The verdict: Porsche’s bestseller, the Macan, gets a new T trim that brings tighter handling to the market’s sportiest compact crossover.
Versus the competition: You’ll pay for better handling and some exclusive trim, but extra speed isn’t part of the deal; the Macan T isn’t slow, but competitors might be a bit quicker for this kind of coin.
All Porsches are, to some extent, sporty vehicles — it’s the nature of the brand, and it’s baked that enthusiast bent into all its offerings, from the biggest Cayenne SUV to the cheapest, no-options 718 Cayman coupe. Porsche’s “T” moniker had previously been exclusive to the brand’s 718 and 911 coupes, denoting a trim that brings extra handling prowess to a model without adding any extra power. You get some suspension tuning, unique styling changes and exclusive upholstery inside, but the engine remains untouched. T trims are meant to combine efficiency with sporty handling enjoyment, but Porsche’s SUVs have never gotten one — until now. The first-ever Macan T is the newest sporty trim of Porsche’s bestselling vehicle, and we spent a week with one to see if amping up the Macan’s handling prowess (but not its base engine) has led to a vehicle worth the extra money you’ll pay for it.
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Looks a Little Different — But Only a Little
Porsche likes to give customers minor styling tweaks between trim levels, which is appreciated but can be hard to follow unless you’re a true Porschephile who makes a point to memorize what every trim looks like. The Macan T comes with trim-exclusive Agate Grey Metallic painted front trim, side mirrors, side blade elements, roof spoiler and rear logos. Its tailpipes and side window greenhouse trim are gloss black, and there’s a “Macan T” logo in black on the gray side blades. The standard wheels are 20-inch Macan S wheels, but they’re painted an exclusive dark titanium.
The look is subtle, and unless you’re a hardcore Porsche aficionado, you’re not likely to spot anything special about this version of the Macan. It’s just as sporty and aggressive as the rest of the lineup, and its 20-inch wheels fill out the wheel wells better than the 19-inch ones on lesser Macan trims. Of its competitors, perhaps only the Maserati Grecale or Range Rover Velar can really rival the Macan T for style. The Lexus NX is odd, the BMW X3 is derivative, and the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Audi Q5 are both rather boring. But this Porsche has obvious, direct styling lineage that connects it to the rest of Porsche’s lineup, and that’s a good thing.
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Tight Vs. Cozy
Slide into the driver’s seat of the Macan and you’ll feel more like you’re sitting in a tall hatchback than a true SUV. It’s not a high vehicle, maintaining a bit of a low-slung layout for the sake of a proper center of gravity (the lower the better in a performance vehicle). As a result, the Macan doesn’t have the kind of seating position that other SUVs are known for. It kind of makes you feel better about it being a Porsche-branded SUV; many purists still chafe at the idea of any Porsche even having four doors, much less Porsche making an SUV. The cabin has many of the design cues of the rest of the Porsche lineup; it most closely resembles the Panamera, with a wide center console, a flat panel dashboard and traditional round gauges (even if there are only three, and two of them are digital).
Some may describe the cabin as cozy, but others will call it tight, likely depending on how much you want your Porsche SUV to feel like a Porsche sports car. It’s a good reminder that this is very much a compact crossover, and it doesn’t even fall on the larger side of that class. The front seats are small, firm and more bolstered than you’ll find in most compact, luxury-brand SUVs this side of an Alfa Romeo Stelvio. The backseat isn’t endowed with an abundance of legroom, either; it might be a challenge for a young family. For young, childless couples or style-conscious single buyers, however, it should be a pretty good fit. Cargo room is adequate for the class, but again, this is a compact crossover — don’t expect to go on cross-country road trips with luggage for a family of four. For one or two people, though, it’s adequate.
Perhaps more importantly, the Macan is definitely well made. Materials quality is excellent, and the unique upholstery that’s exclusive to the T trim is a classy, sophisticated mix of fabric and leather. The dash is stitched, as are the door trim and seats, and it all looks racy and upscale in a way that befits the Macan T’s price. Where the cabin falls down is in the controls, which are almost entirely touch-sensitive panels on the dash and center console. It’s not only difficult to select what you meant to on both the center console (due to its flat angle and reflective nature) and touchscreen, but the touchscreen itself gets a bit confusing. Both interfaces require more attention than you should give while driving the vehicle — and they accumulate a lot of fingerprints in the process.
