DFW01E55

We had test drives this weekend in the Macan and the ML 350 to replace my wife's MKX.
The ML won hands down with my wife, ride quality, seating comfort,driving experience. She felt like the Macan switchgear screamed cheap, specifically all that center and overhead console stuff. She also felt the Macan wanted to be driven hard and the ML just cruised along. It was really no contest for her.
YMMV

PureNick

You can get ceramic brakes on any Porsche product... it's part of their special order options.

Probably around $6k

27T

Everything is a trade-off. The slick rear makes for a sporty look but eats into cargo volume.

These rails are all the rage...probably in the name of MPG and style. Not very functional though. Highlander, MDX, Q7, etc have them, too.

The Macan is made to be a fun drive first, utility second. ML is the opposite.

27T

Looks good.

supernsx

If you wife is coming from the MKX and have those criteria, I can totally see the Macan is not a good fit for her. I totally agree with her that Macan needs to be driven hard (probably not all the time) and not a pure grocery getter.

My wife is more performance/brand oriented and she actually was the original driving force behind the Macan before I warmed up to it. She always wants a SUV but she hates the handling of them (in our price range). That's why all her cars so far are sport sedans.

Frankly, I was actually hoping to buy an used CPO Porsche Panamera 4S (still do) to replaced on R500 but well.... not going to happened. Maybe we will replaced our C300 with next the Porsche's smaller sedan.

GregGebhardt

I did not care for my Cayanne S either. Tooo many problems and too little time to deal with them.

GregGebhardt

I just need dependable and so far the ML has not caused the first problem . . .well other than me not reading the manual or allowing the dealer to explain everything. Thanks to the Internet and people here, I have pretty well figured everything out. I am looking forward to a long stay with the ML but it is fun to see the new offerings from Porsche

supernsx

I just saw a sales report on 2014 Porsche's first 6 months sales. Cayenne sales is already dipping due to Macan sales. Macan has a small waiting list at this moment but I think as soon as more people see it on the road, the sales of the Macan will take off. If people is interested, they should check the Macan out from the dealership.

Unlike the ML, there is very little discount off MSRP on the Macan.

vinceC

The Porsche SUVs, along with many others, lose out on the "U" in SUV. Before buying our ML350 we took our bikes into the dealerships and tried to load them into the cargo area after removing only the front wheels. The Cayenne was the worst; the seat backs don't fold flat and the sloping rear window chops off a huge amount of usable space. The X5 wasn't much better; same problem with the seatbacks although the rear of the cargo area is more "vertical" than the Cayenne. I also lease a GLK for my business in California and it isn't particularly spacious either; the seatbacks don't fold flat and medium size boxes are hard to carry (I had a Golf that actually carried larger boxes). Personally, if it weren't for the cargo carrying abilities, I wouldn't be driving any SUV. And an SUV that falls short carrying cargo doesn't make a lot of sense, at least to me. And the ML has nailed the "U" part in it's class. However, if you want a tall, heavy vehicle that handles well the Porsche is the best choice.

I love Porsches and plan of taking European delivery on one in a year or so, but it will be a 981 or 991, not one of the SUVs.

The attached photo shows a couple of our bikes loaded into our ML. We have actually carried 3 road bikes and a weeks worth of luggage in the ML, all safe and secure inside.

shortspark

Here is an article from Autoblog. It seems an interesting way to keep Macan hopefuls on the waiting list (which could be six months or more):

"Walk into a Porsche dealer today, place an order for a Macan and you'll be looking at a waiting period of six months or more before you can expect delivery. That may be common enough for high-end European automakers, but the Macan is meant to lure new buyers to the brand, and the wait list could be enough to deter them from sticking around.

The solution? Offer to lease them a Boxster or Cayman until their new Macan arrives. Shorter in term that the usual new-car lease, these six-month terms are designed to keep buyers from turning their backs, all the while experiencing the kind of vehicle Porsche does best.

Of course it doesn't hurt that the dealer then gets a used sports car to sell again once the short-term lease is up. And we wouldn't be surprised to see some buyers asking to hold on to their mid-engined sports car for a little longer, either.

Porsche says it's too early since the launch of the program to tell how many Macan buyers are opting for the short-term leases, but considering how close the prices of the Macan, Boxster and Cayman can be – all starting in the low $50k range – we would be surprised if it weren't a runaway success".

