Porsche Macan Turbo review: Breathtakingly powerful but lacks character

Telegraph

25-05-2025

This is the new Porsche Macan Turbo. Not to be confused with the Porsche Macan Turbo; despite the identical name, the 'old' version is a completely different car with an internal combustion engine.
This being 2025, a time when nobody can quite work out what's going on, there are non-Turbo Porsches that have turbos, and Porsche Turbos that don't have turbos. This is one of the latter.
That's because this Macan Turbo is electric. The other Macan Turbo has a petrol engine (and, indeed, two turbos – perhaps to make up for the electric version's deficit).
The story goes that the electric Macan Turbo was intended to replace the petrol Macan Turbo, but the petrol version has been granted a stay of execution, allowing Porsche to cater for those who steadfastly refuse to flock to absurdly expensive electric SUVs.
The electric Macan Turbo is poised to tempt company car user-choosers fortunate enough to be able to liberate £97,000-odd – or the equivalent in monthly lease payments – from the fleet manager's coffers.
Are these the only people to whom the new Macan Turbo will appeal, though? If you're not among their number, should you save your money and plump for the petrol version instead?
Pros
Absurdly quick
Incredibly good in corners
Room for passengers
Cons
Jiggly ride on larger wheels
Not as involving as you'd hope
Poor energy efficiency
Six-figure sums
As is always the case with a Porsche, the purchase price can easily be tipped over the £100,000 mark by even a modest trip into the options list. The Copper Ruby Metallic paint of our £96,965 test car, for example, adds £2,250. With the Macan Exclusive Design wheels (£2,463), you're into six figures.
To this, Porsche had added a litany of other options, including ventilated massage seats in the front (£1,176), an augmented reality head-up display (£1,694), rear-axle steering (£1,445) and a passenger-side touchscreen display (£1,112), bringing the total recommended retail price of this example to just shy of £119,000. Crikey.
Yet as big, fast electric SUVs go, this is – believe it or not – actually not a lunatic figure. Porsches are usually far more expensive than their rivals, but for comparison a BMW iX M70 will set you back £117,000 before options.
And if you want a Mercedes EQE SUV, you will have to upgrade to the 500 to get anywhere close to the Macan's level of performance; even then, it has 200bhp less – despite costing almost the same. It won't travel as far on a charge, either.
Talking of which, the Macan has 95kWh of usable battery capacity, which means it will do anywhere between 322 and 367 miles on a full charge, depending on how free and easy you've been with the options list. Porsche reckons our test car will do 336 miles as specified; expect that to equate to somewhere between 230 and 270 miles in the real world.
Its energy efficiency is not terrific at only 3.1 miles per kilowatt hour (mpkWh), so the Macan will prove pricey to run, especially if you're restricted to public charging. At least it's capable of whipping from 10 to 80 per cent capacity in only 21 minutes, thanks to a maximum charging speed of 270kW.
Black magic
Inside, it's rather lovely, built with the sort of precision you'd expect from a Porsche, from the deliciously tight panel gaps to the point-perfect stitching.
In place of wood or metal, the main insert for the dash is a sheet of glossy, inky black glass that stretches to the nearside of the cabin and hides the central touchscreen (and if fitted, as here, the passenger-side screen also).
Below this sit the main air vents and a row of lovely, knurled toggle switches to adjust the main climate control settings; there are some touch-sensitive controls, too, but thankfully these operate occasionally-used functions.
Ahead of the driver there's a curved screen containing the virtual dials that Porsche now fits to its new cars. This looks a little odd, as it doesn't have a hooded cowling, although it works just fine.
The touchscreen works brilliantly, too – slick, responsive and clearly laid out. The same goes for the passenger screen, on which they can watch YouTube or play games while you're driving.
It is roomy. Roomier than the petrol model, in fact, given there's a flat floor in the rear seats and a lack of engine and associated componentry in the front.
While it would be a stretch to call this a family-oriented SUV, the rear seats are at least at the right height for you to strap in the smallest members of the family with relative ease.
Boot space is less impressive at 480 litres; you'll find more in a Mercedes EQE SUV and about the same in a Nissan Qashqai. On the plus side, there's also 84 litres of storage space under the bonnet.
Driving ambition
But people tend not to buy a Porsche for practicality. What counts is the way it drives – indeed, whether Porsche has managed to make an electric SUV feel like a 'proper' Porsche.
It feels more special than a normal electric SUV as you potter around. The way the controls have been set up – lovely, slick steering, perfectly weighted pedals and a deftness to the way the nose responds around the straight-ahead – speak to a lot of time and effort spent on making this car feel right.
The rear-wheel steering results in a comically small turning circle, too, allowing you to squeeze into tight parking spots as though you were in a Mini.
So it's a bit of a shame that all that work is spoilt by the ride quality. At urban speeds, the slim sidewalls of the tyres on the whopping 22in wheels do nothing to damp out even niggling imperfections.
