The GTS model’s chassis and driving dynamics provide a near sports-car experience in an SUV.

Chassis engineers have a tough and largely thankless job. Ride quality remains in a long-standing feud with handling, and the engineers’ job is to negotiate a peace that works for the vehicle and for the customer. After driving the 2020 Macan GTS, we’d say that Porsche’s engineers deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering such a satisfyingly sporty compromise.

There’s nothing particularly exotic about the suspension hardware. The Macan GTS comes standard with air springs paired to Porsche’s Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive dampers. The two are tuned and work to smooth broken pavement, and despite the optional 21-inch wheels with small sidewalls, the suspension never crashes or sends ugly vibrations through the structure. With the push of a console-mounted button (or a turn of the steering wheel-mounted dial, part of the $1360 Sport Chrono package), the dampers tighten just enough up to savagely attack corners. At the test track, the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 tires stick with stability up to the high 0.94-g lateral limit.

Responsive and accurate steering seems to have been plucked right from a 718GTS. Our German-spec test vehicle came equipped with the optional PSCB tungsten-coated brake rotors($3490) that can be identified by their mirrored finish and white brake calipers. Porsche continues to dial in the pedal feel of this system. When it debuted on the Cayenne, the brakes felt grabby with too much initial bite. On the GTS, the brakes react with a firm and linear stroke. Stops from 70 mph occur in a sports-car-like 155 feet.

While we like the Macan GTS’s chassis, the powertrain isn’t as inspiring. The GTS uses the same twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6 found in the Macan Turbo, tuned down from 434 horsepower to 375 horsepower in GTS trim. Porsche’s V-6 lacks the character and punch of the BMW X3 M’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six and the angry exhaust of Mercedes-AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that powers the GLC63. The GTS sprints from zero to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and rips through the quarter-mile in 12.6 seconds at 107 mph—a Macan Turbo is 0.4 second quicker in both measures. Some credit for those stellar times goes to the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic’s launch-control system that revs the engine to 4600 rpm before engaging the clutch.

The Macan GTS starts at $72,650, a hefty $12,300 less than the Turbo. Spotters will be able to differentiate the Macan GTS by its blacked-out exterior trim and tinted LED light housings in the front and rear. On the inside, the interior is largely unchanged since the 2018 refresh. We particularly liked the faux-suede coverings on the door panels and center console as well as the inserts of the more aggressively bolstered, GTS-exclusive power seats. A lengthy list of options awaits buyers, and our test GTS came lavishly equipped at $98,160.

Buyers will also have to accept a smallish rear seat in the Macan. Adults won’t be very comfortable back there. But if the Macan is replacing a sports car, that’s an easy compromise to make. If you’re coming from a more spacious SUV, bending on the Macan GTS’s rear-seat space brings the reward of a sublime ride-and-handling compromise that seems more than worth it to us.

Source caranddriver.com