Dan Neil on Macan S - WSJ.com
02-22-2015, 09:59 PM
#1
Three Wheelin'
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Dan Neil on Macan S - WSJ.com
Dan Neil is my favorite auto writer.
RUMBLE SEAT
Porsche Macan S: Is This Compact Crossover Barbie’s Dream Car?
Entering the luxury compact crossover market—which features the Acura RDX, the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Land Rover Evoque—Porsche makes a bid to expand its appeal to women
Will the Porsche Macan S win over the luxury compact crossover market? WSJ's Dan Neil joins Tanya Rivero with his review. Photo: Porsche
By DAN NEIL
Feb. 20, 2015 11:17 a.m. ET
12 COMMENTS
YOU JUST KNEW when Porsche decided to build Barbie’s Dream Car it was going to be awesome.
And it is. The 2015 Macan S ($49,900 MSRP) is Porsche’s entry to the exploding luxury compact crossover segment, and it is a dram of excelsior, a proud, darling thing: quick off the line (5.0 seconds to 60 mph, with the optional launch control engaged) and nimble at the helm, with a steel-spring suspension (wishbone front and trapezoidal-link rear) that’s as tight as a speed skater’s buttocks. Actually, the Macan S drives shockingly well considering it weighs in around 4,500 pounds and is a foot taller than a 911. More on that later.
Curb appeal? Forget about it. Among the details to savor is the clamshell hood that extends to the front wheel arches, so that the hood shut lines go away. The Macan isn’t dripping in aggression, design-wise, with soft, rounded corners inherited from the 911 and an open, expressive face. It has nothing like the Range Rover Evoque’s narrow, predatory stare. And yet the Macan is low, wide and stance-y, with staggered tires (a wider set in back) and heavy haunches. It’s a Cayenne in short pants.
Porsche has made no secret of the desire to expand the brand to more women. Translating that desire into product design is a perilous business, especially for such a macho brand. But I think the Porsche design team, led by Michael Mauer, got exactly what it was looking for. The Macan hits a mall parking lot like a fishing lure hits the water, if smartly dressed women were largemouth bass.
The category, Alex, is premium/luxury compact crossovers and/or sport-utilities. The yard marks are wide, but you are going to shell out anywhere from about $40,000-$70,000—I recommend leasing such nonsense—and the competitive set includes the cream of the world auto-making crop: Acura RDX, Audi Q3, BMW X3, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mercedes-Benz GLA, the Evoque and a few others.
SEXY BEAST | The Porsche Macan S has a leg up in the luxury compact crossover market with soft contours and the best interior among its rivals. ENLARGE
SEXY BEAST | The Porsche Macan S has a leg up in the luxury compact crossover market with soft contours and the best interior among its rivals. PHOTO: PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA
In this category you are free to spend like you are on cocaine. There is such a thing as a Macan Turbo (with a 3.6-liter, 400-hp version of the V6) that starts at $72,300 and can top six figures when you start adding carbon-ceramic brakes ($8,150) and air suspension ($1,385).
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Our Macan S test car—painted ermine-white with beige leather interior —came in at $72,620 and included 20-inch alloy wheels ($1,260), the active dampers ($1,360), the upgraded Bose stereo ($1,400) and infotainment package ($2,990) and the Premium Package Plus ($5,990). Oof!
The powertrain is a thing of beauty, starting with the all-aluminum, 90-degree, 3.0-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V6, producing a nicely focused 339 pound-feet, from 1,450 rpm all the way to 5,000 rpm, and peak horsepower from 5,500-6,500 rpm. Golly, what a sewing machine. When you switch to Sport + mode and add some throttle, the engine bawls, it purrs, it chuckles. Hot, guttural overrun sounds come courtesy of the active exhaust valve. But the symphony is turned way down in volume, a bit too far to seem threatening, just adorable. Growl, kitty, growl!
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Downstream of the engine is Porsche’s seven-speed dual-clutch PDK automatic transmission and the full-time all-wheel drive system, based around a digitally managed multi-plate center differential. The Macan’s front diff is open and the rear is limited-slip, with the option of the Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus on the rear diff, slewing torque left or right as needed to help the car turn harder and accelerate sooner.
Romp it and all this actuates with greased flawlessness one might expect in a late-model Porsche, even to a fault. There isn’t a sharp edge to be found is this car. Even in Sport + mode, the PDK acts like/drives like any other high-tech, torque-converter based automatic transmission, with upshift events that flutter among the ratios, never bang.
