fenway71

I appreciate this forum's help when I bought my 997 C2 many moons ago. I'm now going to add to the Porsche family with a Macan S. It'll be a daily driver carting a child so I won't be tracking the car.

Questions:

1. PASM: Yes or no? Everything I read says Yes but the sales guy said they are selling more Macans without it.
2. Infotainment Package: Yes or no? Leaning against it but wonder about resale value without it?
3. Premium Package or Premium Package Plus? If the former, I'd get the panoramic roof. Just don't know about the 14-way seats or the need for the keyless feature.
4. Roof Rails / Side Bar: I'm thinking yes on latter to make it easier on my son to climb in when he walks. Thinking no on former because I don't ski.
5. Tires: 19 or 20 inch?

All opinions welcome!

Rubik

IMHO:

PASM: Definite "Yes"
Infotainment: "No"
Premium Plus: "Yes" (a lot more bang for buck) we got 18-ways
Roof Rails & Side Bar: Either way ok. If you will use them, get them. I didn't because I will never put anything on my roof even if I had the roof rails.
I got 19's: 1) Free, 2) Smoother ride, & 3) Aftermarket would get more value.

Sven76

PASM is no for me, I'm perfectly fine with standard suspension, which is a bit firmer than comfy PASM mode but less harsh than sport mode.

14-way sport seats are a must for my wife. Roof not so much for people in the first row, but with kids a different story.

Side bars not necessary, easy to get your trousers dirty.

Just my 2 cents.

Quest911

For me I chose
No to PASM
Yes to Infotainment (don`t like the screen shot `tuner`)
Yes to Premium Plus.....love enter and drive
No to roof rails, I don`t like the look, no to side bar
18`wheels, way smoother ride than 19 or 20.

fenway71

Why definite Yes to PASM?

white_car

Without having the benefit ownership (my delivery expected in July) and based doing diligence prior to ordering, here is how I thought about the options you reference:
1. PASM: Not for me. Not relying on the S in SUV. That is what the GT3 is for. Standard Macan suspension was sufficiently taught
2. Infotainment Package: Also not for me; a smart phone will accomplish nearly all features and can be updated whenever for tech advancements
3. Premium Package or Premium Package Plus? Premium Package yes so as to get rear camera/parking assist. No sunroof for me - personal preference. 14-way seats: wanted memory as both wife and I will drive car. Keyless: I'm not so lazy as to be unable to press button to unlock the doors.
4. Roof Rails / Side Bar: No on both but mainly for aesthetic reasons
5. Tires: 20" for me, again mainly for aesthetic reasons, and acknowledge ride quality trade off. If you get PASM, might as well get 20" or 21" for ultimate performance

Rubik

If I lived somewhere with decent roads, I wouldn't care so much about PASM because more electronics means more things can go wrong. However, I live in LA and the roads are ****. PASM helps alleviate some of that pain. But when there are nice roads, I can easily firm up the suspension.

I see you live in Brooklyn. The last time I checked, NY roads were not any better than ours; and we don't have salt and snowplowers destroying roads.

white_car

One last thought: Leather Interior/Seat Leather (vs. std or std w/ leather) option IMO is $3.6K very well-spent. The interior feels much more luxurious when compare with the two other lesser packages. This is something you will notice every time you drive the car (vs. PASM which you will notice only occasionally). Again, only my $0.02. One last, last you should be karting with your child and not carting.

fenway71

Thanks everyone for their input. All helpful.

I'm going with:
1. PASM - because I live in Brooklyn in a neighborhood with cobblestone streets.
2. Premium Plus
3. No on the infotainment - we'll invest in a nice holder for our phones
4. No on the roof rails and side running boards
5. Going with standard 19" wheels and getting middle of road leather package

Now off to the dealer!

RESP

Sounds like it would be a great build!

I would go almost exactly the same way, except full leather (we have it in our Cayenne, and have enjoyed it for every of the 160,000 km we have driven so far!)

jericho

Sounds perfect for New York roads. From NY too and I would have build the same way. Let me know what dealer and pricing you get, because going to put a order in the next couple of months.

Thanks

Rubik

With 2 little boys, I didn't see the need for full leather and then cry when there were scuff marks so I went with standard leather package.

K-A

Don't listen to sales guys. They seem to unanimously say that performance options aren't "needed" in an effort to sell easier to "soccer mom" clienteles. As middle men who represent dealer networks, that feeds their coffers better.

PASM is a "must", if you ask me.

Infotainment is probably the worst value out there. Dated technology that doesn't even come with Voice Control, so you have to fiddle with entering digits like it's 2005. It'll be useless in a few years once cloud based starts taking over vehicles in years as well (think CarPlay, etc.). Never mind how imo you get a better experience with a Smartphone cloud Nav (always updated, accurate, much better service) that you can stream right into the car via BT. And you DO get a Voice Control with Smartphone Nav (via Siri if you have iPhone), so it's totally hands free. If you get Apple Watch, then it's even more convenient as the Watch syncs with the phone and gives you taptic feedback on where to turn, as well as the VC. You also won't see that $3K turn to basically nill after several years.

I did get HD Radio a'la carte, though.

IMO, 20's or above are a "must" as well, as they look proportional to the car (huge wheel wells).

And I personally don't like the roof rails. IMO Porsche did a great job in giving this car a very sleek and sporty roofline, and I feel like the rails spoil that. Also, I prefer a lower look over a higher look (and the Macan is the lowest "SUV/Crossover" out there so it certainly tries for that "high yet low" look). But if you need them, then of course you need them.

Powereng

Looks like you did well with your build, now comes the hard part of waiting..