Porsche Macan 2014-2018 engines & performance

It's the Turbo that really impresses, however. It’s been been well over a decade since Porsche attached its Turbo badge to a Porsche Cayenne and scrambled our understanding of just how well an SUV might be made to go in a straight line.

But, for all our familiarity with the experience, it is still difficult not to marvel at the irresistible physicality involved in propelling two tonnes of Macan Turbo from a standing start to a quarter mile down the road in less time than it takes to pour a pint.

The process is all the more impressive aboard the Macan, given that its new V6 develops about 100bhp less than the last gen Cayenne’s V8 in a car not a whole heap lighter. The end result, though, is much the same. Using launch control on dry ground, the new model tears away from the line without hesitation, succumbing to negligible pitch and barely any loss of traction.

The endlessly repeatable conclusion is 60mph in 4.7sec and 30-70mph in 4.3sec – making it marginally quicker than the much smaller, lighter Audi Q3 RS that had been our compact SUV performance benchmark.

Unlike that car’s growling five-pot, the Macan’s biturbo engine is intentionally muted – more interested in classy go than show. At very low speeds, an overly sensitive (and yet typically weighty) throttle pedal means that there is a tendency for the car to surge from creep to crawl if your inputs are too aggressive, but beyond this point the short-stroke V6 rewards an enthusiastic right foot with an obvious zeal for higher revs.

Although its final peak is short of the last-gasp exuberance exhibited by Porsche’s horizontally opposed line-up, its keenness and low-end overdose of torque combine with the PDK ’box to provide the kind of easy, endless grunt that makes the Macan seem not only handsomely amenable to pushing on but also often outright fast. A Turbo through and through, then.