Honestly, Porsche. If the camera could zoom into the ghostly face of Ferdinand Porsche as he surveyed his legendary sports-car empire, now building glammy luxe crossovers for the recently divorced in West Palm Beach, would he have a single tear, like Iron Eyes Cody?
Oh, I’ve had it all explained to me: Porsche, now a holding of Volkswagen AG, has been fully entrained into the group’s product slipstream. The Macan is a platform cousin to the Audi Q5, sharing VW’s MLB platform, for light-duty vehicles with front-longitudinal engine orientation and all-wheel drive.
About a third of the Porsche’s structure is common to the Audi, but Macan gets Porsche-proprietary engines and the PDK gearbox; exterior and interior; suspensions and dynamics software. Porsche AG also spent more than $550 million to construct the Macan assembly line in Leipzig, Germany—where car-building counts—with an annual capacity of 50,000 cars. So pedigree really isn’t an issue.
2015 PORSCHE MACAN S
ENLARGE
PHOTO: PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA
Base price: $50,895
Price, as tested: $72,620
Powertrain: Turbocharged, direct-injected 3.0-liter DOHC V6 with variable valve timing; seven-speed dual clutch transmission; rear biased all-wheel drive.
Horsepower/torque: 340 hp at 5,500-6,500 rpm/339 pound-feet at 1,450 to 5,000 rpm
Length/weight: 184.3 inches/4,112-4,641 pounds (min.-max, manufacturer)
Wheelbase: 110.5
0-60 mph: 5.0 (with Sport Chrono package)
Top speed: 156 mph
EPA fuel economy: 17/23/19 mpg, city/highway/combined
Cargo capacity: 17.7/53 cubic feet (second-row seat back up/folded)
And yet, I can’t help thinking the Macan would have been a lot—what’s the word?—lighter, had it not been born to share the girdle of the corporate platform.
If the Macan wins, it’s to the credit of Porsche’s interior-trim department. This is the best interior of any in the competitive set: clean and Nordic in design, wintry with polished alloy, rich with skins, with lots of very nice parts from the company’s bins, including Porsche’s new, three-spoke steering wheel, like the one in the 918 Spyder. The seats are terrific, and the fully upholstered rear cargo space large and useful (17.7 cubic feet). My kids had no problems riding in the back seat. The whole thing is surprisingly undiminished by the price point.
If the Macan stumbles, it might be because it feels a bit soft to enthusiasts. This truckette is well over two tons, and all the adaptive suspension, torque vectoring and sport tires only defray the costs of that mass. Yes, it has good road-holding in corners, considering, but the weight makes it feel antsy. Yes, the electric-assist steering is tactile and responsive, but it could be more of both. The short-stroke engine of the Macan S (69 mm stroke and 96 mm bore) spins like a bandit, but it’s all so at a distance, so muted and isolated. The Macan’s missing piece is driver involvement.
But maybe you don’t feel like driving at the moment. In that case, switch on the Macan’s optional Lane Keeping Assist, a ghost-in-the-machine system that will keep a car heading down a road with minimal input from the driver. Now you can smile. And don’t forget to wave, Barbie.
RUMBLE SEAT
Porsche Macan S: Is This Compact Crossover Barbie’s Dream Car?
Entering the luxury compact crossover market—which features the Acura RDX, the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Land Rover Evoque—Porsche makes a bid to expand its appeal to women
Will the Porsche Macan S win over the luxury compact crossover market? WSJ's Dan Neil joins Tanya Rivero with his review. Photo: Porsche
By DAN NEIL
Feb. 20, 2015 11:17 a.m. ET
12 COMMENTS
YOU JUST KNEW when Porsche decided to build Barbie’s Dream Car it was going to be awesome.
And it is. The 2015 Macan S ($49,900 MSRP) is Porsche’s entry to the exploding luxury compact crossover segment, and it is a dram of excelsior, a proud, darling thing: quick off the line (5.0 seconds to 60 mph, with the optional launch control engaged) and nimble at the helm, with a steel-spring suspension (wishbone front and trapezoidal-link rear) that’s as tight as a speed skater’s buttocks. Actually, the Macan S drives shockingly well considering it weighs in around 4,500 pounds and is a foot taller than a 911. More on that later.
