Unfortunately we don't have twisties in the Midwest. However, in a straight line and on the highway the Macan is surgical (although not a neurosurgeon like a 911). On quick turns and exit ramps it is poised and drives better than most sporty sedans (ie 3/5 series, C/E class, A4/6). I have the steel suspension with PASM and you can do 50 on the exit ramp while you're drinking a cappuccino out of a cup with no lid. PDK response times are excellent even in normal mode. All you need to do is click the paddle once or give an aggressive throttle input with the gas pedal and the PDK is ready to dance faster than Gregory Hines on speed. In sport plus, the shifts are lightning quick, super firm, and feel like a german car should with a properly calibrated ECU/TCU.
Some folks have criticized the Macan's track capabilities, and even go as far as saying its not fun because its "too composed". I beg to differ. If I wanted a car to do tokyo drifts or squirrel out all the time I would have bought a RWD british sports car (no offense to our British members, these are wonderful cars in their own right, and they do this brilliantly). Even though I enjoy and need sporty driving, I find that I rarely use any other mode other than normal mode because Porsche essentially nailed a well balanced driving experience right out of the box. In fact, this is the ONLY car I've ever had that feels like it has a sport mode built into the normal mode, and can nearly instantaneously modulate it behavior based on driver input. My only complaint is that the turbo is underpowered by about 10% (hence the PP option), but I don't want to go messing with the computers because the stock map DRIVEABILITY is absolutely spectacular. Would not want to increase HP at the expense of driveability, because at the end of the day I still want it to drive like a luxury car 90% of the time. However, if you do find some twisties, I have no doubt that this car will far exceed your expectations for a CUV, and will make most sedans look like a 1980's Cadillac (including most German sedans).

 

I have driven my Macan GTS on track (introduction to track driving), including slalom and hard braking.

It feels great. And unless one is an accomplished driver used to sports cars, the Macan gives all needed thrill. I can PM you links to a couple of videos, not only mine.

 

I never tracked my Macan, but I drove one as hard as I could at PEC Atlanta. Then, at the end of the session, I asked my instructor to show me what it could really do. When I got out, the seat had a distinct ridge in the leather. Something about category 10 pucker factor.

 

At the PEC Los Angeles, I drove a Macan S (20" rims, summer tires, Sport Chrono) as hard as my abilities and instructor permitted around the 1-mile handling circuit. Being new to the Macan and the PEC, I didn't push the vehicle as hard as the instructor. For what it is (a 4000 lb CUV), the Macan has awesome capabilities.

Afterwards, I also rode two laps with a PEC driver in a 911 GT3 RS. AMAZING!!! That is the vehicle for twisty roads!

 

The Macon GTS loves to be pushed hard. The PDK is very responsive and in Sport or Sport + the shifts are precise. It hangs onto every curve and allows you to exit hard. It feels like 911 with a back seat. Having driven the Cayenne turbo the Macan is a different animal. Cayenne is a big, fast SUV and the Macan is big sports car. Driving through the twisties on the coast or Lake Tahoe the Macan does not disappoint. I am sure I have not come close to its' capabilities ... yet.

 

Is the handling amazing for an SUV? Yes. Is it a sports car? Well, no.

When you push it to the edge, you realize there's just no hiding all the weight and higher COG. Porsche has done a remarkably good job with it, but even they can't defy the laws of physics for very long.

If you dare, you finally get to the point that it understeers, and that can sneak up on you somewhat because steering feedback is not one of the Macans strengths.

The lowered suspension of the GTS (and presumedly the PP also, I've never driven one) delay this a bit, and it's perhaps a bit less sneaky, but the same thing does eventually happen. There's even a noticeable difference when I lower the stock AS on my Turbo.

None of this is really all that surprising when one considers the weight and COG.

The paddles are great when driving aggressively, although this PDK does not shift quite as fast as the PDK's I've experienced in 911's.

To put my comments in perspective, we also own a 996, an SLK55, an M235, and I'm a former Lotus Elise owner.

 

What tires were you using to give you you're handling experience?

 

Shark is correct. I never hit the point of understeer, but my driving coach at PEC ATL did. The funny thing is he talks all the way around the course and I don't mean to me. He is either thinking out loud or still coaching as he drives: Ease on the power to full; hard on the brakes now hit the apex, ease on the power; full power; hold it, hold, hold it; now hard on the brakes and back on the power and something like all the way around. He announced when we hit understeer and I could feel it a little from the passenger seat.

 

As others have posted, the Macan is well composed while driven to the edge, but it is not a sports car. The weight is felt at the limit, especially when extending a slide (in the snow) or rapid slower speed changes in direction ('chicanes). It tends to push and dive the nose when you overdrive a corner and attempt to turn in. It's much better suited to going in a bit slow and using power to drive the rear.

