Mystery relative

I have been given the use of an almost new vehicle for the month of December. It is an SUV, has all wheel drive with off road mode and is about the same size as a Forester (on the inside) with the exception of cargo space where the Forester is way ahead. The only disappointment is I am not permitted to take it off road but I am allowed to give it a good squirt on bitumen.

I intend to give a report in installments but thought I'd make this interesting and turn it into a bit of a puzzle for the first installment.

Watch the video at https://youtu.be/T5HAtSsp5LU and see if you can guess what it is.

Sure it’s not a Subaru? With acceleration like that, I immediately thought of an RV.

No definitely not a Subie though it has very close to a symmetrical AWD layout with only a small difference in length between the front axles. It doesn't have a boxer engine either.

Mercedes GLA AmG?

New Porsche Macan or Audi Q....?

Well done. It's a Porsche Macan. Photos and more comment to follow tomorrow.

This is the car and I have to admit it looks very nice from any angle.

The Porsche Macan is a car for the man/woman who really wanted a sports car but realised the kids wouldn't fit in and has in the back of their mind that some day they might want to drive down a dirt road somewhere. This is not to say it isn't capable off road. It has a very slick off road system that could be compared to a sophisticated version of X Mode including hill descent control. It has 195mm of ground clearance standard but selecting "Off Road" raises it by 45mm. (selecting "Sport") lowers it by 10mm.

I was surprised that the underside is completely flat and looks like body armour has been fitted to it from the lip of the front spoiler through to the back bumper but a close look reveals it is made of composite that probably wouldn't survive more than a gravel attack. Turns out it's designed to assist with aerodynamics.

I have concluded after two weeks of driving around town that the Porsche Macan is intended to go very fast and handle very well on bitumen but not seriously intended for off-roading. I would put Subarus in the same category except not as good at performance or handling.

Some time before the end of the month I intend to try it out on my favourite hill climb, the western side of Mount Glorious. I might even post some video.

One day I'll figure out how to get some decent sized photos into my posts.

Well it had to be German, just got the wrong one

What led you to conclude it had to be German?

It had a bit of a growl to the exhaust and had to be something a bit exotic, so the AMG Benz was a good fit. Not like the boring relative that I was driving in the UK for the last month!

What was that?

I took the Macan for a blast over Mount Glorious this morning and really enjoyed myself. Sadly, my GoPro left me with a corrupt file and I can't recover it so no video. I wish I'd had one of these when I was running hill climbs on Mount Cotton with the MG Car Club. It makes the old Datsun seem asthmatic. :rotfl:

I was driving a diesel Mitsubishi Outlander. I did 4,000 miles in it so it was a pretty good test drive. The road conditions at time in the Scottish highlands were pretty ordinary due to the weather. I am convinced the 4wd auto setting was just an LED light as it didn’t do anything in the wet and slippery conditions. In the end I just left it in 4wd lock.

Beachworm said:

I took the Macan for a blast over Mount Glorious this morning and really enjoyed myself. Sadly, my GoPro left me with a corrupt file and I can't recover it so no video.

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Pics or it didn't happen :lol:

PS - Interestingly my next door neighbour often drives his brother's Maccan and Cayenne but he prefers his own 2015 Foz XT

I don't know why but I never think to take photos.

The GoPro gave me a corrupt file on the run up the mountain. The run down came out OK but I attached the camera in front of the driver's mirror on the outside of the window and the wind noise drowned everything else out. I didn't bother with the vision either. I hate the way a forward facing camera flattens the road out and makes the vision deadly boring. I'd love to find a solution that doesn't involve setting up roadside cameras and making multiple runs.


I know how your mate feels. I'm looking forward to having my SH back too. The Macan is a hoot but has its issues, particularly for my wife getting in and out of the front seat.

I know somebody who off-roads a Porsche when he migrated to the South Island. I think his biggest hurdle is to be able to fit smaller wheels to have higher profile tyres.

Smaller wheels wouldn't fit over the dinner plate size discs on the front. 55 profile is too small for off road. The sidewalls are very vulnerable.

Porsche is also very fussy about what you put on their cars. A friend with a Cayenne recently had tyres fitted that were strictly legal but Porsche refused to honour the warranty on a suspension issue because they claimed the tyres did not meet Porsche standards and could have contributed to the problem.

Beachworm said:

A friend with a Cayenne recently had tyres fitted that were strictly legal but Porsche refused to honour the warranty on a suspension issue because they claimed the tyres did not meet Porsche standards and could have contributed to the problem.

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Should go straight to consumer affairs with that one.

I checked and found I didn't have the story quite straight. The bit about the tyres is correct but there were no suspension issues. When buying it new with a 3 year warranty they elected to have the option of extending the warranty after 3 years if they decided to keep it longer. Porsche declined the extended warranty because of the tyres.