Top gear review

All Porsche Macan Related Discussion
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Ger
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Post by Ger »

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/porsche-macan-audi-sq5-range-rover-evoque-triple-test-2014-08-21

Typical Top Gear review unfortunately. Love the TV programme, often leaves me crying with laughter, but in terms of insightful, intelligent and thoughtful journalism, from the magazine, with regards to reviewing cars in the from of a realistic test comparison, always find it very poor, and in many ways almost juvenile. Don't misunderstand me, I have no problem with them not liking the Macan, albeit, almost every other motoring review thou roughly praises the Macan for what it is, but why test the cars to the extremes that they did/do. (Read an article the other week that said in a survey of over 2000 SUV drivers, less than 10% had ever taken them off road.) Test the car for what the majority of people are going to do with them, town, A and B roads and motorways, and if you have to, a gentle bit of off-roading. Who honestly is going to risk damaging any of the cars tested in the article to the degrees they put them through. Utterly pointless in my view. In conclusion they eventually give it some sort of praise, but in a very sneery manor.

A few days ago, the Macan was pitted against an M3 in a drag race, now it is in a fight with a tank, and some other SUVs! I think the fact that it has the ability to be compared to different types of vehicle such a positive endorsement for the breadth of the Macan's ability and appeal.

Malk
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Post by Malk »

Agree
Diesel S Taken delivery 12/04/14
Replaced 4/7/14
Sold back to OPC 10/10/15
Now proud owner of 3rd Macan Volcano Grey 2.0T **WHICH IS UP FOR SALE**
Ordered 1st Edition XC40 T5 :o

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forge197
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Post by forge197 »

I and mrsforge are happy with the Macan and that's the only review that matters
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Miopyk
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Post by Miopyk »

It wouldn't have mattered if all the press reviews had panned the Macan I would have still bought it. Why? Because after driving one it more than met my expectations and that at the end of the day is all thats important in my book.

Top Gear tend to be more about entertainment than objective journalism and while I enjoy the programme I tend not to take their reviews too seriously. If I remember correctly these were the same people that said the Boxster was useless so that tells you the level of their journalistic competence.

I've no doubt that the Evoque and Q5 are very good at what they do and if that's what some people want then it's their money and they are free to waste it on whatever they want Wink
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Ger
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Post by Ger »

Echo your thoughts entirely Miopyk.
Deezel
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Post by Deezel »

With any luck it may put off some people higher on the list than me/us and so I/we get an earlier slot....... one can only hope.
S Diesel in 2015!
djh
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Post by djh »

Although the review wasn't all positive, the way I read it was that the journo concluded that it was the best.
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Beausoleil
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Post by Beausoleil »

I hope I'll be forgiven for not typing a whole new response, but I had something (probably a little
too much) to say on this subject a couple of years ago when Fifth Gear not only panned
the Mercedes SLK I was about to order but also thought they would test its convertible
hard-top's water-tightness by training a fireman's hose at it. Forum members' reactions were similar to what I am reading here and I couldn't help agreeing.




Quote: Post by Beausoleil from
SLKWorld.com





"I believe part of the trouble is the
presenters of these consumer shows are 'personalities' in a way they never were
before. Their opinions need to reflect these personalities, whether they are
real or imagined, so a Jeremy Clarkson could never allow himself to publicly
favour a Diesel, for example, over a high revving multi-cylinder petrol version
of the same car even if the former did everything better. VBH is keen to convey
that she likes and has the skill to do a whole journey going sideways and condemns
cars that make this difficult, despite the fact that her only chance to do this
is on TV and racing events - hardly typical pursuits for the people she is
meant to be informing. If the SLK suited the rest of her life totally, she
would not say and, perhaps, wouldn't even realise.




The most succinct way to explain the Mercedes conundrum is their failed
relationship with McLaren. It is clear the type of car McLaren wanted to put to
market. Their MP4-12C seems very impressive. It is small and light to the point
of obsession. When they collaborated with Mercedes on the SLR, they were
forced, probably kicking and screaming, to add the full complement of safety
and comfort equipment befitting a top-of-the-range Mercedes; and from their
existing parts bin rather than re-engineered from gossamer and butterfly wings.
My sense is that the percentage of McLaren in the SLR progressively decreased
to the point where it became another case of Mercedes saying to their AMG
people "This is what we're fitting; now weigh it and build an engine to overcome
it."



The result was never a real rival for other hyper cars in the only place where
this judgment could be made - the track. I've never been close to driving an
SLR but I have driven a Murcielago and, whatever the Lamborghini did better,
I'm fairly certain that, for what I do 350 days of the year, the SLR would suit
me more. My E Class suits me better still, however. That's not to say it's a
better car by any tangible measure; but it suits my life. The Lambo had me
wide-eyed, tense in the shoulder and constantly craning to see parts of the car
I couldn't easily see from the (LHD) driver's seat. I had no opportunity or
inclination to explore the upper reaches of its performance range, since this
is frowned upon in Battersea; but based on my limited exposure to this deeply
impressive but demanding machine, I'm clear it would not be something I'd want
to drive every day, whereas I suspect the SLR might be - and I'm not even a big
fan of the McMerc. The hidden politician in us all could come up with ten important
criteria to support our choice of car. Lies, damn lies and statistics; that
sort of thing.