Curb appeal? Forget about it. Among the details to savor is the clamshell hood that extends to the front wheel arches, so that the hood shut lines go away. The Macan isn’t dripping in aggression, design-wise, with soft, rounded corners inherited from the 911 and an open, expressive face. It has nothing like the Range Rover Evoque’s narrow, predatory stare. And yet the Macan is low, wide and stance-y, with staggered tires (a wider set in back) and heavy haunches. It’s a Cayenne in short pants.
Porsche has made no secret of the desire to expand the brand to more women. Translating that desire into product design is a perilous business, especially for such a macho brand. But I think the Porsche design team, led by Michael Mauer, got exactly what it was looking for. The Macan hits a mall parking lot like a fishing lure hits the water, if smartly dressed women were largemouth bass.
The category, Alex, is premium/luxury compact crossovers and/or sport-utilities. The yard marks are wide, but you are going to shell out anywhere from about $40,000-$70,000—I recommend leasing such nonsense—and the competitive set includes the cream of the world auto-making crop: Acura RDX, Audi Q3, BMW X3, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mercedes-Benz GLA, the Evoque and a few others.
SEXY BEAST | The Porsche Macan S has a leg up in the luxury compact crossover market with soft contours and the best interior among its rivals. ENLARGE
SEXY BEAST | The Porsche Macan S has a leg up in the luxury compact crossover market with soft contours and the best interior among its rivals. PHOTO: PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA
In this category you are free to spend like you are on cocaine. There is such a thing as a Macan Turbo (with a 3.6-liter, 400-hp version of the V6) that starts at $72,300 and can top six figures when you start adding carbon-ceramic brakes ($8,150) and air suspension ($1,385).
Advertisement
Our Macan S test car—painted ermine-white with beige leather interior —came in at $72,620 and included 20-inch alloy wheels ($1,260), the active dampers ($1,360), the upgraded Bose stereo ($1,400) and infotainment package ($2,990) and the Premium Package Plus ($5,990). Oof!
The powertrain is a thing of beauty, starting with the all-aluminum, 90-degree, 3.0-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V6, producing a nicely focused 339 pound-feet, from 1,450 rpm all the way to 5,000 rpm, and peak horsepower from 5,500-6,500 rpm. Golly, what a sewing machine. When you switch to Sport + mode and add some throttle, the engine bawls, it purrs, it chuckles. Hot, guttural overrun sounds come courtesy of the active exhaust valve. But the symphony is turned way down in volume, a bit too far to seem threatening, just adorable. Growl, kitty, growl!
MORE IN RUMBLE SEAT
Ram ProMaster City: The Little Cargo Van That Could
Mercedes-Maybach S600: The Silence Is Deafening
Land Rover Discovery Sport: Taming Iceland
Detroit Sees the Future
Toyota Camry Hybrid: Wonderfully Boring
Volvo V60: A Wagon You Can Easily Warm Up To
Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: Big Vans, Big Ideas
Jaguar XJL Offers Much More Than You Need
MORE ON CARS
Driver’s Seat blog
Downstream of the engine is Porsche’s seven-speed dual-clutch PDK automatic transmission and the full-time all-wheel drive system, based around a digitally managed multi-plate center differential. The Macan’s front diff is open and the rear is limited-slip, with the option of the Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus on the rear diff, slewing torque left or right as needed to help the car turn harder and accelerate sooner.
Romp it and all this actuates with greased flawlessness one might expect in a late-model Porsche, even to a fault. There isn’t a sharp edge to be found is this car. Even in Sport + mode, the PDK acts like/drives like any other high-tech, torque-converter based automatic transmission, with upshift events that flutter among the ratios, never bang.
Honestly, Porsche. If the camera could zoom into the ghostly face of Ferdinand Porsche as he surveyed his legendary sports-car empire, now building glammy luxe crossovers for the recently divorced in West Palm Beach, would he have a single tear, like Iron Eyes Cody?
Oh, I’ve had it all explained to me: Porsche, now a holding of Volkswagen AG, has been fully entrained into the group’s product slipstream. The Macan is a platform cousin to the Audi Q5, sharing VW’s MLB platform, for light-duty vehicles with front-longitudinal engine orientation and all-wheel drive.
