Knockhill Track Test - Macan Turbo
Leaving the Moray Firth sunshine behind, I headed south via the A939, A95, and A9, towards the damp and gloomy skies of the Forth Valley, Dunfermline, and the Knockhill race circuit. I had pre-booked a one hour exclusive track session including both static and action track photos by the resident photographer Iain Struthers. I had decided this was to be my final drive on a race track and I considered the occasion worth recording for posterity.
With the static photos completed, I set out on the track primarily for an evaluation exercise to appraise the Macan Turbo on a closed circuit for my own personal driving satisfaction, and to get to know the car better. The additional purpose being to relate my opinions to those interested, covering the car’s dynamic abilities in the braking and handling departments, including the engine and transmission performance of this illustrious flagship of the Macan model range.
Weighing in at close to two tonnes, with a high centre of gravity, and with a big lump of an engine mounted high in the chassis and set forward of the front axle line, is not the ideal configuration for a track friendly car. Added to that, a streaming wet Knockhill with its technically demanding undulating dips and blind crests, did not inspire confidence, even for an experienced wheel-smith such as myself.
The initial tentative laps established pretty much what I had expected of the car. Two things immediately stood out. The Macan’s lardy weight and dominant understeering characteristics required a major recalibration of the braking and turn-in points on the track compared to my previous, balletic, 718 Cayman GTS. Once I became acclimatised, the Macan pedalled along reasonably well bearing in mind this is a car well out of its comfort zone. With Sport Plus engaged I tried a few laps using both auto and manual gear shifting. The gearing turned out not to be particularly track friendly either, with gears 1, 2, and 3, being quite short with a noticeable gap to 4th gear. This is perfectly understandable, as Macan owners may use the car for towing horse boxes, caravans and trailers etc, where longer intermediate gear ratios would be a distinct disadvantage. For Knockhill the Macan Turbo’s gear ratios were not ideal, with 2nd and 3rd gears being too short, and 4th too long for the tighter sections of the circuit. I settled on using 3rd and 4th for all the corners excepting the hairpin where 2nd gear was best in the wet conditions. Here, the car pulled strongly exiting the tight, 30 mph hairpin. The 4WD mapping directing the torque predominately to the front axle, and I could sense the front wheels powering the car out of the corner and onwards to the uphill start-finish straight. Very little understeer was apparent at this corner due to the torque balance biased towards the front
axle, as I unwound the steering lock and PTV activated to help rotate the car around the hairpin bend.
One big surprise was the performance of the Porsche Surface Coated brakes, PSCB. Having had extensive experience with Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes PCCB, on my 718 Cayman GTS, I expected great things from PSCB being the standard fitment on the Turbo model. This turned out not to be the case on this race track unfortunately. On normal public roads PSCB performs extremely well, providing a reassuring "bite” and an excellent pedal feel. On the track it proved to be a very different story. Owing to the wet track conditions, braking points were much earlier for the high speed stops. Knockhill has two such stops per lap. The first being a medium brake at over 100 mph for Turn 1, Duffus Dip, the second more severe stop is also from 100 mph plus, for Turn 7 the 30 mph hairpin. After only 2 fairly brisk laps I already became aware of the distinctive pungent smell from the brakes the inside of the car. The photographer at the trackside also noted the distinctive aroma of hot brakes as I was circulating around the track. Following this first exploratory lap session, I returned to the pit lane after 5 laps to find smoke billowing from the front brakes. They were very hot indeed! This surprised me, as I am well practised in braking techniques and avoid jumping on the brake pedal. I roll off the throttle on approach to the braking area and squeeze the brake pedal progressively. The wet conditions should also have served to cool the brakes between corners. I came to the opinion that the weight of the Macan combined with the two 100 mph stops per lap, tested the PSCB far beyond what would be expected on the public road. Even more disconcerting, the Macan brake pedal feel also became soft as the brake temperatures increased. By comparison, my PCCB equipped 718 Cayman GTS previously lapped Knockhill at far higher speeds in the dry, with dramatically shorter braking distances without any adverse affects. It goes without saying, that very few Macan owners will venture to take their cars onto the track, and even fewer will push their cars to the same extent I did on this particular day. This was after all said and done, performance driving towards the car’s limits on a closed circuit.
On a more positive note, the chassis performance was acceptable for a car of this class on a race track, with body roll well controlled and the steering providing the driver with a decent feel of what the front wheels were doing. My car has the Power Steering Plus option which I have always specced as I find it better suited to my particular driving style. The Michelin Latitude Sport 3 N2 tyres performed very well on the wet track. The road grip was excellent, enabling the occasional wheel to become airborne as I my confidence and pace with the car improved.
The Porsche Track Precision app which I had hoped would record essential dynamic data, failed to connect with the PCM at Knockhill for reasons unknown. It’s quirky at the best of times. I didn’t have the time to faff with it.
Before my allotted track time came to a close, I performed a launch control start from the main straight starting grid. This Sport Chrono option requires a certain degree of mechanical detachment while deploying this feature. To put it mildly, it is brutal! The documented procedure is as follows;
Sport Plus activated, select "D” on the gear selector.
Left foot firmly on the brake pedal.
Quickly floor the throttle pedal.
Revs stabilise at 5000 rpm.
Immediately release the brake pedal.
The Macan is launched towards the horizon akin to a jet fighter taking off from an aircraft carrier. Even on a wet track, I recorded a 0-60 time of 4.12 seconds timed from my phone stopwatch. Very, very, impressive, and another accolade for the wet road grip of the Michelin tyres. To propel two tonnes of car from a standing start in such a brutal fashion places huge strains on the gearbox, clutches, and drive train. I wouldn’t recommend making a habit of this particular feature. I doubt I shall ever use this feature again.
In conclusion, I am now more acquainted with my Macan Turbo’s dynamic capabilities. I found the experience at Knockhill very rewarding for exploring the limits of the car. By any stretch of the imagination, the Macan is not a track friendly machine, such as the Cayman and Boxsters are for example. In fairness, the Macan model concept was never designed as such. The Macan makes up for this deficiency in other more practical ways, such as being supremely comfortable, eminently practical for daily driving, and with a class leading standard of driving satisfaction. Given time, I know I shall grow to love it.
I’ll post a few photos of my final track driving day for your interest.
Photo 1 is the fearsome Duffus Dip.
Brian
