In an ideal world we should track all our cars to find out what the limits and capabilities are not only for the car but the driver. An SUV would not be my choice for a track car.

But NAStyCAR has truck races now, so perhaps Porsche will win the SUV track championship. If people will watch trucks race, why not SUVs which initially were based on trucks.

I guess I am somewhat of a Porsche purist. when Porsche started making SUVs I Nd many Pcar owners were dismayed and saddened that the marque was moving away from a "sports car" maker to something that would appeal to a broader demographic segment including soccer moms.

Around here they have been successful. I see at least 50 Cayennes a day and most are driven by women. Land Rover used to be the tony SUV. Now it is Porsche even though there is a Land Rover dealership 45 minutes away vs Porsche which is 3.5 hours away in Denver. They are doing something right. Have noticed a Macan here yet (and I am pretty good at noticing cars). It is just a matter time before Macans become noticeable here. However we have numerous Q5s and very few SQ5s. This fits in with my theory that people do not really think of an SUV as a "performance car" as we geezer gear heads would think of it.

Audi is having trouble keeping up with Q5 demand, so I suspect part of the Macan idea is to sell cars to more performance minded SUV drivers and still keep the sales within VWAG.

Best

 

Saw your other post, I think you made 100% the right call on the RS5 over the Macan Turbo. It's a much better driving experience.

I owned an RS5, put about 10 hours of seat time at the track on it, until I traded it in when I picked up my GT3 - mainly did it due to a garage space limit and it was black so I didn't want to deal with keeping it clean when not garaged. If it wasn't black, I probably would have kept it tbh. Instead, I'll pick up a GT4 for my fun daily car duty. The only negative for the RS5 are the weight and brakes, both of which are lower and better than the Macan Turbo.

My wife and son's nanny drives our Macan Turbo - takes my son around, needs space for strollers etc and for that the RS5 just wasn't the right car.

 

Sounds like the interior quality of my Wife's 2003 Beetle Turbo - looks great but come on the plastics that are no on the dash are just pure crap. Look at them crossways and they fall off or scratch, just ridiculous.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

Wanted a winter daily driver that would be FUN to go to the ski slopes and would be fun to take the back roads instead of just the four lane highway. Do not need more cargo space or passenger space.

450 na hp, 8250 red line and sports exhaust sounds great. Barks and growls on shifts. Car and driver says 3.8 sec 0-60 and I do not doubt it. In dynamic mode with sports diff (standard) and awd takes corners like on rails...no understeer or oversteer. With Mich Pilot SSall weather radials it handles the snow no problem. Problem is there are so few around it was hard to find one to test drive. But I found the only one in Colorado in Colo Spgs and the rest is history.

Looks like March 2015 is the last month we can order RS5 if we can find a dealer with an allocation. Audi are changing the A5 and it will be at least two years before we can get an RS5 if Audi decide we can get any at all on this side of the pond. And if they do, probably will be a turbo rather than na which is a negative for me. The sound and turbo lag is something we may have to get used to.

 

I wouldn't say low. It was more fun than a Panamera or Cayenne for two. In fact, I drove every 4 door out there and found the Macan more dynamic and engaging than nearly all of them, taking into consideration its incredible versatility (i.e I drove an S3 and found that probably most fun, but not as versatile or luxurious). I had high expectations and it even crushed those. And I got it decked out with fun stuff I like (AS/PASM, SD Package, 20" Spyders, crests, gloss black trim, comfort lighting, premium package, etc.) for low-mid $60K's, and that's at sticker. Bargain of the century, especially for Porsche, imo (furthered by how it's holding or exceeding MSRP). I honestly assumed it'd cost $90K decked out even less (for an S) when I first checked it out. First time a Porsche gave me sticker shock on the low side.

 

Oh, my inner race car driver lusts for the GT4. But I can lust for that the same way I can lust for winning the lottery or owning my own fighter jet. It's a very nice dream, but one that won't happen. I'm not sure whether to be happy about my practical side or curse it.

I don't have to lower my expectations for a Wrangler. I just traded mine for my wife's Cayenne. She knows the diesel Wrangler is coming soon and that there is very likely one in our future. I think it's a blast to drive. I ordered mine with half doors and soft top... none of that hard top stuff or roll down windows for me! See, there are other types of purists out there, too. lol So, I do know how they are to drive; a blast mostly. But not a road trip machine. I drove mine from CO to WA last summer and that sucked.