About a third of the Porsche’s structure is common to the Audi, but Macan gets Porsche-proprietary engines and the PDK gearbox; exterior and interior; suspensions and dynamics software. Porsche AG also spent more than $550 million to construct the Macan assembly line in Leipzig, Germany—where car-building counts—with an annual capacity of 50,000 cars. So pedigree really isn’t an issue.
2015 PORSCHE MACAN S
ENLARGE
PHOTO: PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA
Base price: $50,895
Price, as tested: $72,620
Powertrain: Turbocharged, direct-injected 3.0-liter DOHC V6 with variable valve timing; seven-speed dual clutch transmission; rear biased all-wheel drive.
Horsepower/torque: 340 hp at 5,500-6,500 rpm/339 pound-feet at 1,450 to 5,000 rpm
Length/weight: 184.3 inches/4,112-4,641 pounds (min.-max, manufacturer)
Wheelbase: 110.5
0-60 mph: 5.0 (with Sport Chrono package)
Top speed: 156 mph
EPA fuel economy: 17/23/19 mpg, city/highway/combined
Cargo capacity: 17.7/53 cubic feet (second-row seat back up/folded)
And yet, I can’t help thinking the Macan would have been a lot—what’s the word?—lighter, had it not been born to share the girdle of the corporate platform.
If the Macan wins, it’s to the credit of Porsche’s interior-trim department. This is the best interior of any in the competitive set: clean and Nordic in design, wintry with polished alloy, rich with skins, with lots of very nice parts from the company’s bins, including Porsche’s new, three-spoke steering wheel, like the one in the 918 Spyder. The seats are terrific, and the fully upholstered rear cargo space large and useful (17.7 cubic feet). My kids had no problems riding in the back seat. The whole thing is surprisingly undiminished by the price point.
If the Macan stumbles, it might be because it feels a bit soft to enthusiasts. This truckette is well over two tons, and all the adaptive suspension, torque vectoring and sport tires only defray the costs of that mass. Yes, it has good road-holding in corners, considering, but the weight makes it feel antsy. Yes, the electric-assist steering is tactile and responsive, but it could be more of both. The short-stroke engine of the Macan S (69 mm stroke and 96 mm bore) spins like a bandit, but it’s all so at a distance, so muted and isolated. The Macan’s missing piece is driver involvement.
But maybe you don’t feel like driving at the moment. In that case, switch on the Macan’s optional Lane Keeping Assist, a ghost-in-the-machine system that will keep a car heading down a road with minimal input from the driver. Now you can smile. And don’t forget to wave, Barbie.
02-25-2015, 04:05 PM
#3
What a fluff piece.
"the weight makes it feel antsy" --- what the hell does that mean? This writer simply doesn't have the words to articulate how well the Macan performs, he reveals no insights into the value or usefulness of any options, he makes absolutely zero comparisons other than name-dropping, and his criticisms are too vague to be helpful to the prospective buyer.
The Macan is not "a bit soft to enthusiasts". The suspension is fine. The problem with the Macan is that it is being marketed as a sports sedan competitor when it is ~ 500 kg too fat. For straight line acceleration, Porsche easily overcame the weight with power. The downside of the excess heft is that the Macan is a gas guzzler as a result. We can only hope somebody at Porsche has a diet program in the works. Then instead of declaring the Macan a good vehicle for Barbie, the WSJ might someday be able to evaluate the 2017 Macan GTS as being taut, surprisingly light and nimble for its size, and just as economical and practical as the best sport wagons. Until then, the Macan can only be considered a step better than the bloated SUVs that clog motorways these days.
"the weight makes it feel antsy" --- what the hell does that mean? This writer simply doesn't have the words to articulate how well the Macan performs, he reveals no insights into the value or usefulness of any options, he makes absolutely zero comparisons other than name-dropping, and his criticisms are too vague to be helpful to the prospective buyer.
The Macan is not "a bit soft to enthusiasts". The suspension is fine. The problem with the Macan is that it is being marketed as a sports sedan competitor when it is ~ 500 kg too fat. For straight line acceleration, Porsche easily overcame the weight with power. The downside of the excess heft is that the Macan is a gas guzzler as a result. We can only hope somebody at Porsche has a diet program in the works. Then instead of declaring the Macan a good vehicle for Barbie, the WSJ might someday be able to evaluate the 2017 Macan GTS as being taut, surprisingly light and nimble for its size, and just as economical and practical as the best sport wagons. Until then, the Macan can only be considered a step better than the bloated SUVs that clog motorways these days.