I drove both of them.
Ended up ordering the diesel, primarely because of the poor mpg for the petrol S compared to the diesel S.
The pdk works really well with the huge amount of torque available at really low rpm's.
I can't see where you are living, but here in Belgium, annual road- and other taxes are allmost double for the petrol S compared to the diesel.
The petrol S doesn't feel that fast (allthough it is), they both handle and drive extremely well.
There's no bad decision to be made here.

 

Between the S and the S Diesel the S is faster, but the S Diesel feels faster: It has that kick at low revs that I found on the turbo but not really on the petrol S (the GTS has a little more of it, but not that much more). Perhaps the diesel gives more thrills in city driving.

But I'm done with diesel; I believe in Europe we are killing ourselves with that diesel pest.

 

The diesel is a real winner in city driving with low down grunt and instant responsiveness. It's also a winner on a steady cruise with much better fuel consumption. Outright acceleration is not as good as the S, but in quite a few circumstances it's faster, at least until the S eventually and inevitably catches up - but will it do so before you hit traffic? It all depends on where you drive. I have read a few times of comparisons where the diesel "feels" like a turbo (rather hang an S) from the drivers seat, but it really isn't.

 

I had a diesel, I now have a Turbo as I did not really like the diesel engine.

The SD is 60bhp short of what it should be, yes its great around town but out on the open road overtaking can be hard work and requires very good timing and distance judgement simply because of the plateau in the engine performance.

I have also test driven the 2.0 litre and 3.0 litre S. The S is good on the open road but not as good in town compared to the SD.

If you do town work and low mileage then go with the S, its a Porsche, and not an Audi in a Porsche body which is essentially what the diesel engine gives you

If you just do short trips in town then the SD may not get up to temperature and so you will need to factor in a 30km journey at 100kph every week to clear out the internals

During my SD ownership it averaged a real 33 miles per gallon, the MFD always displayed about 10% more mpg than my fill to fill fuel pump records give me.

 

I agree with all the pros and cons listed above by others, particularly @ABusLux 's observation about diesel pollution.

I'll add another strike against diesel - its pervasive and hard-to-get-rid-of smell. Over the decades I've driven and refueled many diesel vehicles, including a loaner Cayenne earlier this year. Almost always, touching the diesel pump handle with my bare hand resulted in that hand smelling of diesel for several hours afterward, even after washing. Wearing a glove to refuel seems a tad pretentious (even more so if you're driving a Porsche), but if I had a diesel car I'd do it. And that glove would be disposable so I didn't have to carry it in the car between fill-ups.

 

In the UK our fuel stations have disposable gloves to use

 

I didn't know that! Thanks Biggles!

 

Thanks, great info! I live in The Netherlands so the roads are pretty good overhere! I'm actually more concert of the whole experience... Will it feel like a Porsche if i'd go for the diesel? Or more like a chique Audi? I drive around 28.000km a year but it's more the karakter then the price that's important to me...

Thanks for the help, great!

 

Petrol S maybe lacks a bit of a torque but it feels much more like a proper Porsche. I had a diesel loaner once. I was seduced by its torque, the whole car felt really nice as a package, but I missed the engine and the sound of my S. It is a nice car but without emotions. So, none of them is perfect (but both are great) and it is up to you to decide which one suits you best. If you want the best of both worlds, than the Turbo is the one. It has all, torque and sound, and additionally even more power.

EDIT: I have just read this in another thread but can be applied to this one to. @santastico wrote for the base Macan this:
"Yes, it is a Porsche and it looks like a Porsche. However, if you ever drove a S, GTS or Turbo you know what you are missing. You are missing the amazing V6 engine that makes the car a a true Porsche. The car has no sound. No cold start sound. No acceleration sound. No sound when PDK change gears. The cold start sound on my S puts a huge smile in my face every time I turn the key. The quick change of gears makes an amazing sound on the regular exhaust that people turn their heads to check. The Base (and the diesel; my addition) Macan does not have any of that."

 

Goedenavond. Then the Petrol S.

In my times as a exchange student on a budget in Groningen all I could afford to ride was a super-cheap second-hand bike. That was the year of the song "fietsen". Very appropriate as a soundtrack.

 

I assume that in the Netherlands your Porsches are like ours in the UK, that is stripped to the bare essentials you then configure the car as you want it.

What follows is the advice I give on the UK based Macan forum
.
.
2.0 litre, S and SD Macans in base form are limited in what is actually fitted to the cars, and a few extras are needed to produce a Macan with the same fixtures as competitors.

From the base model I suggest that you add:-
a spare wheel, £155 is not a lot to give you options, also I suggest that you buy a couple of cans as sealant to use as a quick repair to get you out of danger
PS+, as it give a variable steering rack for lighter parking speed control.
PASM, gives three suspension settings
light comfort package, internal lighting is poor without plus the illuminated vanity mirror will be appreciated
sat nav, it is expected to be a standard fit in a £50k + car
14way seats, because it is a quality car and the 8way basic seats are just that, they also have a flat back
xenon headlights, as the base headlights are poor

OK so the above has added £4.5k before you start with the nice to haves, note that models like the GTS and Turbo have many standard inclusions that lesser models have as extras.

To maximise road handling and engine performance there are yet more extras to add:-
1) Sports Chrono which gives Sport+ mode for a more aggressive throttle map and a faster gear change map that also uses more of the useful available rev range. Launch control is also included but after testing it out on a demo car or at he PEC (Sports+ mode, full brake, floor gas and release brake to move) you will find it brutal in use on your own car.
2) Larger 21" wheels, which will help in giving the best road holding, handling, feel and performance.

So including 21" wheels and Sports Chrono these will add £3400 to the base cost of your Macan.

If you do go with 21" wheels then do test drive a Macan with these sized wheels and your choice of suspension to be sure you have chosen what suits you. 21" will give the most road noise so do take a note of the noise levels in your test drive, also test drive a Macan with different sized wheels so you can compare between them.

The same with seats, test drive a Macan with the seating you choose but also with the wheel size and suspension you intend to have on your Car.

For added internal comfort consider heated seats and steering wheel, also the smokers pack to cover the hole in front of the drinks holders and the internal storage option.

Reversing is a chore as the rear quarter visibility is limited so one of the reversing camera packages could do with being checked out during a test drive.

Popular extras are Pano roof, privacy glass, sport design mirrors, ACC and connect+.

You do get something for nothing, remember to tick the free 75 litre fuel tank option.

Its all personal taste, there are no rights or wrongs just the car you want but remember if all the boxes are ticked the price will rocket up to about £112k.

As a guide, a Macan will cost base price plus extras of £5k to match the level of fitment other non Porsches have as standard, with extras totalling £8k - 15k being the typical cost of extras on most 2.0, S & SD cars.

Do test drive a Macan with the wheel size and suspension set up that you intend to have fitted and the same goes for the seats, test drive a Macan with your choice of seats.
.
.
Please excuse the UKPound figures

 

If I had the option to order a Macan S diesel I would. I hate being frugal (!) but would like better mileage! We had a Cayenne loaner diesel that was getting 33 mpg. I liked that!!!

 

I've had an S Diesel for 2 months & I love it & have no regrets. For most of my driving, I believe the S would be slower, and I would have to refuel a lot more often. I've not noticed any issue with odour when refuelling. I usually have the Windows up & music on, and the diesel engine sound doesn't bother me.

 

Hmm, the last weekend I took out a demo diesel S I only got 25 UK mpg out of it driving it hard. Still got one on order though. Looks like I'll get around 35mpg ish in real life, maybe a bit more on longer runs.