2021 Porsche Macan review: Macan Sutra

Singapore

DRIVING a Porsche Macan is like eating a meal by a chef who has the skill to wipe the kitchen floor with Massimo Bottura.

It's a head-scratchingly complete Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), and always has been. Headroom is relatively tight in the back, but the boot is reasonably big, the cabin looks and feels like a black collar worker's wet dream, and it's just so richly satisfying to drive. This is from someone who despises SUVs.

What's all the more amazing is that if you examine the recipe, you find what are effectively leftovers and common ingredients.

Porsche is launching a facelifted version here today, a couple of years after updating the 2014 original with a full-width rear light bar and a new infotainment system. The Macan got a refresh instead of a redesign because the next one is going to be electric, so this is a case of the tried-and-true hanging on since the bold-and-new is around the corner.

Externally, the changes are subtle, but the more obvious ones are a body-coloured inlay in front to make the car look broader and a new diffuser design for the rear.

Inside, it's slicker. Instead of crisp buttons the centre console now has a touch-sensitive panel that looks sensational, although it quickly revealed just how oily my fingers are.

There's a nice new interface for the 10.9-inch infotainment screen along with voice control (commands like "Take me to the airport" worked a treat), and with its 4G connection, the navigation system can download maps to update itself. Google powers the search results so the Macan can recommend a nearby place for Nyonya food.

A simplified menu leaves just three Macans, all of which have more power than before. There's the spicy GTS with 440 horsepower, the hearty Macan S (380hp) and this, the basic Macan, which happens to be the singlest best selling Porsche in Singapore.

It's not particularly fast - 100km/h takes 6.4 seconds - but that doesn't matter because the car is so lovely behind the wheel. The steering is so rich with precision and feedback, and a sense of fine calibration pervades the Macan, from the way the brakes feel to the way the gearbox acts with such crisp immediacy.

Meanwhile, the suspension ties the body down so nicely that you never feel the need to engage the active dampers' firmer settings.

Step into this from another SUV and the difference is breathtaking; I drove the Macan back-to-back with a Volvo XC60 and it made the Swedish car feel like a blancmange with wheels. On the flipside, at a gentle canter the Macan is also as refined as a Lexus.

This is just the basic version, so the Macan GTS must be something. Porsche tends to offer terrific value in terms of equipment with GTS cars, so it's likely worth the hundred grand premium. When the chef is this good, you want to spring for the finest ingredients you can afford.

Porsche Macan

Engine 1,984cc, inline 4, turbocharged Power 265hp at 5,000-6,500rpm Torque 400Nm at 1,800-4,500rpm Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch 0-100km/h 6.4 seconds Top speed 232km/h Fuel Efficiency 10.7L/100km Agent Stuttgart Auto Price S$260,088 without COE Available Now