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Anyone lowered their Macan?

97K views 279 replies 89 participants last post by  911Fiddler 
#1 ·
I know there have been a few discussions but find much info by scrolling through the threads.

I am thinking of lowering my Macan by around 3/4 to 1 Inch probably by lowering links. Has anyone actually done it and what do you think of the results. I have 21 inch wheels on air suspension (thought it easier to lower). I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but personaly I think it would look a little better. The alternative is a lowering module like Cargraphics but it's a lot more money.

I appreciate the ride will firm up a bit which is why I am not going for the whole "slammed"look although the Cargraphics module actually raises at 44mph back to normal setting for comfort.

Anyone with some info would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
I've seen someone do it either in this forum and/or another one.

Another 3/4 to an inch from AS Low would look wicked, pretty "slammed" but probably in a still clean and OEM worthy way (though maybe pushing it in an inch). The base suspension is so high that 2" lower than that isn't unheard of, when you think about it.

Air Suspensions are easy to lower. I'm probably not gonna touch mine since I'm happy enough with the stance in Low and don't know if it would add any "stress" to the suspension?
 
#4 ·
To be honest with you I don't think the base suspension looks that bad. I had concerns originally that the base suspension with anything smaller then 21" wheels might require a drop but after my car arrived with 20" wheels I didn't think it looked that bad at all. Photographs seem tend to accentuate the gap but in person it looks great.
 

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#5 ·
Are you kidding? It looks great. Wheel gap is something for some and nothing for others. S U V ok CUV but you get the picture. I think the car looks outstanding with standard suspension or slammed .
 
#6 ·
O/P actually has AS and is looking to get it lower than AS Low. So obviously is extra into the sports stance style.

Not sure how that would work re: warranty, now that I think about it, unless there's a vendor or OEM provided way to do it. But I know lots of people have lowered AS and had no issues with various brands.
 
#11 ·
I imagine the combination of 22" and a very low suspension setting would be a very hard ride.

When I picked mine up from the dealer, it was on standard suspension and couldn't stop looking at the size of the gap- it looked huge (thought it was in off-road mode). I even asked the dealer to check the sensors but they said it was normal!
 
#13 · (Edited)
These are all base suspension but the white looks lower. Angles, distance and lighting all play into this but for some reason every black Macan I've seen with base looks like it's in off road height. Both in person and in pics. For me I don't like the AS/Low personally, the vehicle is just too big and heavy to ride this low. It's not a sports car. I feel similar about the Cayenne GTS, it looks strange to my eyes to have a 2.5 ton vehicle sitting that low. Having said that, some of the steel cars I've seen the wheel gap has really bothered me. If I ordered black I would have gotten AS. With white I hope I'll be okay with the steel. I wish the base steel was 1/4-1/2 inch lower. I'm worried I'll regret not ordering AS just for the ability to put it in AS/Normal. In hindsight I would have tried to line up 2 Macans at the dealer (base and AS/Default) to decide. I saw all these different heights, but it was at different times, and not side by side on the same color, same wheels etc. Couple posts recently from steel owners on light color Macans made me feel better though, as they had similar concerns, but when their car showed up it was a non-issue.
 
#20 ·
I get what you're saying, but I guess just different perceptions. I actually think that AS/Low seems pretty good for an OEM stance, but I've gotten used to it since I stopped using "Normal". There's still some slight gap to keep with the somewhat utilitarian theme, but it's just really well slanted and tight giving it a sporty yet still balanced/versatile effect. But yeah, Low is obviously a lot more on the sports car stance side for a car like this, which is what I want for it, so Normal is a perfect middle ground.

IMO AS/Normal would be the ideal "basis" for the car. Steel IMO is just way too exaggerated in wheel gap. Honestly, I compared it with so many cars when I was trying to decide, and the Macan's steel wheel gap is amongst the biggest I've seen on any production car. To me, next to other SUV's, it actually looks like a "car" so it really benefits from a lower wheel gap. However, even for "truck SUV's", like the Cayenne, RR, etc. all look much better with a tighter wheel gap to me. The first time I saw the Cayenne GTS I noticed the sporty stance and thought it transformed the whole car (along with all the other painted stuff on it). I actually always liked the look of a not necessarily "lowered" SUV, but "tight wheel gap" SUV, which IMO AS/Low pretty much is. The mixture of a large car and a sporty stance is really dynamic IMO as opposed to one dimensional.

Still, the Macan as a body is so low and car-like compared to every other SUV, it just looks odd with a "Truck Stance" to me. And it actually isn't even really that heavy. 4,1xx lbs in standard form, which is less than a loaded 550i. Definitely not close to those brick box Cayenne's and RR's, etc. IMO it's just as much "car" as "SUV", which I guess is why it's essentially a "Crossover" when you think about it, lol. I think we all talk about it being "heavy", which is is, compared to a sports car, but at 340 HP capable of an attained mid 13 1/4 time, that's a pretty decent power to weight ratio actually, almost in line with sports sedans, just a few hundred lbs or so heavier in its standard form.

Sorry, I know it's all personal to the individual but looking at that beautiful blue Macan, the wheel gap is just dragging my eyes to it all the time I look at it. Strangely, I don't look at an Audi Q5 or BMW X3/X5 and think it would look better lower but I do in the Macan- can't work out why.

For everyone who loves the look of their Macan as it is, perfect, it looks good in many ways.
That's my issue with the standard wheel gap too. It's the first thing my eyes are drawn to. I think the reason why it's so paramount on the Macan to our eyes is because next to even a Q5, the Macan looks like a "4 door coupe" version of an SUV, as it renders them practically boxes. Also, it seems to have a bigger standard wheel gap than those cars as well.
 
