Porsche has given the Macan - a car that can pretty safely be described as a runaway success for the sports car maker (600,000 have been sold since 2014) - a small round of updates and improvements. Now, this is not the new Macan - that will come later in the year, and will actually be an all-electric version, sharing a battery platform with Audi. But, because Porsche knows exactly what side its bread is buttered upon, it's keeping the existing Macan on sale, in petrol-powered form, for customers who can't or don't want to go electric yet, and for markets where EV infrastructure is either sparse, or plain non-existent.
440hp Macan GTS twin-turbo
So, the revised Macan lineup now features three models - a plain Macan; a Macan S; and a Macan GTS. The GTS is, unsurprisingly, the hot one. It gets a twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6 engine with 440hp, which is some 60hp more than the previous Macan GTS.
That's enough to shove the Macan from 0-100km/h in just 4.3 seconds (assuming you've ticked the options box for the Chrono Sport Pack, which includes launch control) and on to a top speed of 272km/h - assuming you've got an Autobahn stashed out the back or something. Fuel economy, on the WLTP cycle, is quoted at 11.2 litres per 100km, with CO2 emissions of up to 265g/km. Which presumably means that it will be something of a minority interest vehicle in Ireland...
The Macan S also gets a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine, but this one has a mere 380hp, which is still 26hp more than the previous one. 0-100km/h is done within 4.6 seconds (Chrono Sport Pack allowing etc etc), and there's a top speed of 259km/h. Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are pegged at 11.1 litres per 100km, and 251-265g/km.
Fancy something a touch more affordable? There's a base Macan model, with a two-litre, four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, bearing 265hp (up by 20hp from before) which will sprint to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 232km/h - Autobahn allowing etc etc. It has fuel economy of 10.0l litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 228-243g/km.
All models get, as standard, a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and Porsche Traction Management (PTM) four-wheel drive.
More sensitivity for the chassis and steering
According to Porsche, the Macan's chassis has been tweaked: "so the car responds with greater sensitivity and more directly to the driving style and road conditions." The adaptive suspension setup, which Porsche calls PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) has been updated and tuned specifically to suit both the Macan S and Macan GTS. It's standard on those models, and an option for the base Macan.
The GTS does get lower suspension as standard though, dropped by 10mm compared to the Macan and Macan S, while its air suspension is also stiffer - by ten per cent at the front, and 15 per cent at the rear. There's a GTS Sport package, too, which comes with 21-inch wheels, a torque-vectoring differential, and the Sport Chrono pack.
Even Porsche admits that the exterior styling of the Macan is "broadly familiar" to what went before. Porsche, after all, is a company that fixes nothing that ain't broken, in styling terms. There are new touches, though - there's a body colour insert for the nose, while the GTS gets that panel, plus some other exterior elements, finished in black. There's a new diffuser at the rear, which gets a 'technical 3D structure' which Porsche says is also available for the side blades.
On top of that, all models now get LED headlights with the Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) as standard, along with 'Sport Design' exterior mirrors. The Macan comes with 19-inch wheels; the Macan S with 20s; and the GTS has 21-inch rims. You can choose from 14 colours, including a few new paint options: Papaya Metallic and Gentian Blue Metallic, plus Python Green for the Macan GTS with the GTS Sport package.
New centre console and touchscreen
Inside, the central console has been given a bit of a tidy-up, with new haptic touch surfaces replacing separate buttons, plus a new analogue clock, and a shorter gear lever. There's a new 10.9-inch central touch-screen, and a multi-function wheel borrowed from the 911 (which also comes as a sportier-looking GT Sport option).
You can choose from essentially any leather colour you like, with contrast stitching, and if you go for the GTS, you get 18-way sport seats, the Carbon interior package, Race-Tex upholstery with extended leather elements, various items with contrast stitching and GTS lettering in Python Green.
We've no word on Irish prices yet, but whip out your VRT calculators and go to work on UK prices for the Macan of £47,780, a Macan S for £53,300, or a Macan GTS for £64,770. With CO2 emissions at that level, you can basically double those and put a Euro sign in front of them...