2022 Porsche Macan GTS: Third wave

Short of a pickup, there seems to be a Porsche permutation for every person, family, and enthusiast. Need a twin-turbo hyper-coupe? 911 Turbo S. Freaky fast fun for five? Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, available as a sedan or—for a little while longer, anyway—a wagon. Is the cabin a bit snowed-in this time of year? Pick a Cayenne, any Cayenne. Maybe you want a little bit of everything previously mentioned, minus the thirst for gasoline? A Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo is a real model, not a Mad Lib, and it checks the battery-only box. If any Porsche can be called a hot hatch, though, it’s the Macan GTS.

Yes, we admit the Macan GTS is larger and rides quite a bit higher than, say, a VW Golf R. But if you want practical transportation with a Porsche badge, this is about as lively and well-balanced as it gets. Our loan of this Python Green 2023 Macan GTS took place in Phoenix, Arizona, allowing us to visit a car-themed coffee shop that’s been on our radar—the Fourtillfour cafe. It’s the type of place that 911 owners frequent; can any people-mover Porsche fit in with such a crowd?

We’ll get to the coffee later. First, a refresher: The Macan launched in 2014, and a almost decade later it’s still competitive with rivals like the BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC. The GTS is the top dog of the current Macan lineup, whereas Porsche previously offered a Turbo variant. For the 2021 model-year refresh—ushering in the third iteration of the Macan since its 2015 model-year debut—Porsche reorganized the Macan family tree so that the new GTS effectively replaces the prior Turbo in performance and price. Lesser Macans include the base model, the Macan T, and the Macan S.

In practice, the new hierarchy means that the 2023 GTS packs the same 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 and seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission as the now-dead Macan Turbo, complete with the same 434 hp and 406 lb-ft. The “GTS” badge, used on a variety of models including the 911 Carrera, signifies a suite of performance upgrades over the standard car; aside from a 0.4-inch drop in ride height, the adaptive dampers are 10 percent stiffer at the front and 15 percent at the rear. The optional $12,010 GTS Sport package adds more meaningful goodies, including a limited-slip rear differential and 21-inch lightweight wheels shod in gluey Pirelli P Zero Corsa PZC4 summer tires.

Specs: 2022 Porsche Macan GTS

Price: $81,250 (base); $99,170 (as-tested)
Powertrain: 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-6; seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Horsepower: 434 hp @ 5700–6600 rpm
Torque: 405 lb-ft @ 1900–5600 rpm rpm
Layout: All-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger SUV
Weight: 4400 pounds
EPA-rated fuel economy: 21/27/23 mpg city/hwy/combined
0–60 mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 169 mph
Competitors: BMW X3M, Mercedes-AMG GLC 63, Audi SQ5, Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

As you’d expect given the hardware, the Macan GTS is quick. Porsche claims a 4.3-second 0-to-60-mph scramble, but Car and Driver has clocked it at 3.5 seconds on the way to a 12.1-second quarter-mile. That 434-hp six-cylinder shrinks arrow-straight desert highways like a retracting tape measure. Standard all-wheel drive and dual-clutch gearbox make for snappy response and on-demand merging speed that’s particularly useful when you need to outrun a semi on short notice. In more clogged city conditions and over craggy pavement, the Macan GTS remains nearly as comfortable as your average upmarket crossover, despite the slightly stiff ride and sub-par bump isolation.

Everything else makes for a dandy daily driver. The Audi-sourced 2.9-liter six retains much of its quad-ringed cousin’s robust but generally placable character. Aside from some muffled growl, there’s nothing in its normal operation that indicates there’s more on tap here than the base Macan’s 261-hp turbo-four.

