2022 Porsche Macan GTS

Porsche’s Next Top Macan Porsche’s Next Top Macan

The GTS is last year’s Turbo with a different name, but it’s easily our favorite Macan.

If it seems as though every other week brings a new Porsche, that’s because it very nearly does. Fresh off introductions of the Taycan Sport Turismo, the 911 GT3, and the Cayenne Turbo GT, the German brand has rolled out a refreshed 2022 Macan.

A restyled exterior brings the Macan’s look in line with the Cayenne, and the cabin now features Porsche’s latest 10.9-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay standard. The old herringbone-like array of buttons straddling the shifter is gone, replaced by capacitive buttons on the center console. But the bigger news is the shake-up at the top of the lineup.

The Turbo is effectively replaced by the GTS. Not to worry; the GTS is a Turbo in everything but name as it gets the defunct Turbo’s 434hp turbo V-6, which makes 59 more horsepower than the old GTS. As is the case for all Macans, the GTS gets a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel drive. A dialed-in (optional) launch- control program should allow the GTS to match the outgoing Turbo’s 3.5- second sprint to 60 mph.

Straight-line speed is only part of the deal. Retuned adaptive dampers and air springs that are 10 percent firmer in the front and 15 percent firmer in the back also lower the GTS by 1.0 inch compared with other Macans. Porsche’s low-dust tungsten-carbide-coated rotors are standard. The German- market car we sampled had carbon- ceramic brakes, but take rates for those pricey rotors have been low in the U.S., so our Macans won’t be getting them, at least not this year.

When we drove the previous iteration of the Macan GTS, we noted that its “responsive and accurate steering seems to have been plucked right from a 718 GTS.” While that’s generally still the case—the steering remains nicely weighted and highly direct—the GTS’s seems a bit shorter on feedback than we remember. This quibble aside, the GTS remains an impressively responsive and engaging handler by any standard.

Far from feeling like a top-heavy SUV tuned to understeer at the first hint of lateral loads, the GTS drives like a high-riding hot hatch-

Vehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheeldrive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon

Base ....................................... $81,250

Engine: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection Displacement ��������������� 177 in3, 2894 cm3 Power �������������������������� 434 hp @ 6600 rpm Torque ���������������������� 405 lb-ft @ 1900 rpm Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic

Dimensions

• Wheelbase �������������������������������������� 110�5 in • L/W/H ��������������������������� 186�1/ 75�9/62�8 in • Curb Weight ���������������������������������� 4 450 lb

Performance (C/D est)

• 60 mph ��������������������������������������������� 3�5 sec • 100 mph ������������������������������������������� 9�6 sec • 1/4-Mile ������������������������������������������ 12� 2 sec • Top Speed ������������������������������������� 169 mph

EPA Fuel Economy (C/D est)

• Comb/City/Hwy ����������������� 19/17/21 mpg

back with 434 horsepower. Switching modes from Normal to Sport to Sport Plus changes the damper stiffness and subsequently the ride quality from great to gritty, and each progressive setting reinforces the transmission’s belief that it’s part of a qualifying effort for a touring-car race.

Unsurprisingly, the GTS’s movement upward leads to a higher price— the $81,250 base ask is a major $7800 more than last year’s. But remember, the 2022 GTS is basically last year’s Turbo in everything but name, and the old Turbo cost $85,950. Factor in the updated vehicle’s additional power and that none of its performance enhancements compromise its core mission as a practical compact SUV, and the new GTS is easily the best Macan yet.

Porsche is calling this Macan’s hue Python Green. The brand must be saving Green with Envy for a really expensive paint-to-sample color.