The 2020 Porsche Macan Turbo Represents Maximum Value, Porsche Style

Few phrases crush the automotive soul more than “entry-level compact crossover” — even if that vehicle happens to be wearing a Porsche badge. The Macan is not the lust-inducing Porsche that graces posters on bedroom walls, but the Macan is the company’s most important car  — at least, from a financial perspective. The Macan is the Porsche most people buy (and consequently the best deal to buy used).

The top-tier version is the Macan Turbo, which returns for 2020 with a smaller twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 and about 34 more horsepower than its predecessor. Now, “Turbo” can be a confusing word in the Porsche world. Almost every modern Porsche employs a turbocharged powerplant, but the company reserves the word to denote the stupid-fast versions of its cars. The Macan Turbo is undoubtedly that, with nearly 200 more horsepower than the base model and a 0-60 mph time as quick as 4.1 seconds when equipped with the Sport Chrono package.

The compact crossover may not deliver the visceral thrill of a 911 Turbo, but it’s still a superb, relentlessly competent vehicle for the driver who may only have room for one Porsche. Even with a price tag approaching six figures, you can still argue it provides solid value.

The Macan Turbo drives like a genuine Porsche

While the Macan exists to make money, it is no afterthought. Porsche engineers built a legitimately great, Car and Driver-10-Best-list-caliber Porsche. The Macan may be a compact crossover, but it embodies the brand’s commitment to making the ultimate driver’s car. Someone thought about everything.

The seats are supportive. The cockpit is an ergonomic wonder. Its three driving modes — Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus — are perfectly tuned. Its compact engine doesn’t exhibit more than a whiff of turbo lag. It’s stable and agile in corners. The launch control is simple, and works over and over again without complaint. And the Porsche Surface Coated Brakes (PCSB), which were a little touchy when introduced in the Cayenne, were absolutely spot-on in this car.

Okay, the exhaust note may be a touch too civilized. That’s the only driving-related complaint I could muster up.

The Macan Turbo offers good value…by Porsche standards

Value and Porsche don’t often appear in the same sentence. The starting prices aren’t cheap, and the brand is notorious for charging extra for things — air suspension, lane keep assist, Apple CarPlay, etc. — other companies offer as standard in their competitive cars. Still, you could consider the Macan Turbo a reasonable deal…at least, within a Porsche context.

The Macan Turbo is the cheapest way to score this level of straight-line performance in the Porsche model tree. A 911, Cayenne or Panamera with 400-plus horses and a low four-second 0-60 mph time will command a price tag north of $100,000. A 414-hp Cayman GT4 starts a hair under six figures, at $99,200. From that perspective, $83,600 to start doesn’t seem so bad.

Porsche would also point out that the Macan Turbo trim includes some pricey items, such as the aforementioned PSCB ($3,140), 20-inch high gloss black wheels ($3,140) and a sport exhaust ($2,930) –all of which would cost a fair amount to add à la carte to a Macan S.

The Macan Turbo has all the buttons

Porsche worked wonders with the performance of the Macan Turbo. But the interior — largely unchanged since 2014 — feels a bit dated to this reviewer. The shifter feels comically large for such an agile and capable car. That’s surrounded by a vast sea of analog buttons and switches. I counted more than 70 buttons, knobs, and switches the driver could adjust — not counting the turn signal and wiper stalks.

It doesn’t feel upscale or aesthetically pleasing; indeed, it can be sort of a nuisance. At one point, I inadvertently turned on the heated steering wheel, had no idea how to turn that off…and ended up pulling over the car and shutting it off to do it because I couldn’t figure out any other way to do it.

Price as Tested: $94,120
Drivetrain: twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6, 7-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic, all-wheel-drive
Power: 434 hp, 405 lb-ft torque
Fuel Economy: 17 mpg city, 22 mpg highway
Seats: 5

Porsche provided this product for review.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

The Next BMW M3 Might Be Overpowered By Another New 3 Series

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The BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe Is a Sexier, Arguably Better M5

Once upon a time, BMW’s nomenclature was fairly simple: three numbers, with the first signifying the size of the car and the latter two announcing the engine’s displacement, followed by the occasional letter or two to signify body style, drive wheels or specifics about the power supply, like electric assistance or fuel injection. Separate from all those stood the M models, which were even more simple: the 13th letter of the alphabet, followed by the number representing the body style.

