18/05/2025

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY MAY 18, 2025

The interior of the Macan may feel minimalistic but its better than the Taycan.

The large infotainment screen is easy to use while you get physical buttons for the air-condition controls.

The Bose sound system is amazing but optional.

Turn this knob to select one of four drive modes.

– yeah right. But Porsche had already com mitted to the Macan EV, and it is here. We have driven it as well. Whether it will continue to exist as an EV only is still to be seen but we were left feeling fuzzy after driving it. What does the Macan offer? There are four variants cur rently on offer in Malaysia and they are Macan (RM430k), Macan 4 (RM445k), Macan 4S (RM525k), Macan Turbo (RM635k). We drove the Macan 4 so this article will focus on that. Powering the car are dual elec tric motors with one mounted on each axle, effectively giving the car all-wheel-drive capability. On the performance front, the Macan 4 offers 387PS and 650Nm of torque. However, when over boost is activated, power jumps to 408PS within a few seconds. The charge to 100kph is seen off in 5.2 seconds and top speed is rated at 220kph. As for range and charging, the Macan 4 will travel 613km before it needs to be recharged. And when it does need to be recharged, it will take just 21 minutes to reach 80% using a 270kW DC charger. And for a full charge to 100%, that will set you back a full 10 hours with an 11kW AC charger. The AC charging bit is a bit of a shocker especially considering the Macan 4 is built on an 800-volt electrical architecture. And if you are wondering why the Macan does not have that insane top speed which the Taycan has, well that is because the Macan does not have the Taycan’s two-speed “gearbox” which it uses to reach blinding speeds. What’s the interior like? This matters because this is

where you will be spending most, if not all, your time during the entirety of your relationship with the Macan. First things first, it took me some time to get over how big the dashboard is. It is not wide from door-to door because the Macan is not a very big car. But it is quite deep from the point where it meets the windscreen to edge of the screens. After you get over that, your eyes will set on the minimalistic yet functional interior. As with all modern cars, you are first greeted by a curved 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster up ahead of you, and to the left of that is a 10.9-inch info tainment system for all the car’s controls, entertainment and even video games. Yes, you read that right, the Porsche Macan has videogames like in a Tesla. I tried it and will not criticise it because it is quite fun. There is also an option for another 10.9-inch screen for the front passenger, but that is for the passenger’s eyes only since it comes with a layer akin to a pri vacy screen – which means the driver will never be able to look at the screen, ever. So, if you are the driver, and you are shelling out your hard earned money for that third screen, perhaps you should leave this option box unticked. Why pay for something you can’t use? I am a fan of the interior of the new Macan, more so than the inte rior of the Taycan. And there are a few reasons for that. For one, the air-conditioning vents can be manually adjusted, unlike the Taycan which blindly followed Tesla with its very annoy ing electronically adjusted air vents.

would let you get up to 250kph. So, I really don’t care about the top speed. How does it drives? Driving a Porsche is always quite an occasion. At least it used to be, with the sound of an engine reverberating in the cabin with the roar of the exhausts and blip of gearshifts numbing your brain during acceleration. Of course you don’t get any thing like that now, but you still get some wild acceleration that sends the blood rushing to the back of your head. And that is always fun. You may hate EV’s, but there is no denying that their acceleration is intoxicating. Besides, this is a Porsche, so let’s get real. If there is any com pany that can produce an EV while remaining true to its sports car heritage, it is Porsche. Just like the Taycan, wringing out every inch of performance out of the Macan requires focus and dedication. Power is available at the slight est prod of the accelerator paddle so you have to be sure of what you want to do before flooring the pedal because you will close gaps in traffic quicker than you can catch a breath. There are four drive modes – Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Off Road. I am not sure if Off Road mode is a necessity; just because all four wheels rotate in the same direction does not make the Macan a car capable of tackling sand and stone, but if it helps to sell cars then why not, I guess? Sport Plus should be left to the more experienced while Sport and Normal is where mere mortals should dwell. But the good thing here is that Porsche brakes work like anchors with face retardation systems built

in. Slam the brakes hard and you will come to a stop real quick, and maybe have a facial make over in the process. Should you buy one? Before I drove the new Macan, I was quite excited about rumours that Porsche will be introducing an internal combustion engine variant later. But after driving it, I am not so sure anymore. The new SUV does a brilliant job as an EV. It feels purpose built for it. You surely feel the bulk and heft of the car when on the move, but the Macan makes no apologies for it. It does not envelope around you to make it feel like you were driving a sports car. The Macan is a big, muscular Porsche with power to shame some of the most iconic sports cars. So, yes, you should buy one if budget is no concern. In fact, I like driving the Macan better than I do the Taycan because I feel more comfortable in it and the systems just make more sense. And besides, you don’t just buy a Porsche because you want a fast EV, you buy a Porsche because of what it is, and it is a very fast car, sans the engine sounds but you will get used to it. Sadly. SPECIFICATIONS Motor: Dual Motor (All-wheel-drive) Power: 387PS (408PS with Overboost) Torque: 650Nm Transmission: Single-speed Top speed: 220kph Range: 613km (WLTP) Charging: 270kW (DC) / 11kW (AC) We like: Power, handling, good looks. We don’t like: Cramped rear seats.

Rear passengers get dual-zone air-conditioning.

I also like the fact that you get buttons for air-conditioning con trols as well. It may sound petty, but it makes a lot of difference, especially in a Porsche where you need to be focused on the road rather than working a screen to get cold air to be blown to your face. I do also think that it’s quite sad that we are now relegated to prais ing regular air-vents and physical controls in our car reviews, things that cars from as far back as the 60s used to have. These are some crazy times indeed. The one thing that the new Macan seems to have inherited from the Taycan though is the cramped rear seats together with the rather upright angle of the backrests. Taller passengers may want to spend more time at the front. That’s not a deal breaker for me though, if I were to choose between the new Macan and the Taycan, it would be the former. The Taycan may have the higher top speed but there are not many roads in Malaysia that