Pass over a quabble of woodlice and you'll be able to tell exactly how many there are. Or indeed were; woodlouse exoskeletons aren't built to bear the Macan's 2.4-ton weight.
No wonder the Macan has adaptive air suspension as standard. Usually this is a get-out-of-jail-free card when manufacturers need to provide a soft ride under normal circumstances, but firm it at the flick of a switch for sporty driving.
And the Macan's suspension does a good job of controlling waft and wallow over larger bumps, such as those you will encounter at speed on the motorway. But it can't dampen the smaller, sharper bumps that the shallow sidewalls allow through; potholes, raised drain covers and the like, all of which elicit a jarring thump that's at odds with the smoothness of the damping.
Power play
It's fast, of course, in that grimacing way that has you tensing your lower abdomen each time you floor the accelerator pedal.
Indeed, the astonishing rapidity with which the Macan gathers pace means that full use of its copious amounts of power results in short bursts of extreme adrenalin, punctuated by long waits for another stretch of clear road (or an increase in the speed limit).
Activate the launch control and floor the accelerator from a standstill and your body is compressed into the seat, the air forced out of your lungs causing an involuntary grunt as it passes through your vocal chords.
This car can maintain this extraordinary pace on a twisting road, too. The steerable rear axle means turn-in is instant, precise and utterly composed. Even if you enter a bend far more quickly than intended, the Macan simply hunkers down, goes around and fires you out the other side.
You will want to approach a corner in a more measured way, though. With less weight in the nose due to no engine, it feels lighter and freer; the Macan simply tracks the line you've chosen, feeling like a car half its size and weight.
Gripping stuff
There's so much grip that you can apply power absurdly early and even if you're obscenely heavy-handed the Macan just sorts it all out for you, channelling it to whichever of the two axles is best situated to take it and using torque vectoring – miniscule dabs of each brake caliper to tug on whichever wheel it needs to – to do the rest of the work.
It is ridiculously good at progressing along a challenging road at what feels like the maximum viable speed that physics will allow. And yet, for all the white-knuckle acceleration and lateral G, there's something the Macan Turbo lacks.
You might call it character, or communication, or involvement, or even that sliver of fallibility that makes it likeable. Either way, you'll find that quality in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, a performance electric SUV that costs two thirds of the Porsche's price. Few people will consider the Hyundai if they're considering a Macan, yet the Korean car is more able to make you grin with pleasure.
Interestingly, that also applies to the 'lesser' Macan 4 – the non-Turbo version of this car, which has less power and smaller wheels yet provides a greater level of feel through the steering. Indeed, if your heart is set on a Macan, that's the one to go for since it rides better. And, of course, it costs less.
The Telegraph verdict
The Macan Turbo is no doubt a technical tour de force, and the way it can spear along a twisty road will doubtless widen your eyes. But it's only the Macan of choice if you absolutely must have bragging rights in the office car park.
The thinking person will choose the Macan 4 instead. Keep the wheels small, keep the options list at arms length and you will find it a sweeter and more likeable proposition – not to mention a more affordable one.
In Turbo form, the new Macan is not a bad car, but it gives the impression that it's too clever for its own good. As a result, despite all that power, it leaves you wanting more.
The facts
On test: Porsche Macan Turbo
Body style: five-door SUV
On sale: now
How much? £96,965 on the road (range from £71,265)
How fast? 162mph, 0-62mph in 3.3sec
How economical? 3.1mpkWh (WLTP Combined)
Electric powertrain: 2x AC permanent magnet synchronous motor with 95kWh (usable) battery, 270kW on-board DC charger, Type 2/CCS charging socket
Electric range: 336 miles (WLTP Combined, as tested)
Maximum power/torque: 630bhp/833lb ft with launch control
CO2 emissions: 0g/km (tailpipe), 24g/km (well-to-wheel)
VED: £10 first year, £620 next five years, then £195
Warranty: 3 years/unlimited miles
Spare wheel as standard: no (not available)
The rivals
Mercedes-Benz EQE 500 AMG Line SUV
402bhp, 324 miles, £90,520 on the road
'An awesome amount of money for not a desperately good car,' according to my colleague Andrew English – no wonder Merc's mid-sized electric SUV hasn't found universal favour in the UK. A crashy ride, imprecise handling and, compared with the Macan, it looks like poor value.
BMW iX M70 xDrive
649bhp, 365 miles, £117,515 on the road
About the only electric SUV that can match the Macan on both performance and range – but you don't half pay for it. And for your £120,000, you don't even get a pretty face. For all that, though, its softer ride makes this version of the iX more comfortable than the Macan – and it's easily its equal dynamically, too.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
641bhp, 278 miles, £65,010 on the road
Chances of you choosing a Hyundai if you're thinking about buying a Porsche? Probably nil. But maybe you should. After all, the Ioniq 5 N feels like it takes itself far less seriously than the Macan – as a result, it's all the more amusing to drive. It won't go as far on a charge although it also charges faster than the Macan. And it's a massive £30,000 cheaper.