So.. took my TT to the dealers this morning to fix my long awaited racing yellow belts and all-black alcantara sport design wheel. Dealer gave me a nice toy to enjoy until my TT is ready.

Honestly very impressed with this car. Pretty quick little thing and possibly as smooth as a Range Rover when cruising even in Sport mode. In Sport+ I found the first 2 gears to be quite jerky in shifting but otherwise, delivered some impressive torque. I honestly did not see the need for Sport+ in this car though, as the Sport was good enough.

Overall, I was impressed. I'm comparing it to my wife's Q5 3.0 TFSI, being of even size - obviously a lot more powerful and in fact a much more comfortable drive/ride.

P.S. Excuse the horrible pix - quick pix before getting into the elevator at work.

 

My favorite sales guy was really touting the Macan as feeling "just like driving a base coupe" with respect to the handling. Was it?

 

Let me just confirm that this thing handles like a 911 in the comfort of a Range Rover. I have never driven the new Cayennes tho so can't compare with those though I don't expect them to be as agile.

 

Have these hit the showrooms in the US?

 

They have indeed hit the showrooms in the US.

I always try and mix it up when I get a loaner. I like the Cayenne for a loaner typically so would enjoy trying the Macan out. The last loaner I took a week ago was a 6 speed Boxster. It was fun but after a few days with my Turbo prior it felt like a turtle. I get the charm of the car though, top down winding the motor out.

 

Damn your dealers are nice. My dealer gives out audis for loaners.

 

Having had a little more driving time...Tho I'm still impressed with the car I'm not a huge fan of the transmission. In Sport+ at WOT the gear changes are super jerky - long way from the smoothness of the pdk in the TT. In regular mode the transmission is smooth, but car seems like a manual in that it stops moving if you take your foot off the throttle, unlike an automatic. This can make the car jerk a little.

 

This is really good feedback. I wonder if the PDK engineers have more work to do on this combination. Super jerky would not be pleasant on an ongoing basis. Maybe they'll patch the software or at least upgrade the next model year.

 

My dealer sometimes tries to delay a service so he can get me a porsche loaner. Quite frankly, give me anything that will scoot, have bluetooth and is not pink. Having said that, The Macan is a nice driver, and steers tighter than the Cayenne.

But a pcarnutt like me likes the 911. period.

 

I noticed the same thing. My first experience with PDK was a Macan test drive back in May. Coming from the DCT on my M5 it seemed balky and slow. I was using the paddle shifters and Kevan the salesman was telling me to push the car so I did. Now the 911 PDK is nothing like this, it's as good as the DCT. I am a little surprised at the difference but they may be a different design and implementation in the different cars.

 

Is the macans transmission pdk? Thought it was tiptronic loool.

 

It felt like it but the sales guy told me it was PDK.

 

Um no. I've driven both on the track and although I really like the Macan Turbo, it does not handle like a 911. Pure marketing...all the sales people say the same thing...must have come out in the Macan sales person handbook.

 

Doesn't handle like my turbo but I felt it handles extremely well on the twisted....better than an X6 which holds with 911s on inner roads. Obviously it's larger than a 911 but it handles pretty close to one imo. I didn't try it on the track I've only got the car for a few days so just regular driving....I'm sure at the track I would notice a larger gap from a 911 (but btw I wasn't impressed with the 991CS on the track - boxter S wiped the floor with it in my lap timings in each).

 

I think you're right though the lever itself doesn't exactly look like a pdk, given that the gears are similar to the pdk (P R N D) I guess it is!