Excited new owner collects her first Porsche!
After a week and 800 miles covered, I would say we're pretty pleased with our new acquisition. It's a cut above most of its rivals (and 10 grand more too). The Evoque rides well and has some nice toys, but lacks grunt. The Mercedes GLA 45 AMG looks great but its sporty appearance belies the fact it's an inveterate understeerer which would definitely NOT suit me. There's some great Japanese stuff around too, but we've had our fill of those for the time being.
We weren't keen on diesel but it was Hobson's choice if we wanted a Macan within a reasonable time. (Thought - when did the car industry start to dictate to customers what they could have and not the other way round?) However, the engine is lively and quite undiesel-like really. There's slight hesitation on firing up due to the pre-heat, but this is momentary, otherwise it feels very much like the petrol engine to drive. (We'll forget the need for the pig's pee for the moment.) With a 75l tank, the range is around 500 miles and this is ample for our use. The PDK is, of course, the best in the business and the cabin is a pleasant place to be, even though all the switches are a bit fussy and I need take my reading glasses with me when I want to see what they all do.
We programmed the Homelink yesterday and got it to work first time, which was quite a surprise as I believe some have quite a lot of trouble with this. There's a piano black blanking plate in the dash in front of the passenger's seat that looks a bit stark and I'm trying to persuade Judy to let me cheer it up with a carbon fibre wrap, logo or WHY.
We travel along in great comfort with the 14 way leather comfort seating. This has driver's memory so we can each retain our seat, mirror and aircon settings. We augmented this with the additional leather package option and this significantly lifts the cabin. The cabin itself is quiet - even at high speed and conversation can be carried on at normal levels - quite unlike my Turbo S. The handling and roadholding are good for an SUV, although when pushing on, there is some understeer but it's quite manageable and to be expected in this type of vehicle.
We haven't bothered too much with running in. The engine doesn't rev very highly and is not strained even at high speed. We just take care when cold not to flog it unnecessarily, but the PDK does its thing well and is never, ever in the wrong gear. We haven't found the need to try the sport engine mode yet, although we've chosen to use the harder PASM setting to reduce body roll. Interestingly, this setting stays selected even on restarts - it does not default back to standard, which is good. We didn't bother with Sports Chrono, although this might have been a consideration with a petrol engine.
The stop/start is a bit of a pain, particularly when manoeuvring backwards and forwards into a parking space, as the engine cuts out and blocks the steering too. All quite disconcerting and I really must get into the habit of turning it off in such circumstances.
We're pretty happy with the spec. actually and our dealer informed me he had just ordered a demo car in almost exactly the same trim since he thought it was pretty well rounded without being excessive. I'm slightly doubtful about the 3 zone climate control as the cabin is quite compact, but others with more experience than us think it is useful and effective for rear sear passengers and you do get a little cooling port in the glove box too, which prevents your chocolate bar from melting!
I missed auto dimming mirrors off our spec which, even at £240, I would have next time, although Judy drives very little at night. I'm not sure she will ever change a wheel either, but I guess its reassuring that there's one in boot if she can persuade someone to fix it for her.
So far so good and I'll report back again later when we have more to tell.
Regards,
Clive & Judith.