#14 ·
I test drove a SB Macan on steel suspension. The first thing striked me was how big the wheel gap is even on 20" wheels. :-/

Hopefully when my white Macan comes it won't be that bad. But I am still highly inclined to have the H&R springs for 1.5" lowering.
 
#15 ·
Sorry, I know it's all personal to the individual but looking at that beautiful blue Macan, the wheel gap is just dragging my eyes to it all the time I look at it. Strangely, I don't look at an Audi Q5 or BMW X3/X5 and think it would look better lower but I do in the Macan- can't work out why.

For everyone who loves the look of their Macan as it is, perfect, it looks good in many ways.
 
#16 ·
Macan Jack , you're correct it's all personal or in the eye of the ....

Me, I have driven many suv's and trucks so the wheel gap , as you call it was expected for the Porsche SUV I chose to buy.

I get lowering by stick AS and that is fine for this car but any lower and I feel like it then becomes an SU-Station wagon.

That is this beholder's perspective .

:)
 
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#17 ·
#21 ·
Exactly! The Macan is the most sporty compact CUV/SUV so far and the big SUV wheel gap is unfitting, aesthetically or practically.
 
#22 ·
Agreed. If there's ANY "SUV" that can work a sporty wheel gap/stance, it's the "sports car" of the SUV world. The Macan makes even a Q5 look like a big box next to it, the Macan has a sporty coupe like proportion to its design when you see them side by side or facing each other. And many people consider the Q5 as a "sporty SUV" already.

I don't understand Porsche's logic in creating such a low and sporty looking SUV that you can almost mistake it for a Hatch Sedan, and then lifting it in the air. I have a feeling it was done specifically to be easier to understand (what it is) by consumers as a vehicle within the "SUV" segment. The higher entry/exit of a standard suspension makes it easier to consider an "SUV".

Even the Cayenne, X5, or Range Rover's, none of them have such an aggressive wheel gap to where you can see all of the innards and mechanicals as much as you can the Macan. And they're actually trucks! Lol. Or maybe the Macan's gap just pops extra out because the design is so low and sporty otherwise for what it is.

Or maybe it's just Porsche's brilliant upselling technique to get some of us to not only select the FIRST expensive suspension option (which, you guessed it, still doesn't lower the car), but the SECOND expensive suspension option. They're quite crafty. :D

Or maybe it's just their way of trying to give as much incentive for people to get the AS.
 
#23 ·
Your imagination never ceases to amaze me, K-A. :)

Completely agreeing with your assessment, I think it is a simple case of design flop.
 
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#24 ·
Haha, why thanks. :)

Agreed. And I can almost guarantee marketing telling them that if it's "too low then people won't know whether it's an SUV or Sedan". I have a very hard time believing PORSCHE designers and engineers would design something so revolutionary within the segment in terms of sporty proportions, and then give it class leading wheel gap? Lol. From a design perspective, it just makes no sense to me, but hey I know some disagree. I just really think it's marketing preemptively responding to a stage where "Crossover" still not being understood by some ("Is it a Sedan? SUV?").

I thought to myself that if they were to lower the suspension randomly one year, it'd really piss me off if I got an early steel suspension car. Not sure if they'd do that though, because then it would give less incentive to upsell to AS.
 
#26 ·
If you look at ALL the launch cars, every one was lower than possible, even on AS low setting. Porsche must think this is what it looks best at otherwise they wouldn't have done this for the launch. Go back and find me one picture of a launch car that was at current ride height - there isn't one!!http://www.macanforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50145&thumb=1
 

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#27 ·
That's how all should look in stance, or at least most.

Without inner politics, that's indeed clearly how they know it should look. I remember those cars, looked very sporty with stance. The cars on sale all of a sudden came looking like they had stacks of shipping blocks in them. Even the CONFIGURATOR is slammed, which is downright deception. Obviously the impression Porsche want to give of this car when you're shopping it is of a very tight stance.

Even at the Auto Show this year, and PWRS events, all production models were AS/Low cars, none on frontal display with standard wheel gap.

I almost ordered steel thinking it'd be like the press cars and configurator car, until guys here told informed me about the wheel gap discrepancy. Apparently on 911's and Caymans/Boxsters, PASM lowers the cars. Which I guess isn't a total fair comparison as that's their top suspension upsell.
 
#28 ·
Easy solution.

AS equipped cars, use lowering links. Others, use H&R lowering springs. :-0
 
#34 ·
I would imagine you couldn't tell if they were adjusted back to normal height although the ones on the link were red so it does kinda stand out a bit.

Provided you don't damage the originals when removing them (and there's no reason you would), they should be easy to put back.

The only issue I can think of is ensuring you have all four corners at exactly the same height as a couple if mm out could unsettle the car I would imagine
 
#35 ·
I would imagine you couldn't tell if they were adjusted back to normal height although the ones on the link were red so it does kinda stand out a bit.
The "Original" ones are just regular plated metal with no anodizing or colour to draw attention to them.....it looks like the "Evolution" style with the turnbuckle type setup has all the fancy colours.
 
#36 ·
Are links the right way to lower a high-end vehicle like this? Seems like a pretty low-end solution.
 
#38 ·
I understand the huge price difference, but a cheap solution for an expensive vehicle with a finely tuned suspension doesn't make much sense to me.
 
#41 ·
The steel lowering springs that H&R currently sells in the USA only work on PASM-equipped steel spring cars. Other ones are coming.
 
#48 ·
Will do.
 
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