At least with the torque vectoring option (which gets you the electronic diff), I've found the car to be fairly well neutral and willing to rotate.

It is fun on the street, more than capable for most drivers, and hits below it's weight class for cornering. But it's not a car.

 

Thank you so much for all of your replies and please accept my apologies for my late reply [emoji3] so there seems to be a couple of trains of thought. Tomorrow i will get to drive a Macan S for the very first time. I hope to know by the end of the drive whether it's the car for me (sports car that can carry my kids) or whether i go and buy a nice cayman s boxster s and use it for fun times. I really hope the Macan ticks the box though so fingers crossed!
Thanks for all of your help guys and i will report back on my drive soon [emoji3][emoji3]

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It really depends upon just how the test drive car is configured.

Standard suspension and small diameter wheels will not give the best handling.

The handling will be good, but it can be better by a considerable margin.

A Macan with at least PASM and 21 in wheels will give by far the better handling.

A GTS or Turbo with PP will take the handling to an even higher level of capabilities.

 

Not as hard as on a track, but just returned from a 3,800 trip from VCR to San Fran, then up the Coast Highway home. ( took wife's Base Macan with 18" stock wheels).
May have hit 160kph here & there, hit that once up hill on Grants Pass, no issues.
On the Coast Coming home we both pushed it as much as we could, traffic and smoke dependant. The G meter registered .8 left and .73 right for cornering. ( lateral acceleration can be set in your CAR PCM display).
Passed whenever we could, was never passed unless we wanted to let a local by.
The best was some dude in his Camaro, right on our tail in some sections, but in the corners he disappeared in our rearview mirrors.
It was a blast. Never felt out of control, and still managed a respectable 8.6l/100k avg mileage.

In all honesty, I don't think we would have pushed my S any harder, but may have been able to pass 1 or 2 cars when the dotted line was in a shorter passing area, but didn't miss the extra 80hp.

We've done the PCH in sports cars, but once you are sitting up higher in an SUV, the view over the edge is more noticeable. That was the only freaky part, looking down, rather than out ( from a lower sports care viewpoint).

 

Against every other SUV, the handling is incredible.

Against a sports sedan the handling is good.

Against a real sports car, not the same.

But the Macan is plenty quick and nimble for a DD, and it is practical and comfortable. I just don't expect it to come close to my 7-speed Corvette Grand Sport, and it doesn't.

 

I have a Macan Turbo of my own but used to own a Macan S with the diesel engine.

Handling of both is brilliant for a two tonne SUV but they are not sports cars.

I have driven an S diesel Macan, a Macan Turbo with PASM, a Macan Turbo with air suspension and a Macan Turbo PP with air suspension around the Silverstone PEC handling circuits.

Also at Silverstone PEC I have driven a 911 S, a 911 Carrera 4 GTS and a 718 Boxster.

Hence I can state with practical experience that any Macan can do a pretty good job at keeping up with a Porsche sports car around the PEC handling circuits, but it is hard work.

With the 911's it is totally effortless and one can keep going on and on, but as I have said you have to work harder in the Macan.

In the right hands a Macan Turbo PP is quicker than a Carrera 4 GTS even when the latter is driven by an above average competency driver.

 

I have a 2017 Turbo with Performance Package. I have driven it hard on some remote roads. The thing can do a lot more than I can, my adrenaline is pumping at the end of the run. Cornering is superb for an SUV, you can hang the rear, and if you have the stones for it, really hang it out, the systems in the vehicle make me feel like a lot better driver than I am.

Every time I run it hard, I say something like "****, German engineering nailed this thing", then I lust for a 911 GTS.

I have a friend from Germany, he drove my Macan one time, and while he was not even pushing it, I could tell he would dust my ass in a split second..

 

Cough Cough LOL.... Sometimes pictures are better than words...
http://jalopnik.com/watching-this-porsche-macan-pass-all-manner-of-track-ca-1798538663

https://youtu.be/VIYlYdI0s88

 

I just got back from Boxstoberfest in the hill country in Texas. The Macan GTS (in my case) is very capable for a SUV...The reviewers all say its like a 911....IT IS NOT. For an SUV however it is pretty awesome. The corners are where the thing struggles the most which you would expect givens it's weight and height but there were some Boxsters in front of me and I was on their ass the entire time. This isn't so much reflective of the Boxster..more the driver of the Boxster..The Macan kept up well. The paddles are fun to use...you can keep it in a lower gear to get that instant push out of corners. The Macan is well worth driving spiritedly...go have fun!

 

This isn't so much reflective of the Boxster..more the driver of the Boxster.

That's the thing about track videos where owners proudly proclaim they kept up with or passed cars that will obviously be far superior in a track environment. What they don't mention is how talented/experienced the other drivers were, or just how hard the other driver was pushing his car.

