2025 Porsche Macan Turbo review

When you think of a Porsche, the first model that probably comes to mind is a 911 – it’s more likely a sports car than an SUV.

Switching out an internal combustion engine for an electric motor (or two) then confuses the mind’s eye even more.

But that is exactly what Porsche has done with its best-selling Macan SUV. 

In 2024, the German car maker phased out the petrol Macan, and electric is now the only way to go.

Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so – let me tell you why.

The car I had on test was the Porsche Macan Turbo, the highest grade in the range, but despite its hefty price tag, you get a lot for the money.

Overall, there are four variants: the Macan, Macan 4, Macan 4S and Macan Turbo.

Pricing for the base Macan starts from $129,800, rising to $137,600 for the 4, $149,300 for the 4S, and topping off with $187,600 for the Turbo, with all prices before on-road costs and options.

As standard, the Turbo comes with a 12.6-inch curved digital instrument display, a 10.9-inch touchscreen that allows access to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless charger, an augmented reality head-up display, and a 10-speaker Bose sound system.

It also features a powered tailgate, four-zone climate control, 18-way electric and heated active sports seats with memory, and 20-inch exclusive Macan wheels painted in high-gloss black, although 21-inch wheels are a no-cost option.

Speaking of options, pretty much anything you could want, you can have on a Porsche.

On top of the standard equipment, this particular test car came with just over $31,000 worth of options, including Oak Green Metallic Neo paint, a Black and Chalk Beige leather interior, 22-inch Macan wheels painted in Neodyme, tinted LED headlights and tail-lights, and rear axle steering.

Other nifty options this car had included illuminated Porsche logos on the front seats and a separate infotainment screen for the front passenger. While they’re nice to have, lighting up the logos costs $560, while the extra screen adds $2700 to the bill.

Our car also had ventilated seats as a paid-for option costing $1710, which seems a little remiss on a car starting from more than $180,000, as you’d find them included on vehicles costing easily $100,000 less, and even the puddle lights cost $540.

The Genesis starts from $132,800, the Audi from $151,400, and the Mercedes from $194,100, all before on-road costs or options.

The Porsche Macan Turbo is claimed to use 17.2kWh per 100 kilometres. However, I found that I had a slightly higher consumption of 20.0kWh/100km during my week with the car, as I did a lot of freeway driving with limited chances to recuperate energy through braking.

Porsche claims the Turbo variant has a driving range of 591km (WLTP), while the entry-level rear-wheel-drive grade has a slightly higher 641km.

In total, my use was around 800km, and I topped up the battery to 80 per cent two times – not because it was empty, but just to make sure I had enough for days of extended driving when I wouldn’t be near a charger, and so I wasn’t returning it with a flat battery.

This was using a DC fast charger, and I found the claimed 21-minute maximum charge time to be pretty accurate. According to Porsche, the Macan Turbo can be charged using an 11kW AC charger in 10 hours, or a 120kW DC charger in 46 minutes.

Unlike many EVs, the Macan doesn’t have a ‘one-pedal’ style of regenerative braking; instead, it uses a blended system to make it feel more like its petrol predecessor. 

It also doesn’t have a dedicated Eco mode, with the drive modes – aside from normal – more geared towards performance than economy.

In comparison, the Audi SQ6 e-tron has a claimed 568–585km (WLTP) driving range depending on the variant, the Genesis GV70 Electrified has a 462km (WLTP) range, and the Mercedes-Benz EQE AMG 53 has a 485km (SUV version) and 515km (sedan) range (NEDC).

The Porsche Macan comes with a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, whichever comes first, which is less than the standard five years offered by most manufacturers.

Servicing is every 12 months or 15,000km. Porsche offers prepaid service packs starting at $1995 for three years, $3695 for four years, and $3995 for five years.

All three of its main rivals come with a five-year warranty, although the Genesis’s is a more restrictive 75,000km rather than unlimited.

The EQE needs to be serviced every 12 months or 25,000km, while the GV70 has to go into the dealer every 12 months or 15,000km. The SQ6 e-tron’s servicing schedule mirrors the Macan’s.

The Porsche Macan Turbo will cost $5970 to comprehensively insure based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW.

Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The Porsche Macan is untested by the safety organisation ANCAP; however, it has an extensive list of safety equipment as standard.

In addition to the features outlined in the table below, the Macan has an acoustic vehicle alert system to let people around it know it’s moving because it is so quiet, swerve and turn assist, exterior mirrors with kerb-view parking assistance, a seatbelt warning system for all seats, and an anti-theft alarm with ultrasonic interior surveillance.

