2019 Porsche Macan

HAMBURG, Germany: I’m on an autobahn in Germany, something I had always hoped I would get to do some day, and believe it or not my buddy and I just exceeded the cited top speed in a Porsche! Also, that is literally the coolest sentence I have ever written!

How’d I end up here, you ask? Allow me to start from the beginning. You see, I frequently receive interesting phone calls asking me to travel somewhere for the purpose of trying out a new car, but some of those calls happen to be particularly special, as in the case of this one when I was asked to fly to Hamburg, Germany, to experience the new Porsche Macan models.

The last time I had been in Germany – actually in the country, not a layover at the airport – was in 1980, though it was more annoying than a layover, because my flight from Heathrow to Beirut airport suffered mechanical problems mid-flight.

With no adequate maintenance services for aircraft in Beirut smack in the middle of Lebanon’s Civil War, the pilot of our British Airways aircraft wisely chose to land in Frankfurt for at least half a day while they effected repairs. Bored out of my mind, 11-year-old me decided to venture out into the city instead of loitering at the airport. Yeah, I was a lot braver when I was young.

But that was then. This time I was deliberately flying to Germany – utopia for anyone who appreciates precision-engineered automobiles – and to experience the newest incarnation of a car that I already thoroughly adored. I couldn’t imagine a more alluring trip.

Yes, I loved the previous Macan, especially as my experience with it to date had involved nothing less than a slick GTS model, not to mention the fact that even my Mom, who has a very discerning taste in cars, fell in love with it, particularly the dark gray Alcantara interior with red stitching, which she keeps reminding of. You can read all about that HERE.

For the few people out there still not aware of the incredible feat of engineering the Macan represents, let me spell it out for you in real-world terms.

When it comes to cars, ride height matters. Sure, a raised vehicle would find it much easier to traverse less than perfectly flat pavement, even rough terrain, but that usually comes at a cost: The higher center of gravity compromises the car’s handling characteristics, especially on corners. For the casual driver, that may not be an issue, but for me and other serious drivers, it’s one of the reasons an SUV wouldn’t be our preferred mode of transportation.

Remarkably, that’s not the case with the Macan, which somehow manages to defy the laws of physics and handle as brilliantly as any low-slung sedan. It is, after alI, a Porsche, a marque that’s not in the habit of manufacturing cars that handle like beached whales. I certainly won’t pretend it’s comparable to my 911, but the capable Macan, even the first-generation model, would give many a self-proclaimed sports sedan a run for its money. That’s an astounding achievement for a vehicle that stands over 162 centimeters tall.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, as I usually do when discussing anything adorned with the Porsche crest on the front lid. Let me first tell you what’s new first.

For 2019, the refreshed Macan has gained a whole host of updates, and immediately discernible are the restyled front and rear bumpers as well as the new full-width tail lights, which span across the breadth of the liftgate, keeping in line with the rest of the Porsche’s newest range. Also new are fresh wheel designs, and an all-new color palette – the first time you see a Macan in Miami Blue expect to want to hug it, because it’s adorable. Other notable colors include the wickedly playful Mambo Green, the extremely fashionable Crayon – Chalk is for the interior color, not the exterior – and the sober yet stylish Dolomite Silver and Night Blue Metallic.

Beyond that, this crossover retains the slick, curvaceous shape of its predecessor and remains one of the more sporty-looking compact SUVs on the market.

Beneath that sensual skin you have a choice of two available engines – for the time being – a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder producing 248 ponies in the base Macan with 370 Newton-meters of torque, and a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that puts out 348 horses and 480 Newton-meters of torque in the Macan S model, with a claimed 0-100 km/h time of 5.1 seconds for the latter.

The newly developed V-6, which features a fresh twin-scroll turbocharger mounted in between the two banks of cylinders, boasts superior torque response at lower engine speeds but also produces lower emissions than in the previous engine, using updated combustion chambers with the injector positioned in the center for a more efficient air-fuel mixture, with power delivered to an all-wheel drive system that employs Porsche Traction Management.

Even the suspension, as extraordinary as it is, has been nonetheless retuned, rendering the Macan’s superior handling even more astonishing. There’s also the ever-useful PASM (Porsche Active Stability Management) system with damper control – or the optional air suspension – as well as Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus to improve handling. Thankfully, all the inertia from the velocity you pick up can be shed rapidly courtesy of the new and enhanced 360-millimeter front discs.

