![\"The](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/3d69f5dfeb6f047a0225085f2ad836e918a6f5cf\/c=520-0-3608-2322&r=x393&c=520x390\/local\/-\/media\/2016\/07\/13\/DetroitNews\/DetroitNews\/636040497582956860-macan-fr3-4-track.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>Fifty years after racing success made Shelby and Porsche household names, the performance icons still produce some of the world\u2019s most recognizable sports coupes. This year the snake\u2019s blue stripes tattoo the hood of the snarling Mustang GT350. Porsche\u2019s crest punctuates the latest, road-carving 911.<\/p>\n
But Porsche has extended its good name far beyond sports cars. Which is why, at the Shelby National Convention at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this June, I found myself chasing a parade of GT350s in a Porsche SUV.<\/p>\n
Wait. What?<\/p>\n
With its introduction of sport utes (the Macan, Cayenne) and four-door coupes (the Panamera), Porsche is now richer than God. Analysts estimate the profit margins on Macans alone at a gazillion dollars (I\u2019m rounding here). When Stuttgart introduced the Cayenne in 2002, purists denounced the move as heresy. My Porsche friends threw holy water on the demon beasts. Clothing was rent. Then they saw the bottom line.<\/p>\n
Over a decade on, all is forgiven. The utes have tripled Porsche sales. They are cash registers on wheels. More important to the faithful, the profits are plowed back into Porsche\u2019s racing program which continues to polish the famous crest. This year a Porsche (the 919 hybrid) crossed the line at the 24 Hours of LeMans for a record 18th time.<\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t I think of that?!!<\/em> cries every manufacturer. What if Ford had made a Shelby Mustang SUV? Or if GM had greenlighted a Corvette Crossover? Sounds weird? So did \u201cPorsche SUV\u201d not long ago. Now everyone\u2019s doing it: Jaguar F-Pace, Lamborghini Urus, Maserati Levante. C\u2019mon Ferrari, what are you waiting for?<\/p>\n At Mid-Ohio the steward signals the track is open for track touring. I slide into the Macan S and turn the key left of the steering wheel (just like the race cars!).VRRROOOM!<\/em> growl the four pipes out back, each as big around as a drain pipe. The signature console sleeve of buttons offers multiple performance options. I tick each one off like a jet pilot before takeoff.<\/p>\n SPORT MODE. Check.<\/em><\/p>\n SHOCKS. Stiffened.<\/em><\/p>\n BODY. Lowered.<\/em><\/p>\n TRACTION CONTROL. Off<\/em><\/p>\n I floor the S\u2019s 340-horse V-6, its turbo boost nailing me to the seat as I chase a Shelby out of the paddock. Up the front straight, into the famous, 180-degree Keyhole turn, and … WHOAAA, BESSY!<\/p>\n The 4,112-pound boat wallows through the turn, my arms working the steering like a skipper in a tempest \u2014 it felt so sports-car firm just a moment ago!<\/em> \u2014 to get over to the corner apex which seems to be floating ever further from my grasp. With throttle I eventually bring the stern around and get the vessel straightened out for the long, back straight where the pipes can sing again.<\/p>\n Alas, not even the engineering wizards at Porsche can transform the physics of the SUV.<\/p>\n Flog a 911, Cayman or Boxster and you know instantly it\u2019s a Porsche. Razor-sharp handling. Stiff chassis. Flat-six exhaust note. Sure, my all-wheel-drive twin-turbo Macan might eat for lunch the classic 306-horsepower, solid-rear-axle \u201965 GT350 in front of me over the course of a lap. But it wouldn\u2019t be pretty.<\/p>\n Such is the nature of hatchbacks that are jacked a foot into the air. And no amount of tuned-shock, double-wishbone suspension German engineering can change it. Probably not even a 6-cylinder boxer engine would help \u2014 that\u2019s the famous engine architecture that brought a low center of gravity to Porsche sports cars, yet is curiously missing in the Porsche SUVs most in need of it.<\/p>\n Why no boxer? Maybe because the SUV-four-door coupe customer ain\u2019t a sports car customer. But SUVs are where the money is made.<\/p>\n At a Bloomfield parking lot outside Trader Joe\u2019s, a fashionable couple emerges from their Panamera \u2014 a sort of stretch 911 limousine. I ask the driver if it has the V-6 or V-8 under the hood. \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t know \u2014 and I don\u2019t know what\u2019s in my wife\u2019s Panamera, either,\u201d he says. Blasphemy! Any sports car owner would know what was under the hood, but the larger luxe demographic doesn\u2019t care. Heck, they won\u2019t bat an eye that Macan shares a platform with Audi\u2019s Q5, either.