165 mph, 400 hp and Room for the Shopping

This week I took a 2016 Porsche Macan Turbo out for one of my real-world road reviews.

No racetrack, no carefully chosen test route. Just the roads we actually use every day: town, main roads and some of our typical British back roads.

I came back rather impressed.

The headline figures explain part of the attraction. Under the bonnet is a 3.6-litre twin-turbo V6 producing 400 hp, driving all four wheels through Porsche’s seven-speed PDK gearbox.

0–62 mph takes around 4.8 seconds and, given the opportunity, it will reach approximately 165 mph.

For what is fundamentally a practical family Porsche, those are serious numbers.

And in 2016 Porsche went further still, introducing a Performance Package version with 440 hp and even greater performance.

There are your bragging rights.

But Speed Isn’t the Clever Bit

What surprised me wasn’t how fast it was.

I expected that.

What impressed me was how effortlessly it did everything else.

The refinement is excellent. The ride quality is properly judged for UK roads, the cabin feels expensive and beautifully engineered, and the whole car has a sense of quality that reminds you this was very much a premium Porsche when new.

Then you ask for some performance.

The response is immediate, the PDK gearbox does its job brilliantly and suddenly you’re travelling very rapidly indeed without the car ever feeling flustered.

The brakes have the precision and confidence you expect from Porsche, while the steering and chassis manage to disguise much of the Macan’s size and weight.

That’s perhaps the cleverest part of the car.

It feels like a Porsche.

Performance You Can Actually Use

There are plenty of fast cars that demand compromises.

The Macan Turbo doesn’t really ask for many.

You can use it for the school run, motorway journeys, shopping, holidays and bad weather. Then, when you find the right road, there’s enough performance underneath you to make the journey genuinely entertaining.

Ten years after this car was built, 400 hp still feels properly quick.

Yet unlike many performance cars of the period, you don’t have to be in the mood for it.

Drive gently and it’s quiet, comfortable and civilised.

Ask a little more of it and its other personality appears.

That’s a very Porsche characteristic.

Buying the Right One Matters

There is, however, an important point when buying a Macan Turbo of this age.

Buy on condition, history and preparation, not simply price.

These were expensive, sophisticated cars when new and they remain sophisticated cars today.

Large brakes, quality tyres, complex suspension, four-wheel drive systems and powerful turbocharged engines all need proper maintenance.

A car that’s several thousand pounds cheaper can very quickly cease to be a bargain if it immediately needs brakes, tyres, servicing or overdue mechanical work.

That’s why knowing who you’re buying from matters.

An experienced Porsche specialist should understand what they’re looking at, know where expenditure may be required and prepare the car accordingly.

Saving £2,000 at purchase isn’t particularly clever if you subsequently spend £5,000 putting the car right.

A Lot of Porsche for the Money

This is where the earlier Macan Turbo becomes particularly interesting.

You get performance that can still surprise today, beautifully engineered road manners, a genuinely luxurious cabin and the practicality to use it every day.

And you get a Porsche badge on the bonnet backed up by engineering that deserves it.

I really rated this one.

The refinement, effortless performance, ride, brakes and overall precision made it feel far more special than you might expect from a practical SUV.

At Williams Crawford we supply a lot of Macan and Cayenne models, from near-new examples through to really nice earlier cars like this.

And importantly, some never make it as far as our website before finding their next owner.

So, if you’re looking for a Macan or Cayenne, talk to our sales team and tell us what you’re after.

The right car may already be on its way to us.

Passion for Porsche. Since 1991.