DrG1970
New member
Well after a few short months (6 and a bit) I’ve traded in my Macan Turbo to Glasgow OPC - you can get your hands on it for just £91.5k!
I just happened to be browsing the local OPCs stock and an alternative caught my eye (more on that later).
What I loved:
Ride quality and handling was excellent on the 21” alloys with air suspension. Switching to the 20” winters improved this over uneven surfaces as you’d expect and the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5s handled very well in the snow… if only all those folks stuck on the road in front on summer tyres had stayed at home I’d have had even more fun!
Pretty quick in Sports / Sport + mode meant passing traffic was a breeze - the sports chrono dial is great, love the instant access. The PDK gearbox is sublime and I found myself using the paddle-shifts way more often than I thought I would.
Panoramic sunroof lets in tons of light into what otherwise could be a dark cabin. I must admit I always spec a sunroof and it is something I missed on the 992C4S. In all my years of driving I have never, ever had an issue with the sunroof in any of my cars although I know a few on the forum have.
I quite liked using the (model 2) real buttons but must confess the facelift’s centre console does look much slicker. I guess after a while of using the haptic buttons you’d get pretty familiar with where the functions are.
Apple car play and Siri integration were seamless and worked very well - although I’d like to be able to use the full screen not just 2/3 of it!
Car was really practical and swallowed more than enough luggage for trips away.
Adaptive cruise was used a few times on the longer trips and it was flawless. I’d had this in a previous Audi but never really trusted the system - in the Macan it made long motorway journeys very relaxing.
Bose was better than I thought it would be, although I’m basing that on the last couple of weeks… for some reason it started sounding a great deal better than when I initially got the car… wondering if there has been an over the air software update, or my Spotify app has started streaming in higher res (I’d not fiddled with any options recently). My trip computer had reset itself so wondering if any other tweaks had been made recently!
Surround view is great although I’d like to see the car displayed vertically rather than horizontally on the panoramic view (you know Porsche, just like the way I’m sitting in the car!!!).
The GT sport steering wheels is perfect and the optional wheel heating came in handy (pardoning the pun) a few times on some cold Scottish mornings.
The car handles fantastically well for a (compact) SUV and hides its weight pretty well, although it’s obviously not a 911, it can still put a grin on your face when ‘making progress’.
Sports exhaust made a decent sound, although I suspect those outside the car get a better listen to the engine than those inside.
Heated front windscreen made mince meat of early morning frosts.
General quality of cabin materials, especially extended leather, carbon trims etc. was spot on.
What wasn’t so great IMO…
PDLS+ LED headlamps are a bit of a let down after the Matrix lights on the 992 (and my RS3 for that matter). I wasn’t too impressed with the dipped or full beam and the system was a bit hit or miss when it came to automatically dipping causing a few drivers to flash their lights. This NEVER happened in years of driving with Matrix. In fact I ended up turning off the auto high bean in the options.
No auto dimming mirrors / rear view mirror meant quite a bit of dazzle on some dark journeys through the Highlands. Should really be standard on this level of car but we all know Porsche’s optional extra goldmine. I bought the car as a showroom car, so didn’t get to pick the exact spec. I would have chosen.
Never did feel the passenger side mirror could tilt sufficiently to see the kerbs when reversing - I know the surround view gets round this but it’s good to be able to see with your own eyes rather than relying on the display.
Every now and again the memory seats would fail to move into position when getting into the car. No major hassle, just need to press the memory button on the door if this was the case.
Bit of a rattle from the passenger side door just under the handle when moving over rough sections of road - I was going to mention this when it next went back to the garage but I never quite made it to that stage
Rear wiper was awful but easily replaced by Bosh version (all of £7 from Amazon) which provided much improved rear visibility… although OMG how manky does the rear of the car get after long journeys?
Front wipers didn’t sweep fast enough in some of the downpours I’ve experienced up here which was surprising - I’ve never had this issue on any previous (and there have been many!) cars.
18-way seats… Now I think these are more comfortable than the 18-way seats in the 992 but I still found the leg bolster just dug into my thigh / hamstring and on long journeys I found it pretty annoying and uncomfortable. I’d really recommend any folks specifying their new cars to test out all the seats to see if you are a good fit for them. It’s a shame because the rest of the seat is fantastic and I found the squab length, side bolsters, head restraints etc. were easy to adjust and very supportive.
Filling with petrol could get my OCD going - even if you eked out the last drops of petrol from a pump it often would show up as being about 7/8 full - aaarggghhh!
Overall I’ve enjoyed driving and owning the Macan Turbo over the last few months but the nature of my commute and the rising petrol prices got me thinking if it was the best car for me now. I (currently) have a deposit down on the EV Macan when it eventually comes out although if I like the new car as much as I reckon I will I may well stick with ‘cars’ rather than a SUV in the future.
I’ve traded in the Macan Turbo against a (bit of a mouthful) Panamera e-hybrid Sport Turismo. I’m hoping that since my daily commute should be around 90-100% covered by the e-mode, I should dramatically reduce my reliance on the old dinosaur juice but I still have the convenience of filling up at petrol stations for the occasional longer journeys… seems like the best of both worlds. The interior is even more stunning than the Macan and this model has my favoured Matrix lights, auto dimming mirrors and a few other options I was after.
