Not so long ago, Porsche made only two-door sports cars that it sold to wealthy aficionados. Then in 2002, it produced the Cayenne SUV and purists sneered, though it shared the same lines as the sports cars and was designed to drive very fast. Nobody else sneered - drivers bought them in droves. The Panamera sedan followed the Cayenne and Porsche began selling more four-door vehicles than two-door cars. Then, four years ago, Porsche introduced the Macan compact SUV into what鈥檚 become the fastest growing market segment. There are more than 350,000 Macans on the world鈥檚 roads today. There was a mild redesign a couple of years ago, when the GTS edition joined the other versions, but the Macan is now 鈥渞efreshed鈥?for 2019 to spruce it up and catch up to modern technology. Porsche is known for the multiple trim levels of its cars - the 911 has 25 different variants - and the Macan is no different.
55,000, the least expensive new Porsche you can buy - as well as the Macan S, Macan GTS, Macan Turbo, and several other variations. For 2019, the refreshed Macan will be fitted with a redesigned four-cylinder engine, while the Macan S will have the new six-cylinder engine that鈥檚 already under the hoods of the basic Panamera and Cayenne models. Both will be equipped with new technology and conveniences and will come to Canada next year, while other Macan editions will follow in due course. The four-cylinder Macan is no more powerful than before because it uses basically the same 2.0-litre engine, now redesigned at the cylinder head to run a little cleaner. 鈥淎s a driver, you鈥檙e not going to notice a lot of the changes, but the necessity for us was to meet emissions legislation,鈥?says chief program engineer Antoon Janssen. The six-cylinder Macan S is 14 horsepower more powerful thanks to its new engine, but again, it鈥檚 not a noticeable difference from the previous version.
Zero-to-100 kilometres an hour is shaved by 0.1 seconds, to just a bit over five seconds. The time it takes to go from zero to 100 kilometres-an-hour is shaved by 0.1 seconds, to just slightly more than five seconds. 鈥淭he six-cylinder in Macan S is now as powerful as we can make it. We have to guarantee durability,鈥?Janssen says. 鈥淏elieve me, when we say that 260 kilowatt (348 hp) is the maximum output of this engine, we also give you the guarantee it can do at least 200,000 km. The Macan now has the latest technology for both connectivity and driver鈥檚 assistance. It includes traffic jam assist, which allows the SUV to follow traffic and maintain a safe speed and distance behind the vehicle in front, even coming to a complete stop if needed. This sounds impressive until you realize a similar system is available in the most basic new Toyota Corolla. Also as with Toyota, Porsche now offers Apple CarPlay for integrating an iPhone into the Macan鈥檚 display and controls.
It does not offer Android Auto for integrating android phones. 鈥淲e are still considering it, but we haven鈥檛 started implementing it,鈥?says Jonas Pieper, the Macan鈥檚 project manager for software development. 鈥淎t the moment, this does not fit our strategy. It鈥檚 a lot of work for the IT company, with interfaces and development and certification. Different devices behave differently. It sounds easy, but in most cases, it is not. And if you鈥檙e in a hurry, it鈥檒l go like stink. The Macan always looked good, but the new version is another step forward. LED headlights now have four-point daytime running lights around the main beam, and at the back, a tail-light strip runs right across the rear door and integrates into the main lights, also now LED. The central control screen is larger this year, bumped up to 10.9 inches from the previous 7.2. It鈥檚 clear and easy to use. Most automakers are removing buttons and switches from their dashboards and consoles, replacing them with digital taps and swipes on a central touch-control screen.
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