The Porsche Macan is a near-perfect SUV. It is easy and fun to drive, has immense boot space, features clean lines and is easy on the eyes. However, the vehicle is expensive and very poor on gas mileage. It costs a staggering $55,450 and returns around 17 MPG within the city and 123 MPG on the highways.
In order to make the vehicle more desirable, Porsche is now offering the Macan in a four-cylinder 2.0-liter turbocharged engine option. This engine block however cuts the CUV down on performance and price. Take your pick!
The 2.0-liter engine block on the Macan displaces 252 BHP along with 273 ft-lb of torque and is 210 pounds lighter than the more powerful variant. This makes up for a bit of the power struggle that this vehicle faces.
The engine is hooked on to a PDK seven-speed transmission system and an all-wheel drivetrain, which helps the Macan accelerate from 0 – 60 mph in under 6.1 seconds, which is pretty quick for a detuned CUV.
However, despite the reduction in prices, the Macan returns 20 MPG in the city and 25 MPG on the highway, which is not much of a difference when compared to the 340 BHP displacing variant. Even though the Porsche Macan offers the least fuel economy in its class, it must be noted that all the rival brands offer fuel economy by dramatically cutting down of performance.
While the Audi Q5 offers 220 BHP, The Mercedes-Benz GLC offers 241 BHP and the BMW X3 offers 240 BHP. As a result, the Porsche Macan is easily the most performance-bred CUV in the class. The only selling point for these vehicles is that they offer a lot less performance at a much cheaper price.
Hence, if you happen to be in the mood to go get yourself one of these toys, weigh your odds out before taking the leap of faith. Porsche has priced the new Macan at $48,550 along with an additional $1,050 destination charge. Even though it’s cheaper than the Macan S by around $6,900, it costs $7,000 more than the all-wheel drive variants of its competitors.
As a result, it is popular with the performance addicts only! If you are looking for additional options to go along with the stock variant, the price gap is going to widen by a huge margin. In an intelligent move, Porsche has just unveiled the Macan in the American market, which is bound to open the doors to a huge market segment.
Porsche had wooed the American audiences with the V6 Cayenne and the four-cylinder Macan is likely to have a similar effect on the customer base in this part of the world. Porsche has designed the four-cylinder Macan to be a part of the sports-car revolution that the company plans to bring into the world of SUVs.
Porsche has four variants of the Macan in place, namely the Macan S, Macan Turbo and the recently-unveiled Macan GTS, apart from the four-cylinder variant. The turbocharger installed along with the engine is capable of offering a 14psi boost with charge air cooling, variable valve timing, and direct injection.
Porsche’s engineering team has worked on the handling aspect of the Macan, which in turn helps this vehicle handle like a dream. The absence of body roll is a major positive of the Macan, which comes in handy around high-speed corners.
The engineers have also cut down the weight to 3,902 pounds, which is featherweight considering the class that this vehicle belongs to. In terms of design, there is hardly any difference between the four-cylinder variant and its predecessors, which is good news, since, buyers will not have to spend an extra buck to opt for features that are standard on the other models.