Our Porsche Macan EV Turbo Test Drive Review: Resultant Eliminated Options

[Fun TC Driving]

As detailed below, our test drive this morning resulted in our eliminating options compared to the last configured version we has just prepared just before we went to the dealership. Having no other Porsche to compare this to, as our drive today literally our first time in a Porsche in decades, yet my wife and I having owned 55 previous excellent vehicles of many high-quality different brands, we eagerly looked forward to our test drive. As a result, both my wife and remain very exciting about the Macan; there will definitely be one in our future. Of course please take our thoughts under the “FWIW” category, for we all have different tastes, needs, and mandatory options.

Summary:

Quality= excellent

Fun and easy to drive = great

Functionality = easy to learn

Fit and fitness = excellent

Cornering = superb!!! Damn good job Porsche in creating an EV that handles so well!

Comfort = very good even over some not excellent roads and slower-speed, speed bumps (with its 22” wheels with Michelin A/S’s)

Braking = so linear, eg., zero learning curve (while we drove to the dealership in our one pedal regenerative BMW iX), we felt right at home and the braking pressure just perfect from my first application onward. Did not miss one-pedal at all (so little effort to twist my lower leg and push on the brake pedal).

Power/speed = turbo model is the right one for us!


We are at the “time luxury” (and yet sad to wait) to not get ours until the 2026 models are out so we used the test drive to see and initial experience the Macan and its different options; we will be visiting another dealership before the month is out for that second dealership’s demonstrator has very different options and colors we also want to see and experience.

Decisions made:

1.Going with the 18-way seats instead of the 14’s (with a $10 net cost reduction due to a) losing the message function but b) choosing to add in the illuminated upper-seat badging). the added “height” of the 18’s bolsters were not an issue for us.

2.Bye bye “Porsche Sound @ $500 savings. Even though I insured I was in Sports Plus mode to hear its sounds at its loudest possible setting, the sound while not unpleasant was so quiet that my wife said “why spend the money.” Our hearing is “good +” and yet “Porsche sound” was only 1/2 the volume of the EV piped in sound in our BMW. Even then the piped in sound in our BMW is something we very rarely select , e.g., so easy for us to remove this Macan option.

3.Bye bye Burmester @ $4,700. This vehicle had it and while it was good, was IMO second rate by far to the depth and quality our Bowers and Wilkins system in our BMW; even our salesperson agreed “unless you are an audiophile (we are not), Bose should meet your music needs just fine, e.g., especially as for us music is often ‘background” so it too became an easy unchecked option.

4.Goodbye Thermal/Acoustical glass @ $930. We live in the country, count our big city trips on average at about two monthly. But even today in some stop-n-go on a four lane, heavy traffic surburban business street, we felt no need for keeping it as an option. (BTW, we have not then or not checked off the windshield wiper option, so that did not factor in this decision).


For sure, your decisions of might be completely contrary to ours on 1 or all 4 of those options.

 

[krissrock]

nice. good review.
So am i reading this correctly? you're saving money by going with the 18 way seats and not having the massage function vs 14?

also, i completely agree about the sound. I don't really get why someone would want that. you know you're getting an EV. I wanna hear the EV sounds really. I also thought it interesting that porsche came out speaking against the fake transmission shifting that I think the Kia EV does...yet, they're going to pipe in fake ICE sounds... idk. I'm not spec'ing the sound in mine for sure

 

[PSPJames]

What a great review! I went with the 14 way plus massage. On the fence about the insulated glass as the car will be the desert a lot of the time. My build locks 9/26 so if there is still an availability problem I may skip it. I had sport sound in my Taycan. Used it once or twice. I prefer the quietness vs. the spaceship sound experience. YMMV.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

For the turbo anyway, both seats are “free,” and so with the 18 way as you can not have the message (saving $670), but we are adding in the $660 for the back of seat illuminated badge at $660 — ergo a $10 net savings.

 

[MFitz]

nice. good review.
So am i reading this correctly? you're saving money by going with the 18 way seats and not having the massage function vs 14?

also, i completely agree about the sound. I don't really get why someone would want that. you know you're getting an EV. I wanna hear the EV sounds really. I also thought it interesting that porsche came out speaking against the fake transmission shifting that I think the Kia EV does...yet, they're going to pipe in fake ICE sounds... idk. I'm not spec'ing the sound in mine for sure

Just an fyi, it is fake sound but not ICE version. It is amplification of the electric motors.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

‘Amplified and real,” however it does not sound nearly as loud in person as it does on many of the videos. If it was the right volume (much louder) — or better yet if Porsche gave us a method to adjust its volume based on what we customer’s individually chose, perhaps we would have stayed with that option. But to be actively listening to it in its loudest Sport mode and still want much more, that made it a “no go” for us. Again it did not sound bad nor inappropriate, just nowhere what we would have paid $500 for. In short it was very disappointing, worth to us about $50 and no more.

 

[shawn]

Did you try one with rear wheel steering?

 

[PanameraFrank]

Did you try one with rear wheel steering?

I did. It's fantastic. Highly recommend.

 

[tmrqs]

Thanks for the feedback @Fun TC Driving!

Particularly interested in your comparison with your current BMW: handling, acceleration, cornering, comfort, everything.

 

[shawn]

I did. It's fantastic. Highly recommend.

Excellent. I got it in my order but included it based on YouTube reviews and a random try of a Mercedes that had it.

 

[Daniel15]

On the fence about the insulated glass

It's not currently available and the dealers have no ETA as to when it'll come back, if that helps you make your decision

 

[Fun TC Driving]

One other option that so far has left us on the fence is the ”Power Charge Port Cover @ $580.

Even in the Porsche viddo in the Owner’s Manual, this is the best they show us.

Sorry Porsche but does you single video image mean we need to place all four fingers on the charge cover in that exact location, hold it there for ??? seconds, or does it show we should hold our four fingers uniformly a specific distance back from the paint? Inquiring minds want to know.

We all have seen quite a few videographers also fumbling, their needing to make several attempts to get it to open. I hope that when one of us actually has theirs in their garage, that owner can teach us a precise way to 100% open it every single time— for this morning both the BA and I fumbled at least three times each and then with our fingerprints left all over the door, we both succeeded in getting it to open.

Is this an advantage from the older, most-other-brand’s single fingertip “push In against a spring,“ and it always pops out (with only that one fingerprint on it)? I think it is far from an improvement in that regard. It looks cool when it works, but how to get it to work seamlessly the first time every time.

So while we are wanting to choose this option, we will not selected that box until someone shows us (all of us) how every single time without multiple-attempt fingerprint smudges, it opens easily on the first try.

Wanted to be educated and when and if so, we would pay $580 for it.

Remaining to be convinced of the efficacy of this option…. Hopefully one of you can teach us!

 

[fsabek]

Would like to know how good is the innodrive compared to the IX driver assist featured

 

[PanameraFrank]

I recommend against power port cover. It's finicky and can freeze up during the winter! It's neat but more pain than it's worth IMO.

 

[hulz99]

I guess w/ respect to the PSE which is $3k on the ICE model, $500 seems like a steal I also wonder whether they will have the ability to upgrade sound or add new sounds via other the air updates in the future.

One item I really think is worth the money is the Burmester. As someone who listens to the stereo on a daily basis (Spotify, Sirius XM etc), it really blows the Bose out of the water. The depth and clarity is truly spectacular. Not to mention the speaker grilles come in turbonite which is a nice touch. It is a rarely spec’d option sadly so I would recommend listening to it properly in the showroom