Porsche's Macan-do attitude

Saturday, 1 March 2014

On the outskirts of the historic German city of Leipzig there's a vehicle production facility that's much more than meets the eye.

AT A GLANCE

Drivetrains: Active all-wheel driven front-mounted 3.0-litre V6 bi-turbo petrol, 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel, and 3.6-litre V6 bi-turbo petrol engines, all with seven-speed double-clutch automatic transmissions.

**Outputs:

S petrol** - 250 kW at 5500 to 6500 rpm, 460 Nm at 1450 to 5000 rpm, depending on tyres sets used 8.7-9.0 L/100km, 212-204 g/km CO2.

S diesel - 190 kW at 4000-4250 rpm, 580 Nm at 1750-2500 rpm, depending on tyre sets used 6.1-6.3 L/100km, 159-164 g/km CO2.

Turbo - 294 kW at 6000 rpm, 550 Nm at 1350-4500 rpm, depending on tyre sets used 8.9-9.2 L/100km, 208-216 g/km CO2.

Performance:

S - Max 254 kmh, 0-100 kmh 5.4 seconds (5.2 with optional Sport Chrono package).

S diesel - Max 230 kmh, 0-100 kmh 6.3 seconds (6.1).

Turbo - Max 266 kmh, 0-100 kmh 4.8 seconds (4.6).

Chassis: Five-arm wishbone front axle, trapezoidal wishbone setup at the rear. Turbo has air suspension as standard, optional on others. Electro-mechanical power steering.

Safety: Dual-circuit brake system with axle distribution, Porsche Stability Management, two-stage drive and front-passenger airbags, side and knee airbags for those in the front, curtain airbags front and rear.

**Dimensions:

S** - L 4681mm (Turbo 4699mm), W 1923mm, H 1624mm, W/base 2807mm, F/track 1655mm, R/track 1651mm. Weight 1865 - 1925 kg.

**Pricing:

S diesel** $118,000,

S petrol $121,000,

Turbo $156,000.

Hot: Potent performance potential, particularly the Turbo; talented chassis; design is a lovely combination of SUV with Porsche sportscar looks.

Not: Rear seat room is fairly cramped, particularly for head space.

Verdict: This new Porsche has the potential to immediately take over from the Cayenne as the top seller. It'll certainly play a major role in at least maintaining the German luxury brand's profitability.

Porsche Leipzig was created in 2002 to build Porsche's first-ever luxury SUV, the Cayenne. It's also where the Panamera five-door coupe is now built, and their combined annual production is more than 100,000 vehicles.

But Porsche Leipzig is a lot more than a car factory. In the middle of it all is a magnificent diamond-shaped five-storey Customer Centre that houses a museum, auditorium, conference facilities and restaurants. Not only that, but the building overlooks two special attractions - a full-sized FIA-certified race circuit, and a dedicated off-road facility with 6km of demanding terrain.

What is fascinating about the race circuit is that every corner has been modelled on famous sections from race circuits around the world. There's the Corkscrew from Laguna Seca in USA, the Mobil I S right-left chicane from Germany's Nurburgring, the Curve di Lesmo from Monza in Italy, the Suntory Corner from Shizuoka in Japan - it's all there.

And the offroad facility is just as fascinating. Formerly a training area for Russian and German military during the days when Leipzig was part of the German Democratic Republic, it has been pretty well left as is, to the extent it still has a number of bunkers there - and they now form part of the offroading course that includes an ascent section with an 80 per cent gradient, and a traversing course with a 35 degree slope.

Trouble is, up until now there hasn't been a Porsche capable of using both facilities - not really. You definitely wouldn't want to take a Panamera or a 911 across the offroad facility, and while the Cayenne SUV could take that on, it is a large high-performance vehicle intended more for high-speed travel down autobahns rather than tearing around race circuits.

But now there's another Porsche waiting in the wings that is eminently capable of performing both on the racetrack and in the countryside. It's the Macan, to be launched in Europe in April and in New Zealand in June.

It's quite obviously the Cayenne's smaller sibling - in fact it almost got called Cajun as in CAyenne JUNior - but the bodyshell lines combine with what's under the bonnet to make it the rumbustious little brother. Maybe that explains the decision to call the new vehicle Macan, which is apparently a derivation of the Indonesian word for tiger.

Not that ‘little' is a word that applies to this new Macan. It might be smaller than a Cayenne, but it is a substantial SUV all the same and is powered by a selection of V6 turbocharged petrol and diesel engines that give it potent performance - the slowest of the fleet can accelerate to our open road speed limit in as little as 6.1 seconds, and the fastest can get there in just 4.6 seconds.

