[RobAde]

Hi all, I just purchased myself a new Macan S with a few options, still undecided on a couple of options.

Here is what I got so far

White
Panaromic Roof System
Black Exterior Pack
Sports Design Skirts
75 Litre Tank
Power Steerin Plus
Chrono Pack
21 inch 911 Wheels
Wheel Hub colour
Floor Mats
3 Zone Climate Control
18 Way Adaptive Seats
Brushed Alumnium
Bose Surround Sound
Digital Radio
Online Services

Wanted Keyless entry but I am led to believe you still need to turn a key.

I am currently driving an Audit A5 and now time to upgrade

Any thoughts? Anything you recommend I should be considering?

 

[chylld]

Welcome Rob

Keyless entry still requires you to turn the dummy key:

The options are 100% up to you, but let me braindump my personal thoughts on some your options:

Panaromic Roof System: awesome, i'm also getting it... after being in a friend's X1 with this I have decided it is a must
Power Steerin Plus: not getting it as I have heard it adds a very artificial feel to the steering. Some even say it feels like a lexus at low speeds
Wheel Hub colour: available from sunshine coast parts for half the price
3 Zone Climate Control: I was gonna get this, but it looks like it takes air from the standard AC compressor rather than adding a dedicated compressor like in the Cayenne. Rear temp looks to only be adjustable within the range of the front temps
18 Way Adaptive Seats: Big gamble as I'm not sure I'll find them comfortable. Someone the same size as me (5'9" 72kg) finds them too narrow even with the bolsters fully open. I'll need to find a Cayenne with this to try
Bose Surround Sound: There is a saying "burmester or base". Those who complain about the base stereo often have the super-awful 100W system, however the Macan's base stereo is ~235W which apparently sounds decent.
Online Services: I have been playing with the Aha radio app on my phone (since that is where it will draw the content from) and have not found anything useful, so I'm skipping it

Two options that I'm getting that aren't on your list:
Full leather interior: Without it, the dash, armrests, centre console lid trim etc are all plastic.
Adaptive cruise control: Follows the car in front all the way down to a halt if necessary. When ACC isn't active, Porsche Active Safe (PAS) warns of impending impacts via visual/audible signals and even primes and jabs the brakes

 

[RobAde]

thanks chylld, the full leather is quite expensive and would rather spend that money on new shoes i am not a huge fan of cruise control at all so adaptive cruise control would be of little use for me.

As I am getting one of the first 150 Macan these come with a sports package which means I dont get a choice on some options!!

 

[chylld]

Yes it is... I'm going for the full red/black leather interior which will set me back an extra $15.8k after LCT/stamp duty. I love it too much tho

The sport pack also comes with roof rails!

Have you been given an ETA yet? You should be one of the first to get their car...

 

[whoosh]

Welcome Rob. Seems the Aussie contingent here gets stronger with each day.

Just wanted to second the mention from chylld above about Power Steering Plus. i don't think I've seen a good review/opinion about this option anywhere. You may be served well to have a test drive in a vehicle equipped with it before putting that money down on it. I also chose not to go with keyless entry. I wish all cars would take the Tesla approach to keyless: Get in, put foot on brake, select gear, drive. Why do we even need to hit a button to start the car up, especially now that they all have the start/stop function for fuel saving at the lights?

 

[parket]

Wow, these threads are certainly useful, even if a bunch of opinions fly in different directions. If one studies them carefully, you can make better decisions than what is provided by a car not yet driven.

I'm not going to opt for the 3-zone climate control, pwr steering plus, online services, and may need to reconsider the 18-way seats based on what chylld stated. I'm not a big cruise control user, but I am ordering the adaptive version--too many good things said; it should be a safety issue and "make you a better driver" or so a reviewer stated who drove the car.

Estimated delivery: May 2014.

 

[chylld]

Wow, these threads are certainly useful, even if a bunch of opinions fly in different directions. If one studies them carefully, you can make better decisions than what is provided by a car not yet driven.

I'm not going to opt for the 3-zone climate control, pwr steering plus, online services, and may need to reconsider the 18-way seats based on what chylld stated. I'm not a big cruise control user, but I am ordering the adaptive version--too many good things said; it should be a safety issue and "make you a better driver" or so a reviewer stated who drove the car.

I think the best decision is made by reading the opinions of people who have already bought certain options, and whether they are "awesome, enjoy it every day" or "i would not order this option again" e.g. Light Comfort Package is another i thought i wanted, but a youtube Cayenne review said that the door ambient lighting is tied to the brightness of the roof horseshoe light which is too bright, so the door ambient lighting never gets to be seen. So he said he wouldn't order that again.

There should be a lot more info once the full english brochure comes out; here is a screenshot of the 3-zone CC from Luke.jenner who left the forum shortly after posting:

 

[RobAde]

thanks all, this great news!! i didnt actually want the power steering plus but apparently it comes with the sports pack which has left me with no choice!!! can someone point me in the right direction regarding the adaptive cruise control?

the dealer i used seemed quite honest of what was a good or bad feature, he turned me off a few features that i wanted ie skid plates, light package, homelink etc. however advised other options...

my big query is now is the BOSE and if i need it...

 

[chylld]

thanks all, this great news!! i didnt actually want the power steering plus but apparently it comes with the sports pack which has left me with no choice!!! can someone point me in the right direction regarding the adaptive cruise control?

the dealer i used seemed quite honest of what was a good or bad feature, he turned me off a few features that i wanted ie skid plates, light package, homelink etc. however advised other options...

my big query is now is the BOSE and if i need it...

I could be wrong, but all info I have suggests the sport pack comes with ONLY the following:

• roof rails
• SportDesign side skirts
• Sport Chrono pack
• 20" Macan SportDesign wheels (Turbo gets 21" 911 Turbo Design wheels)
• Panoramic roof system
• Brushed aluminium interior package

PCA of course will not order all 150 sport pack cars with just the sport pack options, they have to pick some other ones here and there and I suspect they are just trying to sell you one with the power steering plus. Maybe it can be switched off in the PCM somewhere?

Here's a great video on the adaptive cruise control:

Homelink was a no-go for me as well since it operates on the 433MHz band, and of the 3-4 doors I operate by remote, the only 433MHz one is my private garage remote which I need to keep on my key anyway....

 

[RobAde]

awesome thanks guys! so this forum is costing me money.. going to not get power steering plus (dont want to be driving a boat) and will get adaptive cruise control!!! will do more looking before i finalise, I presume I have time to change my mind

just not sure with the bose, i presume the sound system is adequate in the car already?

 

[chylld]

awesome thanks guys! so this forum is costing me money.. going to not get power steering plus (dont want to be driving a boat) and will get adaptive cruise control!!! will do more looking before i finalise, I presume I have time to change my mind

just not sure with the bose, i presume the sound system is adequate in the car already?

I hope so

I'm sure in ideal conditions the Bose will sound better than the standard system (14 speaker with subwoofer vs 11 speaker without), however I have read of a few caveats:

• in smaller cabins, the bass is incredibliy boomy; think it is ok with larger cabins
• the AudioPilot technology is meant to compensate for road noise but sometimes ends up cancelling out the bass of the music. If you disable audiopilot then the volume no longer increases with road speed
• Bose uses funny impedances for each speaker which makes upgrading hard (let alone whatever funny processing is being used at the pre-amp / amp)
• rear Bose speakers are pretty poor so you need to set a front bias to get decent quality
• Bose has fewer discrete amp channels per speaker than either stock or Burmester

Apart from that it should be good