Macan - Diesel or Petrol?

[Koln-RS]

The Diesel does not sound as good as the Pertrol - on ‘start up’.
But, the rest of the time it sounds pretty good. Under hard acceleration with the PSE, it actually sounds quite impressive.

[thelostboy]

Yeah, it sounds fine. But I already knew that, as my dad had the same engine in a Cayenne a few years back and I had it in an Audi A5 about 10 years ago.

The downside is the economy and performance seem worse than the Cayenne of old; perhaps that is down to the whole dieselgate / WTLP stuff.

I couldn't deal with 20-something mpg from a daily car though; more specifically such poor range would wind me up. I get 36mpg out of the Diesel.

I bought a Macan as it means I benefit from the service and fit and finish of it being a Porsche. Otherwise I simply wanted a practical and comfortable family car. Putting a petrol engine in it seems a bit of a waste, as you are still driving a car on stilts. Other than the slightly odd but amusing oversteer it can muster on a wet road, i'm not sure how you could call a Macan or Cayenne "fun" despite Porsche's efforts. In comparison, some boggo VW Golf could be considered a sports car.

[Adam B]

Cheib said:

Well if it’s Turbo or Diesel it’s really about mileage and running costs. Obviously the Turbo or indeed GTS will be more fun but you’ll pay at the plump. They’re great cars whichever you choose....and when you look at how little changed when they updated the Macan it was a classic “if it ain’t broke”

Don’t know when the PCM with Apple Car Play was introduced but I doubt it’s on a 15 Turbo. If it was a daily I’d want that for being able to use Waze with the traffic and camera alerts

Agree the facelift is minimal - red arse band and wider LCD screen.

Apple play and few other useful tweaks (rear USBs) came in MY2017 so 66 plate on

Comes down to mileage IMHO, I do 3-4K pa and don’t like diesels so easy decision for me, GTS or Turbo

Went Turbo with loads of kit as it was easier to find a mega spec example, fantastic car

[TNJ]

As the OP, I have now had the diesel for a few weeks now. So far, I am perfectly happy with it - as some of the earlier posters had said, the diesel suits the car well. It doesn't sound like a diesel when on the move and the performance is impressive - it is deceptively quick and drives well.

I do admit that I would rather have a petrol S - but the difference is not worth thousands of pounds - and the desire for a petrol is not overly logical in a car like a Macan. Whilst I was looking, there must have been 10 or more diesels for every petrol and the petrol model was substantially more expensive for the equivalent year and spec.

Overall, I do not feel like I have really compromised by going for the diesel. I will save the petrol for something a bit more fun than an SUV.

[CJN]

I've had my 2014 petrol S since March 2017 and love it. Fuel economy isn't a problem for me as I don't do heaps of km and to be fair to it, it's not bad on the motorway. The performance is good and it can all be used all of the time because of the grip.

I've driven a couple of the series 1 diesels when mine has been for a service and like most modern diesels, there is some power then lots but you soon run into the limiter. I prefer petrol for the noise, especially on the full bore upshifts, and although the diesel is refined it is refined for a diesel so can't compare to the 6 pot petrol. I appreciate that some may need the economy of the diesel from a cost point of view and the Macan is very good but I don't get any enjoyment from driving diesel in the same way that I would petrol

The first owner of my car specified RS Spyder alloys which I love, pano roof which gets used all the time, sports chrono which I have used on track once with launch that I have used a handful of times, power steering plus (which for me would be a non-negotiable if I bought another Macan, as the diesels that I've driven didn't have this & the steering was far too heavy) and leather dashboard which makes a big difference over the standard soft plastic one.

I would buy another Macan if I could justify it, which I currently can't but if I managed to then I would love the Turbo.
However I'd prefer a 911 if I could get it past the missus

[nsm3]

I've got a 2 year old DS with 15k miles. It drives really well, the engine suits the car. Mine was £65k new and you can pick up similar from an OPC (with warranty) for only £45k (wish I'd done that, instead of dropping £1,400 pcm!). 35mpg o/a average.

