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Tested: 2020 Porsche Macan GTS Settles the Ride-vs.-Handling Feud

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Michael SimariCar and Driver

Chassis engineers have a tough and largely thankless job. Ride quality remains in a long-standing feud with handling, and the engineers’ job is to negotiate a peace that works for the vehicle and for the customer. After driving the 2020 Macan GTS, we’d say that Porsche’s engineers deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering such a satisfyingly sporty compromise.

HIGHS: Balanced chassis, steers like the sports cars, refined ride.

There’s nothing particularly exotic about the suspension hardware. The Macan GTS comes standard with air springs paired to Porsche’s Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive dampers. The two are tuned and work to smooth broken pavement, and despite the optional 21-inch wheels with small sidewalls, the suspension never crashes or sends ugly vibrations through the structure. With the push of a console-mounted button (or a turn of the steering wheel-mounted dial, part of the $1360 Sport Chrono package), the dampers tighten just enough up to savagely attack corners. At the test track, the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 tires stick with stability up to the high 0.94-g lateral limit.

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Michael SimariCar and Driver

Responsive and accurate steering seems to have been plucked right from a 718 GTS. Our German-spec test vehicle came equipped with the optional PSCB tungsten-coated brake rotors ($3490) that can be identified by their mirrored finish and white brake calipers. Porsche continues to dial in the pedal feel of this system. When it debuted on the Cayenne, the brakes felt grabby with too much initial bite. On the GTS, the brakes react with a firm and linear stroke. Stops from 70 mph occur in a sports-car-like 155 feet.

LOWS: The engine lacks the punch and character of competitors, smallish rear seat, pricey.

While we like the Macan GTS’s chassis, the powertrain isn’t as inspiring. The GTS uses the same twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6 found in the Macan Turbo, tuned down from 434 horsepower to 375 horsepower in GTS trim. Porsche’s V-6 lacks the character and punch of the BMW X3 M’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six and the angry exhaust of Mercedes-AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that powers the GLC63. The GTS sprints from zero to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and rips through the quarter-mile in 12.6 seconds at 107 mph—a Macan Turbo is 0.4 second quicker in both measures. Some credit for those stellar times goes to the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic’s launch-control system that revs the engine to 4600 rpm before engaging the clutch.

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Michael SimariCar and Driver

The Macan GTS starts at $72,650, a hefty $12,300 less than the Turbo. Spotters will be able to differentiate the Macan GTS by its blacked-out exterior trim and tinted LED light housings in the front and rear. On the inside, the interior is largely unchanged since the 2018 refresh. We particularly liked the faux-suede coverings on the door panels and center console as well as the inserts of the more aggressively bolstered, GTS-exclusive power seats. A lengthy list of options awaits buyers, and our test GTS came lavishly equipped at $98,160.

Buyers will also have to accept a smallish rear seat in the Macan. Adults won’t be very comfortable back there. But if the Macan is replacing a sports car, that’s an easy compromise to make. If you’re coming from a more spacious SUV, bending on the Macan GTS’s rear-seat space brings the reward of a sublime ride-and-handling compromise that seems more than worth it to us.

Specifications

Specifications

2020 Porsche Macan GTS

VEHICLE TYPE
front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon

PRICE AS TESTED
$98,160 (base price: $72,650)

ENGINE TYPE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement
177 in3, 2894 cm3
Power
375 hp @ 6700 rpm
Torque
383 lb-ft @ 1750 rpm

TRANSMISSION
7-speed dual-clutch automatic

CHASSIS
Suspension (F/R): multilink/multilink
Brakes (F/R): 15.4-in vented, tungsten-carbide-coated disc/14.0-in vented, tungsten-carbide-coated disc
Tires: Michelin Latitude Sport 3, F: 265/40R-21 101Y N2 R: 295/35R-21 103Y N2

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 110.6 in
Length: 184.5 in
Width: 76.1 in
Height: 63.0 in
Passenger volume: 96 ft3
Cargo volume: 18 ft3
Curb weight: 4468 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 3.9 sec
100 mph: 10.8 sec
130 mph: 20.5 sec
150 mph: 33.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 4.9 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.7 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 3.6 sec
1/4 mile: 12.6 sec @ 107 mph
Top speed (mfr’s claim): 162 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 155 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 306 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g
Standing-start accel times omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.

C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 20 mpg
75-mph highway driving: 27 mpg
Highway range: 530 miles

EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/city/highway: 19/17/22 mpg

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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com


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