There is no word yet on the GTS or Turbo models, but they’re inevitable, with spy shots of the turbo circulating all over the internet, and once they arrive you can expect them to be more powerful than the S. All versions of the Macan are all-wheel drive and come equipped with a seven-speed automatic transmission.

The interior, which already takes every design cue from its sports car siblings, also sees a number of updates, chief among them a new and larger 10.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system and standard onboard Wi-Fi feature. The Macan S also gains as standard a 10-speaker audio system and LED headlamps.

Of course, as in all models in the Porsche range, there’s no end to trim and equipment the marque offers as options. Buyers can tick the boxes on a whole host of items, including a GT sports steering wheel with Porsche’s latest Sport Response button, not to mention the Sport Chrono pack for those partial to sporty driving. While LED headlights are standard, the new Dynamic Light System Plus is optional.

But as always, you would be advised to exercise restraint because optional equipment at Porsche can easily add tens of thousands of dollars to the final price of your new Macan.

And I had the chance to try out all that coolness! The flight to Germany, by way of a layover in Istanbul, passed quickly, and after landing in Hamburg my fellow journalists and I were promptly shuttled to the SIDE Design Hotel, where we spent the evening.

But not before somebody had a “bright” idea. As it turned out, the hotel was situated within walking distance of something called Reeperbahn, also known as “the most sinful mile,” and after a lovely dinner with the rest of the participants in the drive event, four of my fellow journalists and I were driven there by a “helpful” hotel guide.

Now I consider myself relatively well-traveled. I’ve been to a lot of places and seen many strange things, but never before had I come across what I can only describe in this article as “ladies of the night” on full display in store windows, wearing nothing but lingerie. Right out in the open.

But it got more surreal, because we found, on the main street, a four-story building with each floor home to numerous small rooms, and with another one of those ladies standing in each doorway.

Now just imagine five car journalists from the Middle East, each pretending in front of the others that the scenario was not in the least bit out of the ordinary. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like that in New York City, and here we all were acting like it was perfectly normal.

Thankfully, no one did anything stupid and after a good laugh we all started to walk back to the hotel, ready to kick off the Macan drive the next day.

The following morning found us on the street outside the hotel, where over a dozen new gleaming Macans were waiting for their respective journalist drivers – namely us. I, along with my travel partner Gilbert Rahme of AutoLiban fame, hopped into the first of what would ultimately be four different cars we would drive over the next two days.

The Night Blue Metallic Macan S was, to stay the least, masterful. I took first crack at it, with Gilbert acting as my co-pilot. We soon took off and started making our way through the city along the route that would take us to our first stop, lunch at a quaint little restaurant.

I should note that I was completely unfamiliar with these roads – it was my first time in Hamburg – but the ever-helpful team from Porsche had already punched our destination into the navigation system, and following it was a cinch. Until, that is, Gilbert decided he needed Wi-Fi to upload his content and started messing with the center display so he could pair his smartphone, flicking away from the navigation display.

Let me reiterate that this was Hamburg, where traffic laws are sacred, and streets can veer off in a dozen different directions at every intersection. If you don’t know the roads you can easily get lost in a span of 30 seconds.

So imagine my mental state as I approached each crossroad, completely bewildered as to how to proceed even as my buddy refused to concede defeat on the Wi-Fi business. I found myself repeatedly saying, “Gilbert, Navi!” until I noticed there was a second, smaller navigation display in the instrument cluster.

With that sorted out, I relaxed and started enjoying the drive, though I did observe that earlier in my vexed state I had never once struggled to find any of the car’s intuitively positioned controls. That’s really important, because bad ergonomics in an unfamiliar vehicle usually make themselves apparent when you’re distracted.

The space in front is quite ample, with the seats hugging you like a glove – What did you expect? It’s a Porsche! – the sports steering wheel has the familiar design you see in late-model 911, with three gauges in the instrument cluster. The Sports Chrono adorned the dash, signaling the car’s potency.

In fact, don’t be surprised at all if that “Porsche-ness” frequently lets you forget that you’re driving a crossover. And of course there’s all the hi-tech wizardry, starting with the massive touch-screen display that at the moment showed our route.

And that route was expertly selected, taking us through beautiful countryside and a number of villages, with the road so well-paved that the Macan could have easily gone twice the speed to which we limited ourselves.