It also features nine airbags, including curtain airbags that extend along the entire roof from the A-pillar to the C-pillar.

During my time with the Macan, I didn’t notice any overzealous interventions from the safety systems, with features such as lane-keep assist being incredibly gentle in their application, and so subtle that you’d barely know they were there.

While the Macan is officially classified as an SUV, its sleek roof line and long bonnet make it appear more coupe-like. Pillarless doors add to the effect.

It features new rectangular running lights to match its electric Taycan sibling, as well as matrix LED headlights and tail-lights.

There are literally hundreds of paint choices available for the Macan, contrast black and white, metallic ‘Shades’, metallic ‘Dreams’, metallic ‘Legends’ – as the Oak Green I had was – or you can even choose your own Exclusive Manfaktur colour for $18,300.

I like the Oak Green as it exudes class without being too 'look at me' and complements the Neodyme (gold) Macan wheels beautifully. I received many comments about how nice the colour was, comparing it favourably to British Racing Green, although in reality it is a bit darker.

The optional black gloss wheel arches and roof rails subtly blend in with the dark green, and scattered across the car are Porsche badges painted in the brand’s exclusive grey metallic Turbonite colour.

There are two charging flaps, one on each side, with one for an AC plug and the other for a DC. Rather than a push-and-pop-out setup like most cars have, regardless of powertrain, with a gentle tap, the Macan’s flaps slide open electronically, which is cool.

The words “black and chalk beige leather” don’t really do the interior of the Macan Turbo justice.

The black is more of a dark grey, and the chalk is more creamy than beige, with sleek Neodyme accents along the doors, dash and centre console, complemented by a Race-Tex dark grey suede-style headliner.

The look is elegant, and the materials are soft to the touch. The leather seats are very comfortable to sit in, despite being sporty and sculpted for a more dynamic driving experience.

Everything is just simple and modest; the Porsche doesn’t need to prove it’s expensive by being flashy and over-the-top, it is just classy.

Touches such as the leather GT sports steering wheel with its separate mode button, and the stainless steel pedals, are a nod towards its performance characteristics, without making it feel too much like a performance car for the average driver. An analogue clock nestled on top of the dash is reminiscent of Porsches of old.

In the front, there is ample room in the doors for a medium drink bottle, with slots in the centre console for two more. However, the space is set down low, so you’re essentially putting your drink on the floor, which is a bit strange. 

There’s also a small pocket of room under the floating centre console, but it’s so petite and difficult to access that there’s really not much you can do with it. For storing little items out of sight, there is a tiny bin beneath the centre armrest.

If this is your main family car, there is plenty of leg and head room in the back for adults or children, and ISOFIX anchors on the outboard seats for child restraints, as well as three top-tether points accessible via the boot.

While there’s space in the rear doors for your average-sized drink bottle, there are no map pockets for storing other items on the backs of the front seats. The aesthetic is nicer without it, but it is less practical than many SUVs as a result.

For protection and privacy, the rear windows feature dark-tinted glass, eliminating the need for additional coverage, such as snap shades.

The boot is reasonably sized for a vehicle of its class, offering 480 litres with the seats up or 1288L with them folded, with an additional 84L of space underneath the bonnet in the frunk.

I managed to fit a pram in the boot, plus a small carry-on suitcase, and two backpacks with no trouble. The frunk is useful for storing the charging cables.

By modern standards, a 10.9-inch touchscreen sounds small, but the way the unit in the Porsche Macan is integrated is so clever, it doesn’t come across that way.

In this car, there were three screens: the main infotainment screen, a curved 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster, and an optional 10.9-inch display for the front passenger.

Because they run side by side along the width of the dash, the overall result is that it’s almost like one massive narrow screen, slotted in amongst the leather in a way that’s so much more elegant than just plonking a screen on the dashboard and calling it a day. 

The main display is within easy reach, but I did find myself leaning my hand on the leather underneath it, which could mean it wears or gets dirty over time.

All the interfaces work really well, with no lag, and the main menus are logical, bright, and cover all the basic functions you need, without any unnecessary extras.

Delving deeper, you can find information on charging and energy consumption, safety features, drive modes, selectable chassis settings, and suspension levels, among other details.

The cluster can also be customised to display navigation, energy consumption, and safety warnings, among other features.

Functionality on the passenger’s screen is more limited, mostly geared towards the sound system, coloured lighting and things like that – nothing that would interfere with the actual driving of the car without the driver’s say so.

