Anyone who reads GCFSB knows that your managing editor isn’t too keen on SUVs. After being driven around in a Range Rover Sport yesterday morning, I was impressed. Not impressed as something to drive but rather to be driven in. Occasionally, an SUV will come along that forces me to take a second look, like the Porsche Macan. Based on the Audi Q5, this is Porsche’s smallest SUV. The top model is the one you see here, the Macan Turbo, with a 3.6 liter, turbocharged V6 pumping out 395 horsepower. Mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, this SUV can launch to 60 mph in well under 5 seconds. One curious side note about the Macan is that it is the first Porsche to be offered with a four cylinder engine since the 968, as a base Macan has been released for the UK and Japanese markets with a 2.0 liter turbocharged inline-4.
Beyond the performance, the looks are rather handsome. The rear three-quarter view is especially attractive to me, with tail lights that could almost be described as an update of those which adorned the 928S4, GT and GTS. For me, this is a much more attractive looking machine than the oft-maligned four-door in the lineup, the Panamera.