Porsche’s dual-clutch (PDK) transmission, as usual, is faultless: mundane in ordinary traffic and whip-quick when you break free onto some country roads. The gearbox really shines when given the chance to make use of the V-6’s thick torque; even in the Normal drive mode, the transmission is shockingly quick to drop down multiple gears when necessary. Strong acceleration is a moment away, any time. Power does not noticeably drop off until you’re cruising at extra-legal speeds. In the most aggressive “Sport Plus” mode, the transmission holds gears until near redline unless directed otherwise via manual paddle shift, drawing on every hoof of that 434 hp. Taken entirely within the context of a small-ish crossover SUV, there is a spooky amount of grip from those wide Pirellis.

Following my arrival into Phoenix, the arrestingly green super-crossover struck us as a nicely equipped yet highly conspicuous runabout, useful for hauling luggage, people, and groceries, occasionally all at once. The Macan’s interior proved a popular point with our passengers. The snug sport seats, carbon fiber trim, Alcantara, and green stitching combined to produce a far racier vibe than the Audi Q5-ish exterior profile suggested.

The color, though, did a lot of the heavy lifting as far as helping the Macan GTS blend in aside the Fourtillfour Cafe. Located in Old Town Scottsdale, the coffee shop isn’t strictly Porsche-themed, but the moto-chic décor drips with depictions of air-cooled 911s and bygone Porsche race cars. High-end coffee beans are served in a modern facsimile of vintage oil cans, while small, customized scale-models of cafe founder Nico Samaras’ various real-life 356s pop out between cascading potted plants.

An Arizona native, Samaras started Fourtillfour after two tours of duty in the Marine Corps, fostering his love of both old Porsches and coffee while still enlisted. Prior to and during his service, he bought and sold a number of 356s, hosting drives and cultivating community under his “4till4” brand—3:56, or four minutes until 4 o’clock. Get it?

The small Scottsdale café opened in 2015, and quickly evolved into one of Arizona’s most popular stops for enthusiasts. Official themed Cars and Coffee gatherings happen each weekend, with monthly events for Porsches, motorcycles, “fast cars,” air-cooled VWs, vintage European and JDM metal, and classic off-roaders. A second, larger café opened in Encinitas, California a few years later and is now a staple of the Porsche scene in San Diego.

The verdant Macan loaner was the only Porsche in sight on our gray, mid-week morning visit. Which means nobody was there to tell us we didn’t belong! Eager to get out before that status could be challenged, we blasted back out into the Sonoran desert for some mountain driving. Up the slithering AZ State Route 88—officially known as the Apache Trail—the Macan GTS felt every bit a sports car.  Like most modern Porsches, the steering weight at speed is marvelously dialed in, imparting uncanny granularity through the helm, which feels plucked right from a 911 or 718. This, of course, is a much larger and taller car, and enormously strong brakes bring the 4400-pound crossover to a brisk halt.

By every parameter, the Macan GTS is a tremendously capable five-seater, but comes shy of what we’d call “thrilling.” There’s still no escaping the car’s size, weight (a BMW M340i weighs about 400 pounds fewer), and elevated driving position compared with a traditional sports car or sedan. On the charge, you can sense that adaptive suspension sweating to maintain the car’s composure.

Still, the Macan GTS is, without pretense, the sharpest and most engaging four-door Porsche under $100,000—as long as you’re careful with the options. It falls short only of the sharpest Panameras, Taycans, and the supernatural Cayenne Turbo GT, which can be many tens of thousands of dollars pricier.  If we’re sticking to ideal characteristics of a hot hatch—a fine balance of performance, usability, practicality, and affordability—the Macan falls short only in the latter category. An all-electric Macan is in the cards for the next-generation crossover, likely due next year, but this third-wave GTS quenches our hot-hatch thirst as-is.

2022 Porsche Macan GTS

Highs: Sports car–worthy chassis dynamics, astoundingly good transmission, sensible interface layout.

Lows: Bit tight inside compared with rivals, options stack up quickly, ride not as polished as it could be over large bumps.

Takeaway: The Macan GTS is about as convincing, usable, and rewarding as an SUV with sports-car ambitions can get.

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