the Refreshed Porsche Macan is a pint-sized surprise it's actually
Porsches best-selling car spoiler alert it's not a car but this SUV is filled
with quality and performance you'd be hard-pressed to find from anyone else
except Porsche with its $75,000 as tested price it comes with some cool and
quirky stuff you might want to know before buying
if you plan to use your phone in the makan if chances are pretty good you are
you need to know that there are only USB C outlets in there so there are two in
the center storage console and then there are two in the rear console for
backseat passengers most iPhones still don't use the USB C so you have to have
an adapter or a converter to do so I learned the hard way when I left my
house with the 7% battery life got in the car nowhere to charge my phone so
had to go and buy a little cigarette lighter with a USB charge it up and I
honestly haven't felt that helpless since the early 2000s when I was driving
a box Caprice with a Kyocera phone and a broken cigarette lighter now my solution
got me juice but I still couldn't plug into the data ports and that's honestly
ok because the 2019 and 2020 makan with its new touchscreen and media system has
wireless apple carplay so I was able to stream apple carplay
even though I didn't have a corded connection to the car and I just got
juice from the DC charger Wireless carplay still has limited availability
industry why there are only a few automakers doing it so it's great
because all you have to do is jump in and it automatically starts carplay and
you know it works really well however unlike a Lexus or BMW that has wireless
carplay and a wide screen you can't view full screen car play which is
unfortunate because I found limited use for the widgets and modules that Porsche
puts elsewhere on the screen I really just wanted car play to take up the
entire screen this is a gorgeous steering wheel very porsche life you can
be sitting behind the wheel the 911 and it has a hidden feature below the bottom
spoke on the back of the steering wheel is a small heated steering wheel button
buy it new and you'll luckily get the full demo and be shown where this is and
how to use it but by one use then you might be surprised by an unexpected
feature when you hit the button and heated steering wheel pops up on the
gauges another somewhat hidden feature is the brake hold function now this is
going to hold the brake in traffic to ease driver fatigue
holding the brake while you're stopped in drive in most cars there's a button
that activates the feature and then slowing to a stop turns it on on the
makaan you press hard enough until the feature is activated you may not
naturally press that hard on the brake pedal when you're stopped in traffic to
activate this feature and you may never know that you have this very traffic
friendly feature now on the steering wheel-mounted mode selector honestly
this is the perfect spot for this mode dial the center button has a sport
response function when equipped with the Sport Chrono Package
now this gets you the fancy but otherwise pretty much a useless lap
timer and clock but you hit this button for 20 seconds you get heightened
transmission and engine calibration like the most aggressive Sport Plus mode I
really wanted to treat the button like an overboost or nitrous button hitting
it and pushing back in my seat but it really just makes the transmission
downshift and engine respond quicker and that's cool though because then you
don't have to be in the aggressive Sport Plus mode all the time in that mode the
transmission aggressively holds on to a gear like second gear engine racing at
5,000 rpm while just driving through your neighborhood
the makaan is a lovely driving car very enjoyable but at $75,000 it doesn't have
everything you'd expect at this price now even though the fancy key is shaped
like a car you still have to put it in the dashboard and turn to start there's
no start button there's no proximity keyless entry at this price to unlock
the doors you have to actually hit a button on the key fob and that is very
prehistoric maybe I've been spoiled by $23,000 Toyota Corollas that have this
feature but if you want it in the macan it's an $800 option what this car did
have at $75,000 was the optional $2,700 adaptive air suspension it's been
tweaked for 2019 with new shock absorber hydraulics and internal components the air
suspension varies the ride height based on driving modes and its base ride
height is a little over half an inch lower than the fixed height sport
suspension it's got a cool cargo load mode where
from the back you can hit a button the rear end squats to make loading
cargo easier now it's a suspension that balances ride comfort and handling
prowess very well it doesn't beat you up in the Sport Plus mode but it's still
engaging to drive in comfort settings now of the three available suspensions
on the macan this is the most performance oriented one all right
speed round the new engine has a single turbocharger mounted between the V of
the engine versus two on the outside and it makes a few more ponies and torques
than the last one but it's largely the same driving experience as before launch
control now launch control in a dual clutch transmission car with all-wheel
drive is something to experience in this car it revs up past 5,000 rpm dumps the
clutch blasts 60 miles an hour in 4.9 seconds alright it has a real gear
selector instead of a goofy push-button dial or flappy thing great traditional
very easy to use one thing I think the makan needs is more exhaust volume it
sounds good to get a great tone
but needs more volume like the snarling exhaust and the bmw x3 or x4 m40 Porsche
does have an optional sports exhaust but it's $3,000 and pretty much everything
is expensive on the back on but if you don't need the space of the larger SUV
then the S oddly seems worth it