Nanook

One would think the new kid will steal some of the old boys thunder..so I surmise it won't be long before we see a new souped up Cayenne...can't have the pony faster than the horse..

supernsx

You are correct, Nanook. The new Cayenne S and turbo are coming out later this year. The base model will be early 2015. Not sure it is true or not but the dealer said the price of the Cayenne will go up $5-8K to differentiated the price of the Macan. Currently, Macan S and Cayenne have the same base price of $50K

The base Macan (4cyl model) may come out early next year in US in the mid $40's.

supernsx

If mine is not coming in 2 weeks, I will take up Porsche on it. I can totally sell my wife to lease a Boxster for this time of the year for six months.

DFW01E55

It's hard to express how great the Boxster S is (my dd). Fantastic ride quality and the top goes up and down at 30mph in only 9 seconds.

And then there's the 4.something seconds to 60 mph.
Be patient if the Macan is your goal, the Boxster is a treat.

EVOII_Racer

You should have drove the GLA 45 amg its even quicker than the Macan around a racetrack

Still an amazing choice well done

gplank

The Porsche Macan is so small, it shouldn't be considered an SUV. So, to compare it to the ML seems ridiculous. Of course the Macan is going to drive better, its smaller and lower to the ground like a sedan.

I drive a SUV like the ML for side-impact safety and a commanding view of the road (so you can avoid issues up ahead). With a small vehicle like the Macan, you get neither. It looks like a bug and I would expect you to get squashed like when when another SUV hits its (God forbid) from the side.

The amazing thing about my ML550 with all the performance options, it can corner and accelerate better than a sedan....yet I get the safety and commanding view of the road. Its the best of both worlds.

supernsx

Umm.... just to state the facts that Macan is actually wider than the ML for an inch and is less than 5 inches shorter. Frankly, it will be very little difference on side impacts between ML and Macan.

I do believe in many situations that people should get a ML than a Macan. My last four cars are all Mercedes and my original goal of this thread is to let others know that there is a new offering from Porsche that if you are performance oriented and don't need a lot of storage space, Macan can be a great choice.

There are very few choices today under $60K (what I paid for mine) that can offer the utility of a SUV but can out-run (run 0-60 in 5.2 seconds) and handle as well or even better than a sport sedan such as S4, M3 or C63. I really think Macan is a great bargain and the badge of "Porsche" put a cherry on the top.

supernsx

GLA is a bit too small for us. We also think interior of the CLA45 is a bit cheap and I believe it is very similar to the GLA. Btw, looking at your signature, your ML63 should be very sick.

vinceC

Oh please. Yes, the Macan will handle very well for what it is, but if you think it will handle as good as or better than an M3 you are fooling yourself.

supernsx

I can understand that. My M3 reference was from a guy who test drove a Macan S and previously owned an E90 M3. My personally experience was E46 M3 with SMG. The car including the handling was ok. What is your experience on M3? you like it?

vinceC

I owned one of the originals (E30). My neighbor and track buddy has owned every version since the E36 and currently has a E92. We take them to the track regularly because frankly, that is the only place you can use the performance available. I like them a lot, fast, nimble and lots of driver feedback. Not like a Porsche sports car, but the best of their type in my opinion. The E92 is the heaviest of them (until the F80) and you can feel it though. My favorite was the E30. A bit crude, but a lot of fun. And very usable performance.

Need4Speed

The Macan is a very interesting car only worked on 1 of them so far

zeddie

ML is the real SUV and the only SUV can load up three large size lugguage for my family, but Macan is far too short at the back.
If you compare performance, you'd rather choose ML400 turbo vs Macan. Though 0-100 is 6.1 vs 5.2 given ML is 10% heavier, both are 3L bi turbo. If you look at the compression ratio, ML is even more aggressive than Macan to overcome the weight.
Looking forward to tuning my ML400 in near future when performance parts is available. I highly believe it will make 5 sec after a few upgrades.

supernsx

FYI..... The 2015 minor facelift Cayenne's price just came out and it will be $5K-$7K increase compared to the current 2014. If anyone is looking for a new SUV, you may want to check out the 2014 Cayenne because the depreciation of the first two years can be awesome.

Porsche is pricing Macan similar to the ML350 and 2015 Cayenne is going to price similar to the ML400. 2015 Cayenne S is starting at $74K (instead of 2014 $66K) with option out to low $90K.

supernsx

E30 is an awesome car and that is the only M3 that I really care about. I recently saw a F80 and I think $80K+ is a bit much for it.