rsilvers129

Exterior in basic black,
19" Turbo wheels.
18" Partial leather seats with leather package.

Options:

Park assist with reverse camera.
Trailer Hitch
Window trim in matte black??? (no cost)
Air suspension with PASM

Active cruise with PAS
Front seat heat
Front seat vent
Heated steering
No optional stereo - assuming the base one is good enough.

$62,235.

Maybe no discount.

S4 Prestige is $58,000, but with discount is about $54,000.

Seems like $8K more than S4 for my builds but can tow my 2000lb boat.

rsilvers129

Can't believe the Nav is $3140 when everyone has an iphone with Nav build in. Nav is $600 in my Ford. I really like Nav built in, but 5% of the entire cost of the car?

rsilvers129

Porsche dealer told me if I order one I will get it by July.

markcincinnati

WOW! $38K, $93K, and so on. I would suggest narrowing the price range so that your comparisons can be more, uh, relevant or meaningful.

If your budget supports mid 5 figures to low 6 figures, that is certainly admirable. But this range would seem to make comparisons hard or hard-er to make.

Comparing, for example, the BMW 335ix and the AWD IS 350 F-Sport and an S4 (and even adding other suspects from Infiniti, the almost here Acura TLX, and Volvo) seems "reasonable." But the Lexus F-Sport compared to an RS7 seems like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

I actually ordered a new F-Sport with virtually "everything" -- when my wife was buying her SQ5 Prestige, I remarked how much I like the S4, but that it seemed "out of reach" (the MSRP of the Lexus was $50K+ and the S4 (as I wanted it) was $57K+, and the Lexus had a nice discount and a sub-vented lease program, so . . . .

A couple of days later, the Audi rep calls me with an offer on an S4 with the red leather interior (which is what I had ordered on the Lexus) and the options I wanted with a price within about $50 per month of the Lexus (including Audi Care -- mntce for 50K miles -- which the Lexus did NOT have).

The more expensive and, to me, more desirable S4 suddenly became "within reach."

If you can, literally, consider a $38K Fusion and a $114K RS7, or some other autos with such wide price points, I would think the high buck choice would almost always be more "alluring".

So, again, I join in the chorus saying you might want to narrow your choices by price point.

On the other hand, there is also the possibility that you could choose based on "value" -- in that case, the Ford might come out a winning choice.

Here's wishing your Good Luck.

markcincinnati

Performance figures alone don't necessarily mean that one vehicle that goes 0-60 in "n" seconds is in the same class as another similar vehicle that also goes 0-60 in "n" seconds (plus or minus a tenth or two); but, this statement: "So just who are the Porsche Macan’s potential rivals? Right now there are none that go directly head-to-head with Porsche’s compact SUV." seems to (apparently) forget about the SQ5.

WTF?

Later in the prose, the Porsche folks say there remains 1/3 of the donor car [the Q5] in the Macan.

The Range Rover Evoque is questioned as perhaps a possible rival, but is dismissed since it is a 4-cylinder; but, it does, apparently remain "dashing."

The test reports, video reviews and general opinion pieces (that is, not full-on test reports) about the SQ5 have been favorable and in some cases fawning.

I'll grant that the Macan OUGHT to be a step or three up the SUV sport/performance/luxury ladder, but I wonder how the SQ5 wasn't even given an honorable mention?

One would think that a $62,500 SQ5 compared to a $66,500 Macan S (which seems to be a not unreasonable way to configure these two vehicles for a "vs" comparo piece in fill-in-the-blank, (Car&Drive, Road&Track, Field&Stream, etc) would not fare poorly, even if it were to come in second.

An upgraded SQ5 -- with the Porsche badge and tuning -- will, I think, be a highly desirable "car" and will probably be "on allocation" (like the SQ5, apparently) from day one.

But for those who want a somewhat similar experience, the SQ5 seems like it would at least merit an honorable mention in such articles.

Now, then, were Audi to bring an RSQ5 to market, it certainly ought to "be an contender."

Having, hopefully, defended -- somewhat -- the SQ5, I will say, I can't wait to test a new Macan S myself. I think there is always room at the top, that is.

rsilvers129

I didn't know what the Panamera or S7 would cost until I ran the numbers. I did it because I would feel like an idiot if I bough the Mecan and later learned that it was as expensive as an S7.

It doesn't. In fact the Macan build that I want is this: http://www.porsche-code.com/PFKXFEL0

It is $69,000 - and if I add the BOSE stereo then it is $70,375. At that price I wonder why I am not buying a $50,000 BMW 335ix.

