Macan spec - advice please

[Craig Porter]

In the next few weeks we'll have a Macan GTS demo if you'd like to try one, only 1 hour up the motorway from London with some great roads!! And our Night Blue showroom car has just arrived....

[Tom 2000]

Just my two penneth

If you had darkened glass all round that comes to less than the roll up blinds and dimming mirrors and the dark glass removes the need for this

PASM is more than adequate in my view as opposed to air suspension

Do you really need to spend £400 on body colour sideblades when you are getting a dark blue car, the standard black blades will hardly be obvious anyway

Just those things above save close on £2000 I think and is based on personal experience

If you live in central London with occasional trips elsewhere, do you really need to spend the money on lane change assist and the same can be said about adaptive cruise control when cruise is std anyway

Just food for thought as it is easy to go mad on the configurator and end up with a load of things you actually will either never use or ever get value for

On the flip side, pano roof, light package, xenons, Leather, memory seats are all really good value and things you will use on most if not every trip

Good advice.

[Nuclear Nick]

Just my two penneth

If you had darkened glass all round that comes to less than the roll up blinds and dimming mirrors and the dark glass removes the need for this

PASM is more than adequate in my view as opposed to air suspension

Do you really need to spend £400 on body colour sideblades when you are getting a dark blue car, the standard black blades will hardly be obvious anyway

Just those things above save close on £2000 I think and is based on personal experience

If you live in central London with occasional trips elsewhere, do you really need to spend the money on lane change assist and the same can be said about adaptive cruise control when cruise is std anyway

Just food for thought as it is easy to go mad on the configurator and end up with a load of things you actually will either never use or ever get value for

On the flip side, pano roof, light package, xenons, Leather, memory seats are all really good value and things you will use on most if not every trip

That’s a pretty good summary I think. The only thing I might question is the tinted glass all round. For one thing I think the dark side windows make it look a bit like a van and spoil the flow of the design. Also, you will still get dazzle through the driver’s door window from the exterior mirror unless you have the dimming option.

[andreas]

Difficult to advise as so much is personal choice. You really must have at least Bi-Xenon headlights, and the extra dynamic lights are great. But I'd ditch the side skirts, painted side blades, lane assist and auto-dim mirrors. I'd add privacy glass, because that's apparently desirable on resale. I'm not sure that air suspension is worth £1000 over PASM; I find the ride is very acceptable without it, so I'd save £1000 there. I haven't used adaptive cruise control, but I don't think I'd want to pay £800+ for it. The 20" SportDesign wheels are a good choice; they're so easy to clean!

[Mike and his Macan]

Personally I would go and drive a GTS... it comes as standard with a lot of features, it may end up saving you long term, and most would agree its the sweet spot in the range.

[Paul]

Having had an S (albeit a dirty D S) I would say you're probably £4 -£6 K “ over” on options if residual is important to you (IF)

I don’t like dark blue (personal choice) and as others have said, coloured side blades won’t really be noticed. Sport design side skirts are really just a bit of pretty......park assist will be really useful in London and the sun roof will definitely make the cabin a nicer place to sit in the the jams! Air suspension is not really necessary on the useage you describe. Lane assists is expensive, again based on your described useage as is speed limit display and, to a degree, auto cruise control. You’ll love the way the comfort seats “tuck you in” when you close the door and the light comfort package is a really nice, cheap option.
I would add (based on “my” savings above) xenons and a bit more leather,

I’ve also just realised this pretty much duplicates what GTIPirelli posted above

[Col Lamb]

General advice applicable to all Macanc
.
.
The base 2.0 litre and S are in reality stripped down cars with just the minimum of fitment inclusions. A test drive of a very basic Macan will still give the impression of a great performing and handling car, especially if you are not used to driving this type of car. That said with the inclusion of some basic fitments the Macan is transformed into the supreme SUV in its class.

Only you can answer what you want out of your Macan ownership, but please if you are limiting the budget what you are going to spec please spec wisely.

