The Back Seats Provide Ample Headroom

On the tight and viciously twisty Mallorcan mountain roads, I watched the 2019 Porsche Macan S leading me handle a hairpin with more ferocity than a mid-size crossover has any right to. It leaned heavily into its suspension and from the outside, it looked quite precarious. But, as we were keeping up with it just fine in our test car, I knew that what the they were feeling on board was exactly what I felt. And what I felt was confidence. Don鈥檛 be fooled by the size; the Macan is light on its feet and it can handle. Believe it or not, the Macan鈥檚 been around since 2013 now. It shares the Audi Q5鈥檚 platform and, as of this writing, is the German automaker鈥檚 highest-selling model of 2018. Since the end of November, Porsche has sold 22,159 Macans, as compared to 9,350 Cayennes and 7,710 Panameras. For 2019, it鈥檚 not all-new, but it is heavily updated.

Besides the heckblende taillight, the revised Macans now have a wider-looking face because the designers revised the side air intakes slightly and redesigned the headlights. Macan S models will come debadged, while base Macan models will simply say 鈥淢acan鈥?on the trunk. But just because it鈥檚 a crossover doesn鈥檛 mean that it was unpleasant to drive. Very much the opposite. The base Macan sticks with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, good for a claimed 248 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. The Macan S drops the twin-turbo V6 of the outgoing model and instead uses the single-turbo, 3.0-liter V6 first found in the Panamera and the Cayenne. That turbo is now located in the V of the engine, which produces 348 HP and 354 lb-ft of torque. These new figures now put the Macan S right within spitting distance of the BMW X3 M40i, which has 355 HP and 365 lb-ft of torque from a 3.0-liter, turbocharged straight-six.

Both of the Macan鈥檚 engines are mated to Porsche鈥檚 seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and come with all-wheel drive as standard. Porsche claims that the base model鈥檚 top speed is 142 mph with a zero to 60 time of 6.3 seconds (6.1 with the Sport Chrono), while the S will do the sprint in 5.1 seconds (4.9 with the Sport Chrono). Top speed is a claimed 157 mph. The Macan is comfortable, easy to drive and practical. Its trunk will fit a set of medium-sized suitcases from a small family or two large suitcases from two pack rats. The back seats provide ample headroom, though passengers might want to get out and stretch their legs after a while, as there isn鈥檛 a ton of legroom. The cargo area volume of the trunk with the back seats up is 17.7 cubic-feet, while the volume of the seats down is 53 cubic-feet. It鈥檚 a little tighter than the BMW, which has 28.7 cubic-feet and 62.7 cubic-feet of space with the seats up and down, respectively. It doesn鈥檛 just look like a shoe like most of these things do鈥攊t actually looks pretty athletic.

And I really do like the new rear light bar. It gives the back a very minimalist feel, and potential disruptions in that minimalism, like the rear hatch button, are cleverly hidden away. The steering feels tight and responsive and nicely weighted. The air suspension, an option on both cars I test drove, contributed to the pleasant ride quality. It wasn鈥檛 harsh and nor was it too numbingly soft. I cannot imagine that it鈥檚 cheap to fix if it breaks, though. Despite its size and higher center of gravity, the Macan does feel like it shrinks around you. Especially in the tighter roads. The body roll is discernible, but it is a small amount and doesn鈥檛 induce panic. You don鈥檛 feel like you鈥檙e about to flip over if you turn too sharply. The chassis keeps things very controlled and predictable, which lets you flick the car around with assurance. And all of this just means that the upcoming Macan Turbo and GTS will be even more incredible than they already are.