Skip advert
Advertisement

Porsche Macan GTS review

The Porsche Macan gets the driver-focused GTS treatment. We drive it in the UK

Overall Auto Express Rating

5.0 out of 5

Find your Porsche Macan
Offers from our trusted partners on this car and its predecessors...
Or are you looking to sell your car?
9/10 sellers got the price they expected
Advertisement

Yet again Porsche’s GTS modifications have created the sweet spot in the range. It’s more than £7,000 cheaper than a Macan Turbo, so if you’re after driver involvement but don’t want to sacrifice practicality, the GTS delivers. The performance on offer is matched to the chassis perfectly without compromising long-distance comfort or day-to-day usability. Sporty 4x4s don’t come much better.

Advertisement - Article continues below

The Porsche Macan GTS bagged a five-star verdict when we first drove it late last year, but that was on smooth European roads. Now the most driver-focused Macan has landed in the UK, does this still stand?

Porsche’s smallest SUV has always been a freak of a car – combining engineering wizardry that gives it performance to embarrass some of Porsche’s lesser sports cars, but usability and ride quality that tops the SUV sector.

Best SUVs and 4x4s to buy now

Despite a 15mm drop in ride height and a stiffer suspension setup, the GTS still treads this line beautifully, offering staggering levels of grip and traction with a refined ride. It’s the GTS’s defining characteristic.

Porsche’s PASM adaptive dampers come as standard, and in Normal mode the Macan glides over the road – especially with the optional £1,004 air suspension fitted to our test car. Part of this is also down to the 20-inch alloys (21s are also available) but the standard rims come with taller tyres, which help deliver the GTS’s relaxed feel when cruising.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement - Article continues below

Push the Sport button and the car takes on a sharper character. Sport and Sport Plus for the dampers reduce roll in stages, keeping the GTS flatter in the bends. It compromises the Porsche’s composure over rough surfaces slightly, but it means you can carry outrageous speed through corners, with the Macan shrugging off its 1,895kg kerb weight.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Selecting Sport mode also releases a louder snarl from the standard sports exhaust. It amplifies the 3.0-litre twin-turbo’s V6 sound so it snarls when you squeeze the throttle and cracks on upshifts.

With 355bhp and 500Nm of torque it’s rapid, too. It might not have the immediate punch of the Macan Turbo, but there’s more than enough performance to keep things interesting. The 0-62mph sprint takes 5.2 seconds, or five seconds flat if you go for the £729 Sport Chrono Package. It’s not entirely necessary, as the GTS doesn’t lack pace, but this adds launch control and an even faster mode for the gearbox.

The steering is relatively uncorrupted for a four-wheel drive car, and there’s a decent level of feel for an SUV. But it’s the rate of response and weighting that makes the Macan GTS a delight to thread through corners. The seven-speed PDK dual-clutch auto is super smooth in the default mode, shuffling ratios imperceptibly.

In manual mode it snaps through the gears like a sports car, while four-wheel drive means you’ll rarely see the traction control light flicker as the engine pulls you out of tighter bends.

The GTS’s dual personality is reinforced inside. A 500-litre boot ensures there’s lots of luggage space, while the back seats offer enough room for all but the tallest adults. Neat touches like the GTS-embroidered head rests for the leather and Alcantara sports seats set it apart from the rest of the range.

Porsche’s next-gen infotainment system made its debut on the GTS, but sat-nav is a steep extra at £1,052 – on a £50k SUV it’s fair to say you’d expect this as standard. The clearer seven-inch touchscreen is more advanced than before and includes Apple CarPlay. It feels slick and nicely integrates your smartphone with the car.

Parking sensors, cruise control, lane departure warning, DAB and Bluetooth are all standard, while the GTS gets some extra styling elements such as smoked taillights, gloss black trim above the waistline and matt black rubbing strips below it. Satin black GTS badging and tailpipes complete the look.

Skip advert
Advertisement

Sean’s been writing about cars since 2010, having worked for outlets as diverse as PistonHeads, MSN Cars, Which? Cars, Race Tech – a specialist motorsport publication – and most recently Auto Express and sister titles Carbuyer and DrivingElectric

Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay
Road tax documentation
News

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay

Drivers with newer cars can expect to be paying roughly £10 more per year, a although the biggest gas guzzlers will fare the worst
26 Mar 2024
Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power
Dacia Sandero - front
News

Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power

Both the Sandero and Sandero Stepway ranges have been tweaked, gaining more safety features to meet the latest regulations
26 Mar 2024
Huge Audi new car blitz to bring us 9 models in 2 years
Upcoming Audi models - four-way image
News

Huge Audi new car blitz to bring us 9 models in 2 years

After a quiet few years, the German giant is gearing up for its biggest product onslaught to date
25 Mar 2024