What follows is related to a Macan supplied to the UK, please note that a basic Macan supplied to other countries may well be configured differently with different combination of extras available when compared to the UK.

My suggestion of the minimum inclusions in the specification of any Macan that I would buy is these:-

14 or 18 way seats .
Basic non GTS 8 way seats have a flat back and are not as comfortable as the upgrades, GTS 8 way seem more comfortable than standard, however do test drive a Macan fitted with the 8 way seats if considering retaining them.

Xenon lights .
Basic halogens are questionable in their capabilities, most owners with halogens regret not upgrading. If funds allow LEDs are a quantum leap improvement over Xenons, they also include the adaptive headlight function.

PASM.
Gives adjustable suspension which results in a smoother ride and better handling capabilities, this really is the key inclusion to have to get the best ride and handling in a Macan.

20" wheels.
A personal choice, 20" gives a good compromise on looks, handling and kerb management.

PS+.
Lightens steering load at parking speeds then progressively reduces to zero assist at road speeds.

Spare wheel.
Plus two purchased cans of sealant / inflator gives options in the event of a flat and especially an unrepairable/damaged tyre/wheel.

Reversing camera.
Rear quarter vision is poor, to check out yourself in a test drive by parallel parking the demo car, if funds allow then Surround Camera is even better.

Interior light pack,
Replaces bulbs with LEDs for a more pleasing interior look and the all important illuminated mirrors.

The above are the key inclusions or extras that I recommend you specify.

Other popular inclusions are:-
Pano sunroof, lightens a dark interior
Tinted glass, purely for looks and it enhances the stealth look with blacked out trim
SD mirrors, an aesthetic choice often fitted due to the questionable quality of standard mirror mount.
Colour matched side blades, enhances look and will aid cleaning.
Roof rails, its an SUV so kind of expected, but looks equally great without
Heated seats, useful.
Heated steering wheel, a favourite of mine that gets used more than the heated seats.
Sports Chrono, gives dial in top centre of dash plus launch control and more aggressive gearbox and throttle maps.
Porsche Sports Exhaust, do note that PSE is an aural performance addition only and has no power increase benefits.
Leather upgrades, an almost universal upgrade on non GTS Macans.
Smoking pack, covers the hole in front of drinks holders.
ACC, gives adaptive cruise control which is far better than standard, it also includes Porsche Active Safe braking system which is not fitted unless ACC is specified.

Ordering process:-
£3k deposit starts process, deposit fully refundable until lockdown of spec
Circa six weeks later Porsche at Silverstone PEC invite for 1/2 day driving on the circuits, check prior posts.
Six weeks prior to build is the lockdown date for the vehicle spec and signage to commit to the order
Build, 3 working days
Car enters compound awaiting delivery to OPC
Delivery 7-30 days with 20 days an average.
Then its PDI and pick up

Admin at the OPC can access the main Porsche intranet in Germany where they can see the codes, the main ones are:-
V250 Vehicle fixed (which is the final build code)
V260 Vehicle enters bodyshop
V270 Vehicle exits production
V300 Vehicle completion
V311 Vehicle enters compound
V312 Vehicle exits compound
V330 Vehicle enters (the Port of) Emden compound

***** The most important advice I can suggest is to test drive a Macan which has the same seats, wheel size, suspension and steering as you intend to specify *****

[Col M]

Just coming to renew my insurance and was interesting that they're asking if lane keep and auto braking are installed...no idea how much it changes a premium. As following good stories on this forum I'm trying NFU and they are limiting me to carrying fewer than 2000 shotgun cartridges.

[Tom 2000]

Just coming to renew my insurance and was interesting that they're asking if lane keep and auto braking are installed...no idea how much it changes a premium. As following good stories on this forum I'm trying NFU and they are limiting me to carrying fewer than 2000 shotgun cartridges.

Depending how far you are from your RFD 2,000 cartridges isn't too shabby. 250 a day is a lot so thats a weeks worth at full pelt.

[Col M]

Yeah 250 in a day is beyond my shoulder's capability.