Those were only for perspective, not because I was considering them. I didn't know about the TLX - thank you for mentioning it.

Not for me. I don't like spending money on things that depreciate. If cars were more like houses and did not lose their value, I would be at driving an R8V10 at the least.

I think the Fusion is excellent but I want something fun, and unless they stick an extra 100 HP into it, I don't see it as being fun.

My wife just shot down the Cayman idea if it means selling any of our cars. She said she would be ok with it if we kept the other three cars. I don't want to juggle four cars and really want to get down to two.

If the BMW 335ix was not getting such poor handling reviews compared to the Cadillac, then I would just go buy one as they are giving them away (11% off right now). I hate the thought of waiting another 1.5-2 years for a B9 S4.

And I showed my wife a Mercedes C63 AMG Wagon and she said it was ugly (looks good to me). It is $69,000 base and about $77,000 after options, and is 507 HP! But not AWD, so that kills that.

rsilvers129

Drove Audi Q5. Boring.

Drove A4. Boring.

Lexus IS-350 F-Sport - nice. Handled well - great seats - looked good. Dash not perfect, but I would be happy to own it.

BMW 535i S-Line Xdrive manual - looked even better than the Lexus inside and out - I was convinced that I wanted it - but then drove it. I liked the manual transmission, but the ride felt "tall" and bouncy. My Sequoia handles fantastically but it is a 6000 lb SUV so that is the standard for which I compare it - to other SUVs. I am not sure that the BMW was better handling, so it was a letdown for a sports sedan. I think it needed to be lowered and have more dampening. It if handled as well as the Lexus that would have been good enough as the Lexus handled like a BMW should. Steering was not great, but close enough. It bugged me that steering was variable ratio. The only thing worse than the ratio changing on your steering is having to pay extra for that. They are giving them away now for 11% off so I was hoping to love it, but the handling is a deal-killer. Hopefully they will address the handling in 2015 - but they seem to have done it on purpose to cater to the market, so I won't hold my breath.

Audi S6 - heavier and better steering than the BMW. Great low-end torque. Great interior. Great handling. Sounded incredible but without being loud. I guess to substitute for a v8. Trunk was huge. This was the only car that I drove that left nothing to be desired, but I want to try an S4 as the S6 was on the large side for me. If the S4 feels as good but is simply smaller, then I will love it. Only problem is - the S4 is all new in 2015, so I would have to wait.

Porsche Cayman S. My thought on this was that since I don't need another car, if I get one, it may as well be super fun and pure pleasure - even if it gives up more seats. And it is one of the best looking cars. But it didn't end up even as much pleasure as the S6.

It didn't seem very quick. I had get out and make sure that it was an S. I would hate to try the base model - I wouldn't want to get passed by a VW Golf GTi or Accord V6. They have a GTS now but it is only 15 HP more than the S, and they won't make a Turbo because they don't want to kill the 911. If you keep the RPM up, then it was ok, but you can't drive around on the street at 4000-8000 rpm - the car makes too much noise for that. If I am going 70 and want to pass someone at 85, I would have to drop to 3rd gear, punch it, wind the tach up, etc. Too much drama. With the S6, you just apply power, which is there at any RPM.

Manual transmission was nice. I asked what percent are sold with manual, and he said 5%. It was too loud - there would be no way to talk on a cell phone - it would be like making a call from a Cessna 172. This was the optional sports exhaust. I don't know why anyone would pay extra to have their car be louder. Besides the engine noise, the road noise was excessive - more than even my STi.

Handling and steering was of course great, but only enough better than the Lexus to appreciate while on a track because if you threshold drive on the street, you will rack up tickets and have to stop or lose your license. The other 99.99967% of my driving time I would rather have four seats and quiet. I once got three tickets with a single traffic stop with my Ducati 996, and the bike to too uncomfortable to make sense for anything but track use. I once drove a 911 Turbo and that had less road noise but more engine noise and I didn't much like that either. At least I learned something and I found out that I didn't want one.

The new Porsche Macan-S SUV looks interesting, and it was might neighborly for the dealer to lend me the Cayman-S with me showing up in my torn jeans and all, so I will go look at those when they come out. Though the Lexus saleswomen (yes, two of them) also saw my torn jeans and told me I could take the 15 mile IS-350 F-Sport for a few hours.

In summary, the BMW looked better than the Lexus before driving either, but if I had to buy one of those today, I would have to go with the Lexus based on how BMW messed up the handling. The S6 was bananas, and I hope the S4 is just as good but smaller.