Month: March 2015

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The Porsche Macan Turbo may look an aggressive beast but it’s easy to live with on a daily basis too

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Motoring writers don’t like to admit it but there comes a time towards the end of a test that you start to be more conscious about conserving fuel. That’s because each car comes with  full tank and (a) you are too mean to want to top up or (b) you live where I am and filling stations are few and far between.

I’ve known some ‘hackers’ who run the tank down to empty, which seems especially mean on the poor chap who has to collect the car and drive it back to HQ.

I still have two bars left in the Macan’s tank but living miles from a fuel pump, I’ve just returned from Bourton-on-the-Water driving the Porsche in ‘sensible’ mode. And for all the roar of the four tailpipes, the whopping wheels and 400bhp of grunt, the Macan can be a docile beast when required.

In fact, it feel more comfortable used as an everyday tool than a sporting machine across country. I’m surprised – I thought this Turbo model would demand to be driven hard all day, every day. I’m also hugely impressed. The Macan Turbo may not be as frugal as the diesel version but it’s just as easy to live with…

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Nissan set to join Porsche in the high performance SUV market with a Juke Nismo RS

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Are we about to experience a rash of high performance mini SUVs? Nissan today revealed details of the new Juke Nismo RS at Geneva Motor Show – a budget busting rival for this week’s test car, the Porsche Macan.

Now, I can’t say many Porsche buyers would opt for the Nissan badge over Stuttgart’s finest but today’s announcement does suggest other manufacturers might follow suit.

There are already offerings from premium brands like Audi, BMW and Land Rover but Nissan’s move will bring serious performance to a whole new sector.

The rise of the mini SUV seems set to continue then, with our Macan Turbo S being the holy grail of utility cars. The devil in me wants to take it across a ploughed field to see how it can actually perform in the rough stuff but I’m not sure Porsche would be happy!

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The Porsche Macan mini SUV isn’t pretty but it had few rivals on a twisty A-road

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It’s all about versatility these days and if you want lots of it, with bags of performance too, then the Macan Turbo has few rivals.

The Range Rover Sport and BMW X6 M are the obvious options but the Land Rover is too bulky to compete on a twisty A-road – and the Beemer remains plain ugly.

That’s not to say the Porsche is pretty as a picture. It isn’t. Like the bigger Cayenne, the trademark Porsche curves just don’t work that well on an SUV.

That said, there’s a lengthy list for the Macan and, consequently, aesthetic beauty obviously doesn’t com into it for many buyers. It must be something about the badge on the bonnet then…