The reconfigurable gauges, however, are fun, allowing you to choose from a variety of displays in the gauge cluster itself. There are only three round display areas rather than the five seen in Porsche’s coupes and sedans, and only the right-most one is digital. The left physical gauge is a speedometer and the central one is a tachometer — a good fit for a sports car brand. Even with just three gauges, you won’t be complaining about a lack of information; the reconfigurable digital gauge provides just about any information you could need about the vehicle.
Of special note is the steering wheel itself: It’s on the small side, and the rim is thinner than you’ll find in many vehicles these days, but it’s a winning combination for a sport-oriented vehicle. Unlike some automakers that have gone a little nuts with chunky steering wheels (looking at you, Dodge), this compact, easy-to-handle and comfortable tiller is perfect for the sporting nature of the Macan T. It fit easily in my hands, and that went a long way toward conveying this wasn’t a typical SUV.
Plenty of Zoot, Not Too Much Scoot
Out on the road, it becomes clear that the Macan T is not just about sporty looks; it has the goods to provide a legitimately entertaining driving experience. That’s not something most compact crossovers can do; most of them are just commuter machines unfit for sporting antics. But the Macan T’s wagon/tall-hatchback nature shines through dynamically: It feels low, planted and very eager to change directions. This becomes obvious within the first few hundred yards of taking off from a parking space, thanks to outstanding steering feel and feedback, firm and communicative brake feel, and ride quality that’s indicative of Porsche’s magic. The Porsche Active Suspension Management system is standard on the Macan T, and optional equipment includes both an adaptive air suspension (which brings stiffer anti-roll bars) and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus traction management. All of it is designed to improve the agility and responsiveness of the Macan’s handling characteristics. Somehow, the company always manages to make something that’s an incredible mix of both beautifully damped and responsive and well controlled. You feel the suspension working in a Porsche, but you don’t feel bothered by it.
The one area that didn’t get attention when transforming the base Macan into a Macan T is the engine. It’s a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 261 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque, and it’s mated to a standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that directs that power to all four wheels. The Macan T also includes the Sport Chrono Package, which brings a chronometer atop the dashboard and a few extra goodies to the tuning. It’s all good for a 0-60 mph scoot of 5.8 seconds, according to Porsche — not what most would call quick. By contrast, step up to the Macan S and its twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6, and you’ll get 375 hp and knock more than a second off that 0-60 time. The Macan T’s smaller, lighter engine does reportedly lighten the load on the front axle by a not-insignificant 129 pounds, however, which helps handling balance, turn-in and overall agility.
In terms of performance, the Macan T’s four-cylinder is … adequate. You won’t be lighting the world on fire — it’s actually less powerful than a base Dodge Hornet GT that costs half as much. Acceleration is reasonably brisk, and the seven-speed transmission shifts quickly and smoothly. It’s also a bit more responsive when you activate a sport mode, or when you punch a special button on the steering wheel that turns everything up to its maximum sportiness for 30 seconds — a useful feature for making highway on-ramps much more fun. But the point of the Macan T isn’t pure speed; it’s about agility and value, and combined with the suspension improvements and a lighter front end than the quicker (but heavier and more expensive) higher trim levels, it’s clear the Macan T hits its mark. This thing is aimed at drivers who want an enthusiast vehicle that gets decent fuel economy and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, but that can still provide more smiles per mile than something more mundane. It’s sharper than its BMW and Lexus competitors, it’s more of a style statement than its related Audi cousin, and it has the athletic abilities to compete with something like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, which also outguns and outruns most competitors but doesn’t have quite the level of interior quality that the Porsche does.
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Options Get Pricey, But That’s So Porsche
Just like every Porsche, you’ll pay for extras in the Macan T. This car starts at $68,150 (including destination), but even at that price, the standard Macan T doesn’t have power seats, keyless touch entry (gotta use the fob), a panoramic roof, lane departure steering assist or a premium audio system. Of course, all of these features are available in various packages or as stand-alone options, along with myriad color and trim additions that will quickly raise the price. But if you keep your fingers off all the various selections, you can end up with my test car: a basic version with the addition of pretty much only the air suspension, torque vectoring, a Bose audio system and a 360-degree camera system for a little over $70,000. It’s a lot for a compact crossover, but not for a luxury-branded one even though it’s as much as $10,000-$20,000 more than comparably equipped and capable competitors. That’s the Porsche premium, and people seem perfectly comfortable paying it. Go really nuts with the options list, though, and you’ll see just how quickly that premium can climb.
At the price of the Macan T I drove, this vehicle provides an enjoyable driving experience that you won’t find in most other crossovers, plus excellent styling, a top-notch interior and reasonable comfort — not to mention the prestige that comes with the brand name.
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