2021 Porsche Macan GTS test drive in UK Car News

Come in and you can sit down however you want. The optional adaptive sport seats are quite firm, but everything else can be adjusted, from bolsters to seat length and tilt, to lumbar support, of course. Ditto for the steering wheel, which has a thin and firm rim, narrow spokes and very tactile paddles that do not interfere with normal driving.

Thanks to the revised air suspension and shock absorbers, the Macan GTS offers a wider range of adjustment. In comfort mode it is relatively firm, but due to the quality of the damping it rounds bad surfaces better than most, it is – overall – more comfortable than many more gently suspended cars. There is a bit of body roll, but the stiffer damping modes and lower ride height setting for the air suspension will expertly get rid of it. They are also perfectly usable on British roads.

Tap and the Macan GTS also makes an honorable impression of a hot hatch, despite its nearly two-ton curb weight and large body. Well-weighted steering and good grip give you all the confidence you need, while torque vectoring makes a tangible difference, pulling you through tighter turns with the unreal feel of an invisible hand giving you a slight push. Tackle the throttle when exiting very tight corners and it will even allow enough power to go to the rear for a hint of oversteer. If there is a reserve, it’s a slight blur in the direction, but the optional Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires could help.

The interior doesn’t look particularly modern anymore, but depending on how you look at it, that might not be a bad thing as the materials, on the whole, are still top notch. Just steer clear of the painted air vents as they look very cheap for a £ 1,000 option. It’s the same story for the infotainment system. Some of the physical shortcut buttons are gone and it’s not the most modern system, but you can do a lot worse. Particularly in other brands of the Volkswagen group.

You might expect the performance of a new top-of-the-range Porsche to be the first thing to discuss, but here we are at the end. The powertrain hardware is the same as the old Turbo, with the same 2.9-liter V6, but recalibrated for better response and reduced turbo lag. It’s very efficient and linear, and emits a determined if somewhat unfathomable growl with less noise than the old Turbo. It’s certainly fast, with the launch control feature extremely easy to activate, but the competition has caught up and there are plenty of rivals with more firepower. Even a Golf R is not far behind in terms of raw performance.