Little wonder then that Porsche is describing the Macan as the sportscar of the SUV segment. The

vehicle certainly looks it, too. Its long low nose with a clamshell bonnet, sloped roofline, rear hips that have all sorts of 911 styling cues, and a beautifully clean rear end, all combine to give the new Porsche an athletic stance.

Interior design is the same. In true performance car fashion the centre dial of its three-dial instrument cluster is the tachometer. The interior feels snug but the seats are great, and the steering wheel is pinched from the Porsche 918.

At an international media conference in Leipzig last week - at which Porsche officials probably set a world record for the number of times they uttered the words Urban Lifestyle SUV - chairman of the executive board Matthias Muller said all the forecasts point to the fact this is exactly the right time for Porsche to introduce its fifth model line.

'All the forecasts come to the same conclusion - that premium SUVs are enjoying strong and stable sales growth,' he told journalists.

'Last year 1.3 million of them were sold, which was 187 per cent more than the number sold in 2007. We forecast the number will clearly exceed 1.8 million units by 2024 - that's growth in urban lifestyle SUVs averaging 3.4 per cent per annum.'

Although Muller forecast the Macan will make a major contribution towards securing the future of Porsche by achieving strong sales, the marque will still remain a manufacturer of exclusive sportscars, he added.

'You have to remember that for every 1000 cars that are sold, just two or three are made by Porsche,' he said. 'So a high degree of exclusivity is assured for the long run.'

Macan is based on the Audi Q5, but two-thirds of the vehicle's components are either new or have been substantially modified. It is longer, wider, lower and slightly longer in the wheelbase than its Audi cousin, all of which combines to give the SUV its sportscar look.

The vehicle keeps the Q5's five-link front and trapezoidal suspension setup, but the three models that will initially be launched offer a variety of spring and damper choices. Entry S and S diesel versions both have this base suspension, but for the New Zealand market Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) has been added to the standard specification. This is an electronically controlled shock absorber adjustment system that regulates damper forces to help reduce body movement, and the damping forces can be controlled by the driver through choosing Comfort, Sport or Sport-Plus modes. Meanwhile, the top model, the Macan Turbo, comes with a $3300 air suspension as standard - optional on the others - which does all sorts of good things to the vehicle including offering a levelling system, height adjustment, and the PASM.

A Macan with air suspension can have its ground clearance adjusted to suit driving conditions. At a Normal level the vehicle sits 15mm lower than a steel-sprung Macan and is immediately a better drive because of its lower centre of gravity and because the air suspension keeps the Porsche in a consistent position.

High level can also be selected which hikes up the ground clearance by 40mm to a maximum of 230mm for the off-road work, and if the driver presses either the PASM button or Sport-Plus, the Macan lowers by 10mm to 180mm, which is best for high-speed driving.

Not only that, but vehicle fitted with air suspension can also be set to a loading level which lowers the rear end to 50mm below Normal so the Macan's rear load area can be more easily accessed. Loading level is activated by pressing a button in the luggage compartment.

See? The Macan is an SUV after all. But get the vehicle on a racetrack and all that can be quickly forgotten.

Last week's media function included the opportunity to take the Macan out on to the Porsche Leipzig track for a series of hot laps behind a 911 Carrera 4 driven by one of the centre's driving instructors. He didn't hang around either as he powered around the circuit with all its famous corners.

But the Macans hung in there - particularly the Turbo with its 294 kW 3.6-litre biturbo engine, mated to the same seven-speed twin-clutch PKD automatic that is aboard the Panamera. This engine has massive reserves of mid-range power and was happy to rev right out along the straights, and its Porsche Traction Management - borrowed from the very Carrera the Macans followed - offered outstanding all-wheel drive grip and stability. Overall, the exercise was impressive proof that this SUV can indeed offer almost sportscar-like performance.

The 3.0-litre biturbo diesel model performed well on the off-road circuit too. We hoisted its ride height to the maximum, punched in an Off-Road mode which switches all the relevant systems such as gearshifts towards a greater level of traction, hit a Hill Descent Control button, and headed off over the former military training ground.

We only got one puncture - I was hoping it might have been caused by a spent Russkie round but in fact it was a nail - and overall the diesel completed the course with ease. It completed an 80km circuit out on the public roads around Leipzig with ease too, with its 190kW of power and particularly 580 newton metres of torque quickly showing that this will be the Macan that will prove most suitable for New Zealand roads and their lower speed limits.

Already it seems the New Zealand is recognising this. Porsche NZ general manager Greg Clarke confirms an order bank for the Macan is quickly building, with 43 per cent of the buyers wanting the diesel, another 34 per cent interested in the 3.0-litre petrol-engined S - and the remainder wanting the Turbo. I bet they can't wait for June to arrive.