that it seems overly conservative but thus why I asked the question to understand where this "conventional wisdom" came from.

 

Very interesting. This led me to wonder what Porsche is claiming for the tow capacity for the Macan in other countries such as Germany and the UK. I went to the Porsche Macan configurator sites for these and several other countries and found that Porsche doesn't list a tow capacity for the Macan in any other country that I checked.

Anyone know anything about tow standards in other countries? Why is tow capacity only listed in the US?

 

My speculation is the UK would be more likely to care about towing than most any other country than the US. Remember all those segments Top Gear has done on "caravaning"?

 

Germany

UK

 

Did a conversion on the UK numbers and results are really strange:

Unbraked - 750 kg = 1,653 lbs (nothing unusual here)
Braked - 2,400 kg = 5291 lbs. (have they not updated the UK data ??)
Max Tongue weight - 96 kg = 211 lbs (if you only put 211 lbs on the tongue with a 5k lb trailer you're going to have some serious stability issues!)

Where's Lewis when we need him? He should be able to explain this for us. (sorry, a little P!g Pen humor).