Things done changed. These days, BMW’s naming convention is a wild mess of terms. Take, for example, the M8 Competition Gran Coupe. The number 8 might make you think this car is based on the 7 Series, the way the 4 Series is a spinoff of the 3; in fact, however, the 8 Series is based on the midsize 5 Series. The word Competition might make you assume this is a car meant for the race track, but in fact, it’s simply a slightly more powerful, ever-so-slightly sharper version of the potent-yet-luxurious M8.  And “Gran Coupe” may suggests a large two-door, but a quick glance will clearly indicate that this car has four fully-functional doors — and a very large back seat.

So let’s strip away the jargon, and admit what the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe really is: a better-looking version of the incredible BMW M5. Which, this reviewer would argue, makes it a better M5…even if it costs an extra $33,000.

The M8 Gran Coupe is quite the looker

BMW’s M8 Competition Gran Coupe occupies a very similar niche to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S — the hardcore version of a four-door-coupe variant of a midsize super-sedan. But while the AMG may be ever so slightly harder-edged, as befitting its nominal status as a member of the GT sports car family, the Bimmer has it beat on appearances. The GT 4-Door is handsome, sure, but its front end and rear sometimes seem like they came from two separate cars; the M8 Gran Coupe, on the other hand, boasts a coherent design that’s both elegant and muscular, from its bulging bulldog snout to its taut haunches.

Indeed, in spite of the extra nine inches of length, the Gran Coupe can be confused with the regular two-door 8 Series at a glance from certain angles. I found myself stealing over-the-shoulder looks at it more than once when walking away, and I clearly wasn’t alone in finding it appealing; while driving through New Jersey, a couple guys in a McLaren took after me for a spell in order to check out the Bimmer (punctuated with a hearty thumbs-up).

Like the M5 Competition, the M8 Comp GC is a great drive

The M8 Competition Gran Coupe is a genuine delight of a driver’s car. Not just in the ballistic-missile sense you’d expect of a large, uber-powerful German luxury sedan, either; it’s actually fun at real-world speeds. The steering is miles better than the M850i’s, with an immediacy and natural nature that, if not quite the equal of electric power steering masters like GM and Porsche, comes close. Pitch it through corners like a Miata, and it feels like it’s having a ball in a way you don’t expect from a car of this size and power.

But the 617-horsepower engine is a wonder, too. Between the mighty horsepower that manifests up high in the rev range and the 553 lb-ft of torque that comes on as early as 1,800 rpm, the twin-turbo V8 hits like Mjolnir. At one point, I found a winding stretch of desolate back road, so I hammered it, zipping back and forth from legal to extra-legal speeds over and over again. The push left me wowed…then I realized I’d been accidentally left it in fourth gear the entire time. Let it shift for itself, and in the most aggressive mode, the transmission clicks off gears exactly where you want when tearing up a back road. Granted, you can’t hammer it for too long at a single go — 0 to 60 mph comes in three seconds or less if you launch it — but the fun lies in doing it over and over and over again.

And in case you’re wondering: yes, like the M5, the M-tuned all-wheel-drive system lets you switch to rear-wheel-drive if you want to hoon around. I made donuts. It was delightful.

It’s worth taking the time to get to know the settings

These days, most cars of the M8’s sort of performance ilk offer up preset drive modes that control their many adjustable systems — throttle mapping, suspension, exhaust, etc. — as one. Not BMW. Like other M cars, the M8 Competition Gran Coupe makes you pick and choose individually between manual and automatic shift modes, three levels of shift speed, two levels of steering weight, two levels of brake feel, two levels of exhaust noise, three suspension stiffness settings, three levels of engine responsiveness, and three different power distribution choices (4WD, 4WD Sport and 2WD). Most of them are controlled through the iDrive screen, not via buttons — though the shift speed is shifted via rocker buttons on the shift lever.

If this sounds like a lot to deal with every time you jump into the car, well, it is. That’s why BMW gives the car two bookmark buttons: red tabs on the steering wheel labeled M1 and M2 that are a couple inches from your thumbs when at 9 and 3. Each can be programmed with its own combo of all those features, enabling you to create your own personal presets.

What BMW doesn’t tell you is that there’s also, effectively, a third preset: the most conservative settings for all of the above, which it returns to every time you hop in. Default mode, which I took to calling “M0,” is generally fine for most commuting; even with everything set to Comfort or Efficient, it’s hardly slow or numb. I made M1 a moderately aggressive setting and M2 a full-blown attack mode, but the beauty of BMW’s system is that you can tweak them as you want: a street mode and a track mode, an urban mode and a country mode, a city mode and a highway mode, etc.