More importantly, there were countless twists and turns, as well as long stretches, giving me the chance to alternate between a leisurely drive – while Gilbert practiced recording his stories – and experimenting with the Macan S’ handling capabilities. At one point we even flew along the autobahn, where the minimum 130 kilometer per hour speed signs prompted me to push the crossover to well beyond 200 km/h.

Back on the country roads, we pulled over a few times to take some beauty shots of the car, after which Gilbert was ready to record. That, actually, provided a perfect opportunity to try out the space in the back seat, because he needed to be “alone” in the car while he held a one-sided conversation with his GoPro. So I lounged in the back, behind the passenger seat, to remain out of frame while Gilbert kept repeating his rundown of the new Macan till he nailed it.

In case you’re wondering, I would ignore reviews that claim it’s tight in the back; they’re just trying to find a “con” in order to appear more objective. The truth is it’s perfectly comfortable back there, with plenty of space, and unless all your friends are built like “Fat Albert” you have nothing to worry about. Trust me, I managed to fit four people in the back of the GTS back in 2016, and they all survived.

After a bit more of that, with Gilbert behind the wheel, we continued to our destination, a very rustic inn where the most extraordinary steak was waiting for me. It was a nice break after all the driving, but we soon set off again, this time in a base Macan in Crayon.

Frankly, the base model is no less impressive than the Macan S, and unless you fancy yourself Lewis Hamilton I doubt you’d find its performance wanting. All I know is that although we drove all day, we would have loved to keep driving the Macan for several more hours were it not for the fact that we needed to be at the – wait for it – Yachthafenresidenz Hohe Düne by 4 p.m. Yeah I can’t pronounce it either, but it was one remarkably lavish hotel alongside a very wide river, complete with ferries. And fog. And a light drizzle. You know, very cinematic stuff!

I should note that just before we got to the hotel, we once more traded cars with another pair of journalists, because we really, really wanted to try out that gorgeous Miami Blue example. Seriously, that color is beyond awesome, and in Macan S guise with the gorgeous multi-spoke rims and black leather interior, it just speaks to you. I want one!

Later, after more pictures of the car, we arrived at the hotel and had dinner again, after which we hung out for a while before crashing. But the next morning promised more excitement.

I woke up around 6 a.m., had a quick shower, hopped in the Miami Blue Macan S – Yes, again! – and drove it around the hotel to the helipad where, rain or no rain, I proceeded to snap as many photos of the Porsche in that delightfully enticing color as I could.

Eventually I grew concerned that the chaps from Porsche who had accompanied me to open the helipad gates were getting anxious, and wet, so I declared it mission accomplished and drove the Macan back to the hotel, quite pleased with myself.

Then, after a nice breakfast, Gilbert and I climbed into a Dolomite Silver base Macan, took off and drove it aboard the ferry, along with everyone else. Now take a moment and picture over a dozen journalists, all tightly packed like sardines among the cars and the ferry’s rails, trying to record Instagram stories with the rain beating down on us. Determined we certainly were … not too bright though!

Once off the ferry, we decided to do some car-to-car videography (again, in the rain), after which we proceeded to make our way back to the SIDE Design hotel. The route, again, was a mixture of gorgeous countryside, with nice stretches and opportune corners, as well as the autobahn again.

We actually managed to exceed the Macan’s claimed top speed. Completely focused, Gilbert kept his foot firmly planted on the gas while I recorded with my phone camera until the number 228 appeared on the speedometer. That’s 1 kilometer more than the figure cited by Porsche, and some would probably say that was due to the road being slightly downhill, but I choose to believe the car was rewarding our enthusiasm by pushing the envelope.

Overall, the event afforded a perfect demonstration of the new Macan’s capabilities. This is a quick crossover with sporting intentions that handles like a Porsche should. It’s competent all around, with a smooth and controlled ride, tenacious poise in corners with light but extremely accurate and tactile steering.

Drive it causally and it crosses the kilometers gracefully, but push it harder and the soul of a Porsche manifests, with the Macan devouring the asphalt like a world-class sports sedan. Granted, the numerous improvements are subtle individually, but collectively they make for a rather fresh car without undermining the value of the previous model. If you’re looking for a stylish, sports-oriented crossover and you can afford the Macan’s price tag, nothing else comes close.