By: IOL Motoring Staff
When Porsche first launched its Cayenne SUV, the purists cried blue murder and the world thought that the Stuttgart sports car specialist had gone off its rocker.
Yet the premium mud plugger went on to be a huge sales success for Porsche and now the company is expanding the SUV family with the smaller Macan that's just broken cover at the LA Auto Show.
Our go-to-guy at Porsche tells us that the Macan will reach our shores around the middle of 2014, although it's way too early to speculate on pricing.
Porsche exclaims its new baby is "the first compact SUV that is also a sports car" and that intention comes through clearly in its exterior design, which remains true to Porsche's contemporary styling themes.
TURBOCHARGED LINE-UP
There are three versions on offer and even though only one of them has 'Turbo' in its name, all are powered by six-cylinder force-fed turbo engines.
The most accessible will be the Macan S, which is shifted along by a 3-litre V6 twin-turbo good for 250kW and 460Nm and capable of moving it from 0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds.
Big gun status, however, goes to the Macan Turbo, which dashes to 100 in 4.8 seconds with its 3.6-litre twin-turbo that produces 294kW and 550Nm.
There's an economical oil-burner too, in the form of the Macan S Diesel. Powered by a 190kW/580Nm 3-litre V6 turbodiesel, this one gets to 100 in 6.3 seconds and sips as little as 6.1 litres per 100km on the combined cycle.
ALL-ROADER
Regardless of which Macan you choose, power is channelled to all four wheels via a seven-speed PDK double-clutch gearbox with flappy paddles. The Porsche Traction Management active all-wheel drive system comes with a button-activated off-road mode as standard, which alters all the electronic systems to provide maximum low-speed traction. What's more, the Porsche Hill Control system allows for slow creeping down hills.
Buyers can also opt for an air suspension system, which allows the ground clearance to be increased by 40mm to a maximum ground clearance of 230mm.
The S models come standard with a conventional steel spring chassis, and can be ordered with the Porsche Active Suspension Management system with adjustable dampers. This gadget is standard on the Turbo.
Standard equipment across the board includes a seven-inch colour touch-screen linked to a high performance audio system, eight-way electrically-adjustable driver's seat, multi-function sports steering wheel and an electrically operated tailgate.
Tick the options list and you can have Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus, dynamic high beam headlights, Sport Chrono package and much more.
But why did they call it the Macan? According to Porsche, this name comes from the Indonesian word for tiger. And this one is clearly ready to pounce on the less-powerful BMW X3 and Range Rover Evoque.