And once you start fiddling around with the car’s setup, you realize just how many features can be adjusted as you see fit. The active safety features, like blind spot alert and emergency automatic braking, can be adjusted to different levels of sensitivity and saved as an Individual mode (which, blessedly, the car does not default out of upon restart). The delightful optional Bowers & Wilkins stereo, the colors of the mood lighting, even the gesture control that lets you control the infotainment with a wave of your hand — they can all be adjusted to your exact wants. It’s a level of control that rewards those willing to get to know their car properly…and when you’re getting a car this remarkable, you absolutely should do that.

Price as Tested: $150,300
Drivetrain: 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8, eight-speed automatic, all-wheel-drive
Power: hp, torque
Fuel Economy: 15 mpg city, 21 mpg highway
Seats: 5, but 4 in comfort

BMW provided this product for review.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

For Singer Vehicle Design, Every Detail on a Classic Porsche Is Truly Important

This story is part of our Summer Preview, a collection of features, guides and reviews to help you navigate warmer months ahead.

A little more than a decade ago, “Singer” didn’t mean much to gearheads. The nerdiest among them might have known it as the surname of a talented Porsche engineer whose friends called him Norbert, but generally speaking, it brought to mind sewing machines, not speed machines. Accelerate to 2020, though, and “Singer” has become shorthand for the créme de la créme of automotive restoration and modification.

You can thank Singer Vehicle Design founder Rob Dickinson for that.

“We’re fascinated by making something as good as it can be,” Dickinson says. “I think the fact that we’ve watched this idea that began in the corner of a workshop ten years ago find a home across the world is testament to the importance of that mission.”

Singer Vehicle Design rebuilds and restores — or, as Dickinson puts it, “reimagines” — Porsche 911s. While the company keeps many specifics close to the vest, it’s willing to admit that it’s worked on about 150 vehicles since 2009. Every Singer is whipped up from an example of the generation of Porsche 911 known as the 964, manufactured from 1989 to 1994.

While every Singer-customized car is still legally (and clearly) a Porsche, each one shares about as many pieces with its original self as the Six Million Dollar Man. Once an owner brings his or her old Porsche 964 to the company’s California shop, it’s then stripped down to its bones and remade piece by piece with upgraded components. The body panels are subbed for carbon fiber; the trim nickel-plated; the vinyl dashboard reupholstered in woven leather that’s designed to pay homage to an original Porsche pattern. Even the engine is yanked loose and transformed into one of Singer’s blueprinted masterpieces, ranging from 3.8 to 4.0 liters and delivering up to 390 hp.

From start to finish, a restoration takes about two years to complete. The company’s motto is “everything is important,” and it’s no empty slogan.

The lines say “Porsche 911,” but the attention to detail proves it’s something special.

Given the time, cost and depth of personalization that goes into making each Singer-customized Porsche 911, Dickinson and his team welcome client feedback throughout the process.

“The relationship Singer has with their customers is the most special relationship of a high-end brand,” Singer client Drew Coblitz says. Singer enables soon-to-be-owners to work closely with the company as the car progresses, making them feel more like proud parents than customers. “The process [of working] with [Singer’s employees] wound up being almost as much fun as when the car [was] finished,” Coblitz adds.

Almost being the operative word. Coblitz’s dark blue car, which he describes as “the café racer version of a Singer,” was finished last year, complete with custom dark nickel trim and fog lamps for spotting the deer that dot the roads where he lives outside of Philadelphia. A ride through those farmlands demonstrated not just how meticulously built the company’s modified 911s are, but how engaging they are to drive; they respond with a directness and connection to the occupants that few cars — new or old — can match.

Pictures can’t capture the quality handiwork of Singer’s interiors.

And while its roots may lie with cars of the past, Singer’s future is poised to be bright. The company has already expanded into watchmaking, and is working with renowned racing supplier Williams on a new varietal of customized Porsche 911 that’s lighter, faster and more advanced than the machines Singer has been rehabbing for the last 10 years.

“The Singer philosophy is to distill the essential elements of an experience like driving — what makes a car deliver an emotional connection, whether it’s visually or dynamically,” Dickinson says. “Our work in the future will be built on insisting that all these elements are recognized and preserved, so that truly engaging, jewel-like machines are around for a long time yet.”

A version of this story originally appeared in a print issue of Gear Patrol Magazine. Subscribe today.

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.

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