I doubt many people who could own a different car for every purpose would
choose the SLK as their thrill-a-minute, track day adrenaline fix; so why
measure it in this way? Despite what Mercedes might have said the new SLK was
going to be, anyone who knows the marque - as we have to presume road-testers
with decades of experience must - knew full well that, while it might improve
on its forebears' handling, it would be a Mercedes first and foremost.



If skill bordering on that of a racing driver is required to keep a car from
spinning out of control - which is what I assume the likes of Tiff Needell, Ms
Butler-Henderson
et al want
to convey they possess, it follows that the remaining 99.9% of us would find
that same car a handful. Nothing in Mercedes' history, certainly in my
lifetime, would suggest to me that the company that trades on safety innovation
is keen to corner that particular market. This is the company that provides an
"ESP OFF" switch only because "ESP OFF A LITTLE BIT" wouldn't fit



The bald facts are there is no huge market for white-knuckle cars or anything
close. There are any number of small independent manufacturers who cater for
that clientele. They build cars slowly but can afford to because they sell
slowly. Far more popular is a class of car that I'll call cars that 'look like
they might (LLTMs)' in honour of the girls of my youth that might have
qualified for the description. I get to say this because I was brought up in an
era when sexism wasn't even a word.




These girls were keen to look like they might even if they didn't, while those
who looked like they might - and
did -
attracted just as many 'road-testers' but relatively few suitors interested in
a long term relationship. Lottie from Norfolk, who may or may not be just such
a person from my past (just in case she reads this), was fun, entertaining,
edgy and up for anything. She delivered thrills aplenty but no-one ever married
her or, probably, even took her home to meet their parents because away from
the party scene, she was a bit of a liability. She could never be relied upon
not to do something embarrassing; not to utter something uncouth. You wouldn't
ask her to escort your grandmother to her hospital appointment . . . . and she
had a slight problem with body odour.




Portia and Beatrice-Emma were different. They knew how to behave and could be
very erudite and sophisticated but could never quite hide their restlessness.
If they detected they didn't have your undivided attention, they might give you
a slap or pinch you. If you wanted someone who, just once in a while, took
control or made her own decisions, you'd be better off with someone else.



Briefly a curve-ball got thrown into the scenario when a couple of girls named
Sue and Evonne stepped onto the scene. Nobody saw it coming because they looked
so ordinary at first. These were girls who looked like they never would, yet
went like the clappers. However, close inspection meant they could never quite
hide their humble East Asian origins and, once they had abandoned their cheap
but at least successful makeover in favour of hideously ill-judged surgery, few
gave them a second glance. I hear they still go like the clappers, though.



What a car looks like it might do is probably as important to many buyers as
what it actually will. Swoopy coupe versions of saloon cars owe their existence
to this premise. I don't see the SLK and its ilk as very different. Of course
it is important for marketing that any car compares favourably with its chief
rivals and I understand that a road test of a sports car, whatever that
actually means these days, will focus on performance; ignoring almost
everything else. But the upper 30% of most cars' performance is almost
irrelevant compared to, say, seat comfort or visibility or ergonomics or its
suitability to occasionally take grandma to the hospital. The epithet 'sports'
is somewhat irrelevant when it's your
only car.
Only if you are in a position to regard a given car solely as an ad hoc
plaything does the situation change. Road-testers are in exactly this position.
Why else would they regard a tendency towards lift-off oversteer as an
important yardstick in a test of estate cars, for example?



I recently watched a 1980s edition of Chris Coffey and William Woollard era Top
Gear on YouTube (sorry to alienate non-UK members and anyone under 40!) and it
was clear that the presenters were there to inform. It was like Which? Magazine
on the 'box and could probably afford to be when the only other choices were
Upstairs Downstairs, Survival and any show with Bill Grundy. Now it's more of a
ratings game and there are hundreds of other channels and other interests to
take viewers away. Broadcasters feel the need to widen their target to beyond
the relatively small number of people in the market for a new car in the next
18 months and kids who have yet to discover girls. Dropping pianos on cars,
racing against aeroplanes, being wilfully offensive and using a fireman's hose
to perform a 'test' that could have been done more easily and realistically
with a watering can is, allegedly, entertainment and it is what we are told we
need.



Just as the staid 1970s quiz shows and documentaries about natural history have
had to be jazzed up with gimmicks, explosions and CGI, nothing less than this
is trusted to keep our attention any more, even on a magazine show for
consumers. Coming from the 'Watch With Mother' generation, who had to look at
the TV screen for a good 15 seconds to be sure whether we were looking at a
moving image or a still, I find it a bit much.



Be that as it may, I am really rather pleased that the cars I share the roads
with every day are not all piloted by people seeking thrills. If my fellow
motorists are regularly driving with such alacrity that they need to be able to
feel through their fingers or the seat of their pants, the point where their
tyres are about to break traction, I think I'll use the train more.



If, as I suspect, hooning around on public roads occupies a trivial percentage
of most drivers' week - and if that same car is tasked with keeping him or her
safe, comfortable, punctual, admired and solvent, a car concept like the SLK
would appear to fit the bill quite well. She may be no Lottie but at least you
can take her anywhere!




Apologies for going on a bit; you'd never know I edit for a living!
"

Apologies for the thinly-veiled slightly negative comment about Porsche (Portia). As you will discover if you refer to the whole thread, the girls to whom I refer are all metaphors for rival cars' characteristics.





Beausoleil2014-08-22 13:49:38
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