SUV Review: 2022 Porsche Macan S

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The 911 may be the quintessential Porsche, but for the German automaker, it’s the compact Macan that pays the bills. Canadians buy more Macans than any other model and it’s easy to see why: It’s pricey, but overall, it does almost everything right.

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The Macan lineup gets a makeover for 2022, including a shakeup of the trim models. The Turbo used to lead the pack, but it’s been dropped and now the top dog is the GTS, which inherits the outgoing Turbo’s 2.9L twin-turbo V6, making 434 horsepower.

I’m a step below that in the 2022 Porsche Macan S. The GTS previously used a detuned version of the 2.9L, and just as younger children inherit their older siblings’ belongings, the GTS hands that engine down to the S, replacing its previous 3.0L V6. That 3.0L spun out 248 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque, but thanks to the upgrade, the Macan S now rises to 375 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of thrust. That goes to all four wheels through an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, known as PDK or, if your German pronunciation is sufficiently limber, Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe.

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The makeover also includes some styling updates, with revised front and rear end, and the new Papaya Metallic paint applied to my tester for an additional $790. That was one of some $17,450 worth of options on my car, which boosted its $70,600 starting price to a total of $88,050. That included some extra-charge features that are standard equipment on many mainstream models, such as adaptive cruise control for $1,130, lane-keeping assist at $790, and a surround-view camera for $1,360. Other add-ons included my heated sport steering wheel, 20-inch grey wheels, black window surround and adaptive sport seats. Porsche has always made its money on the add-ons, and it’s up to each buyer to determine if it’s primarily a cash grab, or a chance to personalize one’s vehicle as much as possible.

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The cabin also gets an update, the most noticeable of which is the centre console, which was previously fitted with a large number of hard buttons. The console is now flat and glossy, and those buttons are replaced by tactile-button icons. I’m actually torn on it. I find it less distracting to look for a big button rather than a little icon, and they can wash out with glare if the sun hits the glossy surface, which also has a full-time career as a fingerprint magnet; on the other hand, they are easy to use overall. You also still get toggles for the fan speed and temperature, which is always preferable to tapping or sliding your finger along an electronic icon. And even as most premium automakers switch to those ghastly electronic shifters, where you have to push forward to get into reverse – an unintuitive move if ever there was one – the Macan retains a regular PRNDL shift lever. I like that simplicity enough that I’m willing to forgive that its release button is very awkwardly set into the top of it, instead of on the side or below where it would be easier to activate with your thumb or by instinctively wrapping your fingers around the shifter.

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The seats are typically German, firm but very supportive, which are appreciated on longer drives for keeping your spine in the right place. My tester had eighteen-way heated-and-cooled sports seats which seem like $430 well-spent, as their adjustable bolsters can be squeezed in to keep you in position when you’re having some corner-carving fun, or relaxed when you’re getting in and out running errands. Rear-seat legroom isn’t bad unless those in the front slide their chairs farther back. But those rear chairs have generously-sized head restraints, and between those, the hard-sloping rear window, and the small mirror, rearward visibility could be better.

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But the plan here is to go forward, and the Macan does that extremely well. All Porsches feel tight and solid but not heavy, and that’s the case here. The S’s new engine is quick – Porsche says 4.6 seconds from zero to 100 km/h when equipped with the Sport Chrono Package, as mine was – but that strong acceleration is also smooth, and that’s what you want in something that, at its heart, is a family-style sport-utility. The transmission is equally quick to respond and correspondingly slick, a pretty much perfect-fit to this engine.

Household-hauler it may be by virtue of its configuration, but the Macan also knows it wears the prancing-pony Stuttgart badge. It’s a lovely highway cruiser and handles itself well in downtown traffic, helped by a very tight turning circle, but when you want to have some fun with it, it hugs the corners and curves around them much flatter than you’d expect of something with its height and ground clearance. The Macan S comes standard with active suspension, and my tester was further optioned with an adaptive air suspension. It lowers for improved aerodynamics but can also be raised for off-road should a weekend off the beaten path be in the plans.

The Cayenne was Porsche’s first sport-utility, and it still outsells all of the car models, but adding the smaller Macan was a stroke of genius. It’s right-sized, sharp-handling, beautifully balanced, and comfortable. Among compact premium sport-utes, this is one of the very top contenders.