<\/p>\n It\u2019s good enough that the Macan is the best-handling SUV.<\/p>\n The Jag, Maserati and Lambo will have something to say about that, of course. Indeed, the double-wishbone F-Pace I recently rowed over the Rockies is one nice-handling stagecoach. We\u2019ll await the full-spec track comparo from our pals at Car & Driver to know for sure, but the Macan\u2019s smaller size and multitude of buttons likely make it King of the Hill. But in truth it\u2019s still a handling-challenged SUV.<\/p>\n Which brings me back to the VW Golf GTI which, as you\u2019ve heard me say a thousand times, is the best hatch on the planet.<\/p>\n Better yet, give me the GTI\u2019s steroid-fed twin, the Golf R-AWD like the Macan. Similar cargo room. 292-horsepower pushing 800 fewer pounds. Zero-60 in 4.5 seconds vs. Macan S\u2019s 5.2. More intuitive console controls. Cheaper by $30,000. And with a much lower center of gravity, it will run rings around the Macan S in the twisties.<\/p>\n Just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n But of course the badge matters. You want a Porsche in the garage next to your classic \u201965 Shelby.<\/p>\n The Macan\u2019s truer competitor is obviously the Q5. And here I have some quibbles. The next-gen Q5 (like the three-row Q7 I reviewed this April) will come equipped with the sensational Virtual Cockpit \u2014 the Nvidia-chip driven, sci-fi instrument display that is today\u2019s gotta-have-it dash tech. Porsche\u2019s three-ring instrument display and buttons may be iconic, but its slow, hopelessly complicated console pales next to the Audi. Vhat, Brother Porsche, you don\u2019t have ze Nvidia chip? Ha!<\/em> Oktoberfest around the VW family table must be chilly.<\/p>\n Macan makes up for its interior shortcoming with a well-apportioned exterior. Big Brother Cayenne has always looked awkward to me \u2014 a fat 911 on stilts. The smaller Macan makes more visual sense \u2014 especially in back where broad hips give it an aggressive stance. And since Cayenne doesn\u2019t offer three rows (like Audi\u2019s Q7), the Macan is a more sensible budget choice.<\/p>\n For $10,000 less, the Macan S offers two more seats than a convertible Boxster S sports car, a full-length moonroof to give it an open feel, and similar horsepower. Just don\u2019t compare it to the Boxster through Mid-Ohio\u2019s Keyhole. You\u2019ll start to question this whole Porsche SUV thing.<\/p>\n 2016 Porsche<\/strong><\/p>\n Macan<\/strong><\/p>\n Specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n Vehicle type:<\/strong> Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV<\/p>\n Price:<\/strong> $48,550 base ($73,320 Macan S as tested)<\/p>\n Power plant:<\/strong> 2.0-liter turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder; 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 (Macan S and GTS); 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 (Macan Turbo)<\/p>\n Power:<\/strong> 252 horsepower, 273 pound-feet torque (4-cyl); 340-380 horsepower, 339-369 pound-feet torque (twin-turbo V6, Macan S and GTS); 400 horsepower, 408 pound-feet torque (twin-turbo V-6, Macan Turbo)<\/p>\n Transmission:<\/strong> Seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic PDK<\/p>\n Performance:<\/strong> 0-60 mph, 5.2 seconds (Macan S as tested, manufacturer); top speed: 156 mph<\/p>\n Weight:<\/strong> 4,112 pounds (Macan S as tested)<\/p>\n Fuel economy:<\/strong> EPA 17 mpg city\/23 mpg highway\/19 mpg combined (Macan S as tested)<\/p>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n Highs:<\/strong> Porsche style; smooth, dual-clutch tranny<\/p>\n Lows:<\/strong> Looks like a Porsche, handles like an SUV; boxer engine, please?<\/p>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fifty years after racing success made Shelby and Porsche household names, the performance icons still produce some of the world\u2019s most recognizable sports coupes. This year the snake\u2019s blue stripes tattoo the hood of the snarling Mustang GT350. Porsche\u2019s crest punctuates the latest, road-carving 911. But Porsche has extended its good name far beyond sports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19021,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19020\/revisions\/19021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}