I just happened to be browsing the local OPCs stock and an alternative caught my eye (more on that later).
What I loved:
Ride quality and handling was excellent on the 21” alloys with air suspension. Switching to the 20” winters improved this over uneven surfaces as you’d expect and the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5s handled very well in the snow… if only all those folks stuck on the road in front on summer tyres had stayed at home I’d have had even more fun!
Pretty quick in Sports / Sport + mode meant passing traffic was a breeze - the sports chrono dial is great, love the instant access. The PDK gearbox is sublime and I found myself using the paddle-shifts way more often than I thought I would.
Panoramic sunroof lets in tons of light into what otherwise could be a dark cabin. I must admit I always spec a sunroof and it is something I missed on the 992C4S. In all my years of driving I have never, ever had an issue with the sunroof in any of my cars although I know a few on the forum have.
I quite liked using the (model 2) real buttons but must confess the facelift’s centre console does look much slicker. I guess after a while of using the haptic buttons you’d get pretty familiar with where the functions are.
Apple car play and Siri integration were seamless and worked very well - although I’d like to be able to use the full screen not just 2/3 of it!
Car was really practical and swallowed more than enough luggage for trips away.
Adaptive cruise was used a few times on the longer trips and it was flawless. I’d had this in a previous Audi but never really trusted the system - in the Macan it made long motorway journeys very relaxing.
Bose was better than I thought it would be, although I’m basing that on the last couple of weeks… for some reason it started sounding a great deal better than when I initially got the car… wondering if there has been an over the air software update, or my Spotify app has started streaming in higher res (I’d not fiddled with any options recently). My trip computer had reset itself so wondering if any other tweaks had been made recently!
Surround view is great although I’d like to see the car displayed vertically rather than horizontally on the panoramic view (you know Porsche, just like the way I’m sitting in the car!!!).
The GT sport steering wheels is perfect and the optional wheel heating came in handy (pardoning the pun) a few times on some cold Scottish mornings.
The car handles fantastically well for a (compact) SUV and hides its weight pretty well, although it’s obviously not a 911, it can still put a grin on your face when ‘making progress’.
Sports exhaust made a decent sound, although I suspect those outside the car get a better listen to the engine than those inside.
Heated front windscreen made mince meat of early morning frosts.
General quality of cabin materials, especially extended leather, carbon trims etc. was spot on.
What wasn’t so great IMO…
PDLS+ LED headlamps are a bit of a let down after the Matrix lights on the 992 (and my RS3 for that matter). I wasn’t too impressed with the dipped or full beam and the system was a bit hit or miss when it came to automatically dipping causing a few drivers to flash their lights. This NEVER happened in years of driving with Matrix. In fact I ended up turning off the auto high bean in the options.
No auto dimming mirrors / rear view mirror meant quite a bit of dazzle on some dark journeys through the Highlands. Should really be standard on this level of car but we all know Porsche’s optional extra goldmine. I bought the car as a showroom car, so didn’t get to pick the exact spec. I would have chosen.
Never did feel the passenger side mirror could tilt sufficiently to see the kerbs when reversing - I know the surround view gets round this but it’s good to be able to see with your own eyes rather than relying on the display.
Every now and again the memory seats would fail to move into position when getting into the car. No major hassle, just need to press the memory button on the door if this was the case.
Bit of a rattle from the passenger side door just under the handle when moving over rough sections of road - I was going to mention this when it next went back to the garage but I never quite made it to that stage
Rear wiper was awful but easily replaced by Bosh version (all of £7 from Amazon) which provided much improved rear visibility… although OMG how manky does the rear of the car get after long journeys?
Front wipers didn’t sweep fast enough in some of the downpours I’ve experienced up here which was surprising - I’ve never had this issue on any previous (and there have been many!) cars.
18-way seats… Now I think these are more comfortable than the 18-way seats in the 992 but I still found the leg bolster just dug into my thigh / hamstring and on long journeys I found it pretty annoying and uncomfortable. I’d really recommend any folks specifying their new cars to test out all the seats to see if you are a good fit for them. It’s a shame because the rest of the seat is fantastic and I found the squab length, side bolsters, head restraints etc. were easy to adjust and very supportive.
Filling with petrol could get my OCD going - even if you eked out the last drops of petrol from a pump it often would show up as being about 7/8 full - aaarggghhh!
Overall I’ve enjoyed driving and owning the Macan Turbo over the last few months but the nature of my commute and the rising petrol prices got me thinking if it was the best car for me now. I (currently) have a deposit down on the EV Macan when it eventually comes out although if I like the new car as much as I reckon I will I may well stick with ‘cars’ rather than a SUV in the future.
I’ve traded in the Macan Turbo against a (bit of a mouthful) Panamera e-hybrid Sport Turismo. I’m hoping that since my daily commute should be around 90-100% covered by the e-mode, I should dramatically reduce my reliance on the old dinosaur juice but I still have the convenience of filling up at petrol stations for the occasional longer journeys… seems like the best of both worlds. The interior is even more stunning than the Macan and this model has my favoured Matrix lights, auto dimming mirrors and a few other options I was after.
