My Macan Turbo now has 6500 miles recorded since handover last August. In common with my perceptions arising from the Cayman models following running-in from new, engine performance and fuel economy seem to improve after the 6000 mile threshold is breached. The in-gear acceleration of the Turbo, 50 - 70mph, is pretty much on a par with my former 718 Cayman GTS as I recall under similar circumstances.
Even allowing for the gear ratio gap on the Macan between 3rd and 4th, the overtaking capabilities using my preferred manual shifting is quite astonishing for such a heavy and bulky car. As regular readers of my posts will already know, most of my mileage is on single carriageway roads where safe overtaking opportunities are few and far between. Pre-selecting 3rd gear prior to conducting the overtake manoeuvre spools up the turbo ready for the firm acceleration to follow. The car simply leaps forward and soars onwards within seconds to the 6000+ rev range before selecting 4th gear and continuing the linear acceleration until the overtake is complete. The Macan Turbo really is an astonishing performer.
Fuel economy figures also show an improvement on journeys well-known to me. For example, the Inverness - Aberdeen A96 can be a frustrating route at times with slow moving agricultural traffic and heavy haulage HGV's. Despite several overtakes as described above, I averaged 29.7 mpg for the 200 mile round trip. This shows an improvement of almost 2.0mpg over the previous 28.0 mpg normally recorded on this trip prior to the 6000 mile threshold. The journey was as usual mostly done in Individual mode on the steering wheel dial which selects the lowered sports suspension but retains the Normal engine map setting.
Last weekend I took a short trip to Cromarty on the "Black Isle" across the Moray Firth. For those who may not know local history, the "Black Isle" is not an island as such being a peninsula immediately north of Inverness. It was so named following the barbaric Highland clearances conducted by the Duke of Sutherland in the middle ages. Tennant crofters were offered derisory sums to vacate their dwellings and land to make way for large scale sheep farming which the Duke deemed more profitable than the peppercorn rentals arising from the crofters. Those crofter families who resisted were forcibly evicted from their dwellings and crops torched. Thus the name "Black Isle" from the charred and smouldering landscape.
My reason for taking this short trip was to road test my new folding e-bike already loaded into the rear luggage compartment. After crossing the Kessock suspension bridge on the A9, I took a right turn after 2 miles onto the B9161 to Munlochy, joining the A832 to Fortrose, Rosemarkie, and onwards to the village of Cromarty. This is a popular tourist route, the main attractions being the Chanonry Point dolphin watching, and the charming village of Rosemarkie. The Cromarty Firth serves both deep water berths for cruise ships, (remember those), and an industrial centre for marine engineering. Oil rig decommissioning and wind farm pylon construction are the main industries these days. There are usually around 7 - 10 redundant oil rig production platforms anchored in the firth in various stages of deconstruction.
To test my new e-bike I took the single track road climbing to the summit of the south bluff cliff which along with its north twin, guards the entrance to the Cromarty Firth. These cliffs are known locally as the Sutors of Cromarty. I have to say the new e-bike performed exceptionally well on the long climb to the top of the Sutor. With its small 20" wheels and wide tyres the steering on the Eovolt bike is very quick and sensitive. Experienced cyclists like myself can adapt quite easily to the sensitive steering, but I would warn novice cyclists to take care, especially on steep descents. Using a car analogy, I would equate the Eovolt steering to be comparable to the difference between a normal road car and that of a Formula Ford single seater racing car. Following my climb to the summit, the steep descent was given all due respect!
I returned to Inverness via the B9163 from Cromarty passing the quaintly named hamlet of Jemimaville. Following the road along the shore of the first I turned left onto the B9169 at Culbokie leading to rejoin the A9 to Inverness. It was a delightful day out. Not too busy, mainly local day-trippers like myself. Only a platoon of motorcyclists being the obvious tourists.
A few photos to follow.
Brian
