rasetsu

To my dismay, the concept of luxury is an ever evolving social construct with little to no objective standard. According to a recent study, Tesla is a luxury brand. Other than tech and image, what else would qualify that brand as luxury? A King Ranch F150 has way more of what I would consider to be luxury features but that isn't considered a luxury vehicle. So point being is that "luxury" is pretty much whatever you feel it is.

josephvman

It's really annoying that the Cobb for the Macan base is $1,425, while the one for the GTI, which is basically the same engine, is $695. The Porsche tax is high on this one!

#1SomeGuy

Ahh, we're going off different definitions of luxury then...

I was talking towards fit/finish, material quality, or basically how "nice" it is in the interior being the luxury aspect. I categorize the size towards how practical a vehicle is and how soft the suspension is towards how comfortable a vehicle is, which is different than luxury to me, but I suppose does contribute to something feeling luxurious.

Edward911

I just got a 2023 Macan 2.0L for my wife as her DD. And, it's likely the one I'll drive to Costco, the mall, etc. on the weekends with her & the kids. I dunno if you guys have exciting commutes to your workplaces, but for going to downtown in stop & go traffic, I value:

• Comfortable seats (18 ways are terrific)
• Nice interior (leather interior goes a long way towards making the Macan interior look nicer)
• Decent fuel economy
• Decent audio / infotainment (Bose is fine, Burmester would be even better)

I have a Taycan 4S as my DD, and it meets all those criteria, too. It can do HPDE track days, but it's just not as fun as a 911. So in that regard, a Panamera S, Taycan 4S, or Cayenne S (or any higher trim for those respective models) would make a fine, if not compromised, one-car solution.

The best solution is to have a Macan as a competent & frugal DD and then a 718 or 911 as a fun weekend car!

ByByBMW

Thank you!! Another voice of reason in this thread full of street racers and wanna be's. As a DD my Macan is perfect, and keep in mind I am still in the break-in phase so no exceeding 4K RPM. It's comfortable, has all the amenities I like and wanted. The gas mileage is better even while in break in than the advertised specs. And yes budget was also a consideration. With the recent passing of my wife I needed to reduce the car herd from 3 to 2 cars as much for insurance considerations as anything else. After Covid and my wife's illness which put off the Macan, after over 3 years of wanting a Macan, I am finally in one and it is even better than my imagination could imagine.
So, if you are just looking for a daily driver, like I was, a base may well be the fit one needs.
And for the folks who wonder what I do for a performance car, my 2012 436 HP Corvette fits that bill just fine.

c1pher

I have said this before but when I was looking at Macans, I was totally happy with ordering a new base model. However, I found a CPO Turbo for the same money and got that instead. You may want to consider going the CPO S/GTS/Turbo route if you're having second thoughts on the base model being what you want and have some flexibility on the options.

scottiemac

I have been watching this thread as well. I have a 2021 Base model and feel no need to have the fastest thing on the road. If you want party tricks, by a Tesla but I think that will wear off. The base Macan is a very nice small luxury SUV, not a race car.

davitd

I collected my family base Macan yesturday. As a fun car I have 911 gts and fiat spyder, so wanted something good for family trips.

Before ordering I was leaning towards Macan s and even had the allocation but did quite extensive test drive with the dealer’s base Macan and decided against the S.

There were couple of factors and price difference was not one of them:

1. The power was more than adequate for my country where max speed limits are 110 kmh. Up to that speed the car was quite lively;
2. S comes wit min. 20 inch wheels and wider tyres. Such equipped loaner with air suspension was quite sensitive to road surface pulling one way or another.
3. Turn in was quite sharp compared to friends S and I like this feeling of responsiveness.

So all in all I concentrated on comfort features and just hit the bulls eye:

I ordered Macan with noise insulated glass, ugly 19 inch wheels and AS, some leather on the dash, 14 way seats, and no sunroof (hate sunroof, really ruins the structural integrity).

Such equpped the car is even better than I expected. It is super silent and I guess the most comfortable SUV I have driven (way comfortable than latest gen Merc GLE and Volvo xc90 both with AS).

Now about the engine itself. I did not order the sports exhaust and engine note in normal mode is a bot underwhelming, dulled. The tester had sports exhaust and it was quite a bit emotional. Lack of exhaust noise makes the acceleration process a bit boring. The power is there, because you pick up the speed quite fast it is just the process that is underwhelming. Power delivery in normal mode is also quite lazy. I am following the break in procedure and do not rev the engine high, bit still you need to press the pedal quite hard to achieve decent acceleration. Sport mode cures the problem.

All in all I am super happy and aside standard exhaust would not be changing anything with the car

SnakeEyesB

The problem right now is that a 2 year old base or S is only going to sell about $4K - $7K lower than their MSRP's (unless they have options that carry very little to no value). They weren't purchased even close to the MSRP to begin with and even now people are buying new for less than the MSRP.

Hence, given the pricing, it is very difficult for a 2 year old base or S CPO to pencil out. Dealers are charging a premium for CPO's because a lot of buyers cannot wait for a new one and because the MSRP on the new one has gone up (although they also now include certain standard features that people used to pay for, such as adaptive cruise control).

BMinSFL

Congrats and enjoy! It's interesting to hear a different perspective on the exhaust. I actually think it's too loud. While it sounds pretty good at idle/ after startup and as it's building boost in the lower rpms, I frankly never want to hear a four-cylinder engine through the revs. I am a total fan of the engine otherwise.

Regarding the pedal input, sounds like a pedal commander should be on your early mod list.

Another minor nit is the sea of black plastic they chose to cover up the intercooler intakes on the base. Unfortunately it's even worse on the 2022 models. I went ahead and added some textured vinyl to help. Zunsport grills may also help but I feel that adding additional parts and weight for aesthetics isn't ideal.

davitd

I guess, the muted sound I hear is not that much pleasent, typical four cyclinder drone, may be the sports exhaust just masked those unpleasent notes and made the process way more pleasent

BMinSFL

I don't notice any drone, maybe give it some time for the deposits to coat the inside. The only unpleasant notes are at wide open throttle in higher rpms, not necessarily from the inside of the car but for those outside and behind.

It's not just 4 cyl though, something like an M3 I6 Turbo also has that sound.

mojo12345

just a tune on my S. Can’t believe the difference. Your wife would love it and you saved a ton.

BMinSFL

While I'm sure it's awesome with a tune, I would never tune and void the warranty on my wife's brand new car. Even a piggyback is too much prep work before taking it in.

Shuga

It seems as though this has turned into a hate thread on the base lol. I think I should explain a little more in-depth. I am/ have been waiting for over a year now for the 2024 Cayenne to be unveiled. However I feel I need something in the meantime ( Can never have to many Porsches right?) I don't daily my Panny GTS. It sits most of the week. That's my fun car. I'm not a 911 person. I love them but they're not for me. I daily a 20 Ram 1500. I love it. Got it new. Only put 3k miles on it. Shows how often I drive. I don't need every car I have to be a GTS or a Turbo. Would I like for them to be? Yes. Do I need them no. I wanted to start this thread to see if any base owners had regrets.