New Engine Lineup to Accompany Facelifted Macan

Porsche reveals the facelifted Macan featuring updated styling, enhanced safety and connectivity features and a new range of V-6 gasoline engines.

Planned for North American delivery later this year, the updates to the CUV are aimed at enhancing its competitiveness against premium-brand rivals, including the Audi Q5, BMW X4, Jaguar F-Pace and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe.

With over 350,000 sales, the Macan holds the distinction of being the fastest-selling Porsche model to date. Significantly, over 100,000 of those sales have hailed from China, where the ʼ18 model was unveiled Wednesday by Porsche marketing boss Detlev von Platen.

Arriving four years after it first joined the Porsche lineup, the facelifted Macan receives a series of subtle exterior styling changes to update its appearance. Included is a reworked front end featuring a redesigned bumper, whose horizontal accents contribute to enhancing its visual width. Further changes are directed at the headlamps, which adopt new LED projectors as standard equipment.

At the rear, the popular Porsche CUV adopts a full-width LED light strip between the taillamps, which have been updated to include a four-point design for the brake lamp.

Rounding off the exterior updates is a new range of 20- and 21-in. wheels.

Inside (below), the Macan receives a redesigned dashboard accommodating a new Porsche Communication Management system. As in other recent new Porsche models, it features a touch display increased in size from a previous 7.0 ins. (17.8 cm) to 11.0 ins. (27.8 cm) within the center console. The center air vents have been repositioned and now sit below the display directly in front of the gear lever.

Porsche claims enhanced connectivity for the Macan through a standard Connect Plus module, which supports real-time swarm-based traffic data via HERE – the former Nokia division now partly owned by Porsche’s Volkswagen Group sister company, Audi.

Further changes include the availability of an optional GT sports steering wheel featuring a so-called Sport Response Button, a heated windshield and an ionizer.

As part of the Macan’s midlife facelift, Porsche has extended its range of driver-assistance systems to include a new Traffic Jam Assist function as standard. It uses adaptive cruise control with automated acceleration and braking as well as a lane-keeping function for partially autonomous driving capability at speeds up to 37 mph (60 km/h).

Porsche has yet to confirm the engine lineup for the ʼ18 Macan, owing to delays in the WLTP (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure) process and the legal implications in issuing claimed fuel-consumption and economy figures prior to certification.

On the gasoline side, the entry-level turbocharged 2.0L 4-cyl. engine in the base Macan is expected to receive a moderate increase in power, from the existing 248 hp to around 256 hp.

Further up the lineup though, the changes look to be more significant. As in the larger Cayenne, the turbocharged 3.6L V-6 used in the Macan S, Macan GTS and Macan Turbo is to be replaced by two different V-6 engines developed in an engineering partnership between Porsche and Audi.

Although not yet official, the Macan S appears likely to receive a turbocharged 3.0L V-6 with the same 335 hp as today’s turbocharged 3.6L V-6. The same unit is set to do service in the Macan GTS with some 20 hp more than today’s turbocharged 3.6L V-6 at 375 hp, according to Porsche sources.

At the top of the lineup, the Macan Turbo is to adopt a turbocharged 2.9L V-6. Again, nothing is official yet, but Zuffenhausen insiders suggest the new unit will develop around 20 hp more than the existing turbocharged 3.6L V-6 at 414 hp, with an upcoming Macan Turbo S likely to see a similar increase at around 454 hp.

An ongoing legal wrangle between Porsche and Audi over the supply of diesel engines and the apparent use of defeat devices to manipulate exhaust emissions is expected to delay any introduction of a successor to the Macan S Diesel. Recent comments from Porsche boss Oliver Blume suggest diesels may be dropped from the lineup entirely despite enjoying strong sales in many markets.

As with pre-facelifted Macan models, all engines will be mated to a standard 7-speed automatic dual-clutch gearbox with steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles as well as a standard multiplate-clutch 4-wheel-drive system.

Despite proving popular in other Porsche model lines, the facelifted Macan is not expected to offer a hybrid drivetrain owing to restrictions in the basic engineering of its platform, which is shared with the previous-generation Audi Q5, prohibiting the housing of a sufficiently large battery.