Not sure what effect diesel gate will have on future values, but if you keep for the longer term, should be ok?

[SpartacusF]

Just to add another 2p, as the OP has already decided. I bought a diesel pre-dieselgate, without trying a petrol, exactly why I can't remember. Then, despite loving the car and the 30+ mpg at 90 mph and seemingly infinite service intervals, after dieselgate I began to have misgivings, but stuck with it.

It's now approaching three years old so I started to look around at offerings from Alfa, Mercedes, Audi etc, and a petrol Macan S. I was surprised how the petrol Macan S had nothing extra to offer, even in the sound department. None of the competition could come near for poise and quality.

So, as others have said, I'd say the diesel suits the car really really well.

[BlueFog]

Can't seem to start a new thread.

Considering buying a Macan and was initially thinking of a new S but on reflection now feel that a used turbo, say 2 years old, might be a better option. The changes from the facelift look modest and with the turbo the depreciation should be less over say a 2 year period. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

[aeropilot]

BlueFog said:

Can't seem to start a new thread.

Considering buying a Macan and was initially thinking of a new S but on reflection now feel that a used turbo, say 2 years old, might be a better option. The changes from the facelift look modest and with the turbo the depreciation should be less over say a 2 year period. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

Its what I'd do if I could find the right spec used Turbo.

I have peculiar tastes though, so given the vast majority of cars available are either boring black/grey or white, with black interiors, if I do go the Macan route to replace my X5 in a year or two, it will likely have to be a factory order S.

[Adam B]

BlueFog said:

Can't seem to start a new thread.

Considering buying a Macan and was initially thinking of a new S but on reflection now feel that a used turbo, say 2 years old, might be a better option. The changes from the facelift look modest and with the turbo the depreciation should be less over say a 2 year period. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

Lots as it’s exactly what I did.

Bought a 2 year old Turbo for 2/3rds of its list price, and the depreciation curve will now slow considerably.

The facelift doesn’t bother me, not convinced by the rear strip and a wider satnav screen isn’t anywhere near worth the premium. I also like the thought of the Porsche 3.6 V6 rather than the new Audi derived 2.9 V6.

Besides I have a natural aversion to new cars due to deprecation hit. The first owner lost 27k in 2 years.

I do have conservative tastes so it was black or grey paint and black leather. Was looking at GTS and Turbos only (don’t like diesels) and they are both great. I wanted as high a spec and low miles as my budget would allow and that was easier to find in Turbos are they have a higher standard spec

Mine is black and has about 17k of options, main ones being
21” turbos
Air suspension
Pano roof
Sports chrono
PSE
PTV+
Leather interior package
Auto cruise

Happy to answer any specific questions

Edited by Adam B on Wednesday 1st January 19:45

[tinnitusjosh]

In same position, looking at a petrol S versus a diesel S.

Diesel S is many thousands cheaper, but am i right to think that my driving patterns (live in central london, 90% of journeys are sub-5 miles, with occasional 200 mile run) should totally rule out diesels??

[aeropilot]

tinnitusjosh said:

but am i right to think that my driving patterns (live in central london, 90% of journeys are sub-5 miles, with occasional 200 mile run) should totally rule out diesels??

Hell, yes.

I wouldn't even consider a diesel with living where you do with that journey profile!!

[moonigan]

tinnitusjosh said:

In same position, looking at a petrol S versus a diesel S.

Diesel S is many thousands cheaper...

There is a very good reason for this. With your driving pattern you will be in the garage every other week getting the DPF cleaned out.

[stuckmojo]

I will collect my Diesel Macan S next week from OPC.

I drove the 2.0, Turbo and the Diesel - no chance to try a GTS or a 3.0 turbo but not Turbo.

Thoughts:

- The 2.0 felt you needed to rag the engine to get it moving and did not like it. Felt nimbler as lighter steering. Horrid noise. Nope.
- The Turbo was nice, the power comes in quite high up which was a surprise but it left me a little underwhelmed as I expected a rocketship, and it was not.
- The diesel was lovely. The engine suited the car and I'll be doing miles so I picked that one.

Can't wait.