I defer to one of my friends who owns an M Roadster and loves to show his dashcam tape of him passing a pair of GT3's. He knows better but he still enjoys watching his video

 

track-day protocol?

cool video @Aprilia850 !


Dumb question from a guy who's never done a track-day:
Is there some sort of track-day protocol whereby slower drivers let faster drivers pass?
It looked like in your video some cars were slowing down/pulling over on the straights to let you by.
Or is there somebody watching the pace and the traffic and flagging down the slower drivers?
How does it work?

 

cool video @Aprilia850 !


Dumb question from a guy who's never done a track-day:
Is there some sort of track-day protocol whereby slower drivers let faster drivers pass?
It looked like in your video some cars were slowing down/pulling over on the straights to let you by.
Or is there somebody watching the pace and the traffic and flagging down the slower drivers?
How does it work?

No dumb questions.

At Drivers Ed events (DE events are they are called to appease insurance companies), if you get flashed or see a person pulling up to you, you pull off the racing line and use your turn signal to indicate which side of your car they should pass on. It's a little counterintuitive at first because when you do that, it feels like you should turn in the direction of your blinker. Generally in these events, passing is only permitted on straights. And as I've pointed out in my earlier diatribe, any recent Porsche sports car would blow past a Macan on the straights.

 

I have tracked a lot in a 911, a Boxster Spyder and I just did my first autocross in the 911, having previously done them in the Macan.

Sorry, but same driver, same skills and the Macan cannot and will not keep up with a sports car. Period. The 1000 lb plus penalty is too much to overcome. The Macan has a lot of tire, and it does an admirable job. I'm not dissing it. I own one after all. But none of my track times in the Macan S come close to mine in my 991.1 C4S and even in autocross, the Macan is about 5 s back on a 43 s course.

On the ring, best semi-reported time for the Macan is 8:15 (http://www.macanforum.com/forum/por...m/forum/porsche-macan-versus-competition/8434-macan-turbo-nurburgring-time.html)

Various versions of the 991 do it 30-65 seconds faster. That is an eternity. However, a good Macan driver (of which we seem to have a few here) could easily take a bad driver in a 911, because skill is important.

But let's remove skill for a second. As in passing on a straight, just to show how ridiculous this premise is.

Let's say you come out of a corner onto a straight in your Macan GTS at 80 km/h and floor it. You'd be doing 160 km/h 14.8 s later. Do the same thing in a 991.1 C4S and it takes 7 s to get to 160km/h. 9 s in a 981 Cayman S. This requires no talent. You come onto the straight, and you floor it. Explain to me how a Macan can pass a middle of the road 911 on a track. Please. It is physically impossible unless the other driver hasn't floored their accelerator. I've never been able to pull that off against well driven cars and the numbers are irrefutable proof that it goes beyond driver talent. No talent involved in this maneuver.

In a corner, the best I've seen my lowered Macan S on stock 20" summer Michelins pull is 0.93 g. Same corner in my 911 C4S on 20" stock Pzeros I see 1.24 g. A lot of drivers don't have the skill to use the full cornering capability of a 911, so I could see how a massively overtired SUV like the Macan with a good driver could be competitive in the corners with amateurs running sports cars, but unable to hold them in the corner at the limit. But the same driver pushing both cars to their limit? No way.

I've been to quite a few Porsche track days. I'd say most drivers don't have extensive skills, and most instructors are only somewhat more talented. I'm a former F3000 racer (OK, technically I ran in non-championship races for car development in the summer of 1985), so I may be biased, but that's just the reality of it.

Racing is really just a matter of seconds per lap, and talent can overcome a lot. No question. But all else being equal, no Macan is going to take a Porsche sports car. It doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun and pass a lot of sports cars as we've seen. But in apples-vs-apples, you won't win in the Macan.

You will leave with a huge smile on your face.

 

Macanuck, thanks for taking the time to set this matter straight. Great explanation.

 

Thanks for the explanation @Macanuck . Seems like that's a good protocol to keep everyone safe.






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The harder you drive it, the better it feels. The Macan does a good ho hum Sport Ute impression when driving docile, but wring it out and you feel that inner sports car Porsche DNA.

Makes me sad for the majority of Macan's out there who's owners will never exercise them to a point of being able to identify how different they are than all the generic SUV's out there.

 

The harder you drive it, the better it feels.

I would also say the harder you drive it the more it differentiates itself from any other SUV.

 

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all of your replies. So much good info and personal experiences for me really helps with the decision making. I had my first ever Macan drive a few days ago...it is amazing. Coming from a very able little Renault it was quite in jump in speed, ride quality and awd handling. Big smiles on my face [emoji3][emoji3]. So I think the question has been answered for me...my driving capabilities will never exceed what this car can do and finding some nice twistys will no doubt be very satisfying. I now have a new dilemma which i might start another thread on. Thanks again everyone [emoji3]

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I should also mention it was an S

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