I may have an inner race car driver, but at heart, I'm a truck guy. Last time I bought a sports car, I wanted my truck back after 3 months of playing with it. Now I have a pickup, so could get away with it, but I'd be heartsick at having a Cayman sitting in the garage because I was "bored" with having a 2 seat sports car. Another reason the Macan may well be the ideal vehicle for me.

I have some time do decide; my local dealer has 2 people ahead of me on his waiting list for Macan S allocations. Now, if I wanted a Macan Turbo....

 

Configured the cars the way I would want them:

Macan T 400 hp $97,325
audi RS5 450 na hp $79,795
audi SQ5 354 sc hp $69,100

Worst thing about the sQ5 is Tiptronic trans while the others dct.

MT-SQ5= $18k. Lot of money to pay for a dct and 46 hp IMO. 40% more money for 13% more hp.

One can say the SQ5 should be compared to the Macan S but I always get the highest hp as I believe you get it back on resale.

Macan S is $79,300.

 

I drove the Macan on a track during a Porsche event and couldn't wait to get out of it and get back into a 911. Its not even close to being a sports car in ability - in my mind. Too tall and too heavy. Porsche is really doing an marketing number on people in believing the Macan is a SUV that is like a sports car.

For a SUV its fine, personally I think an SQ5 (which I have test drove) is a better deal and for performance I would take a X6M over it.

 

I dunno what to say but I thought it was one of the funnest cars I drove at that same event. Yes partly due to expectations but also because of how it composed itself vs the Panny GTS (which bored me in comparison).

Comparing it to a 911 is missing the point, though imo the DNA breeds through as good as it possibly can. Comparing it to a 335i M Sport (which I also drove at an event) or the like is the point as the AS Macan imo proves itself a more engaging and fun sport sedan (even pulls better lateral G's than the lighter 28i model), along with all its other inherent capability superiorities. A Macan Turbo on steel springs fared pretty well against an M3 in an oddly matched test even, again, not even taking into account its many inherent virtues it holds as a totally different type of car. The Macan with AS/PASM does the best oversized 911 impersonation of any 4 door I tested. Never mind best potion of physics defiance.

X6M is a much worse tool for a track. It is engineered to grip and go fast but it feels massive and less willing, not nearly as balanced as a Macan. It weighs well over 5k lbs and is taller, more "Truck". And a Macan at least with AS/PASM handles considerably better than an SQ5. With a Macan you forget you're driving an "SUV" as that's where its dynamics take it. It's also one of the lowest SUV's out there, if not the lowest, and perhaps lightest within its range as well. Those other two feel like SUV's, namely the former, no matter what.

 

If it quacks like a duck its a duck. No matter how many posts you write about it being the best Porsche-like SUV ......its still a SUV. I get it ad-nausem that you think it's a Porsche sports car dressed as a SUV. It's still a two ton car, lets not be delusional here.

 

Maybe I'm just a better driver than you?

But getting serious... yes, and a rear engine car is terrible for the track. Porsche surely aren't masters of defying traditional logic.



....... And you pretty much echo what I'm saying, btw. It pretty much is a Porsche sports car dressed as an SUV. If it's dressed as an SUV, it's no longer a Porsche sports car, is it? What is it then? An "SUV" that feels as close to a Porsche sports car as you'll find, enough so to where it does more than any other 4 door out there, imo. The Macan holds a dynamic advantage over its considered competitors more than any other Porsche car in their segments today, it can be considered. So an argument that it is the most "Porsche" within a range of vehicles I think is a strong one, as well.

 

K-A, I think everyone on every forum you involved with gets it, you love your pick of the car even more than yourself.

 

But if I'm the one who authorized my picking of said car.... how much do you think I love myself?

 

You discussed AS/PASM a whole lot more than your long torso .

 

Amen.

Yes, you picked the best SUV that drives like a sports car ever. Yes, you're the supreme champion Macan track driver that can take on other sport cars. Yes, no SUV can compare to your Macan.

Seriously, give it a rest already.