There are two USB-C ports in the front and two in the second row, plus a 12V socket in the front and another in the boot. 

One small letdown is the lack of physical buttons, replaced instead by haptic touch controls in piano black plastic on the centre console for features such as the heated and ventilated seats, air circulation and demister. 

Key climate functions can fortunately be controlled quickly and easily via five toggle switches for temperature, fan speed, or to turn the system on and off.

The biggest highlight for me, though, was the 10-speaker Bose sound system with the subwoofer tucked underneath the boot floor. The sound quality is one of the best I’ve come across, bested only by the Bowers & Wilkins setup in some Volvos.

It’s almost like the music doesn’t just come from the speakers; it fills out every inch of the cabin and wraps itself around you. Every note is as clear as a bell. You can hear every guitar string plucked, every piano key pressed.

Porsche also offers its Porsche Connect app with the Macan Turbo, allowing owners to remotely lock and unlock their vehicle, access roadside assistance, track their vehicle or preset the climate before getting in. It’s free of charge for the first three years, after which a fee applies for continued access to certain functions.

If you think just because this Porsche Macan is electric, it is in some way inferior to the petrol version before it, you’d be wrong.

This Macan might lack some of the emotion that comes from the sound of an internal combustion engine, but it is still a joy to drive.

The Turbo is powered by a large 100kWh battery and dual electric motors producing 430kW/1130Nm in Normal mode, or 470kW in overboost. 

All grades use the same battery pack, but have less powerful motors, and the base variant has just one electric motor to drive the rear wheels rather than all four.

To some, that may just sound like a lot of numbers, but in reality, what it means is that this SUV, which will probably spend most of its life pootling around town dropping off the kids and running errands, is absolutely bonkers if you put your foot down.

It is blisteringly quick – taking just 3.3 seconds to zip from 0–100km/h and able to hit a top speed of 260km/h. For reference, that’s as fast as the new Ferrari Amalfi supercar.

The SQ6 e-tron is no slouch either, but it’s not quite as fast. It uses the same Volkswagen Group-supplied battery, but its dual motors make 360kW, and it does the 0–100km/h sprint in 4.4 seconds. Similarly, the GV70 Electrified offers the same amount of power but with a smaller 84kWh battery.

On paper, the EQE AMG 53 comes closest in a straight-line race, with 460kW (in overboost) coming from two motors and a 90.5kWh battery making for a 0–100km/h time of 3.5–3.7 seconds depending on the variant.

In Normal mode, putting your foot to the floor will send this Macan charging forward so fast it will knock your socks off. Put it into Sport mode, and you'll rile it up even further. 

Take one step more and switch into Sport Plus, activate Launch Control, and it will genuinely take your breath away, set your heart racing and leave you feeling like you’ve just been on a rollercoaster.

If there’s a negative to be found here, it’s that realistically, no one needs that much power and torque for everyday driving. Additionally, because it is an SUV and not a sports car, anyone who isn't very confident at driving could be caught off guard by it.

The insane acceleration, coupled with slightly twitchy and overeager steering, is really not for the faint-hearted.

 If you are confident behind the wheel, though, it’s incredibly snappy, and the Macan handles beautifully and glides through corners with a breeze thanks to the four-wheel steering. It is optional for all grades, but luckily for me, it was a box ticked for our car.

This turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the front up to 80km/h, while beyond this point they go in the same direction. This makes the Macan easier to manoeuvre at low speeds and offers increased stability at higher ones.

The Torque Vectoring Plus, which functions like an electronic rear differential, allocates power to the individual wheels as needed, helping the Macan feel well planted and composed. The Bridgestone Potenza Sport 295/35 R22 tyres offer good grip in both wet and dry conditions.

The Turbo features Porsche’s adaptive air suspension and 4D chassis control, which delivers an excellent and comfortable ride quality on almost all surfaces, including over speed bumps, despite riding on massive 22-inch wheels. Lower grades receive steel springs, but air suspension is available as an option.

Only on a very poor stretch of broken road did I feel any feedback, and even then it still wasn’t what you’d consider firm or crashy.

Insulation from noise is also very good, with little rumble coming from the rubber and no wind noise either. 

While the electric motors are quiet, as you’d expect in an EV, you can turn on what Porsche has dubbed its Electronic Sport Sound, which emulates the sound of a mechanical engine and exhaust noises. I liked it, but it might not be to everyone’s taste.

The now fully-electric Macan Turbo competes against the likes of the Genesis GV70 Electrified, Audi SQ6 e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE AMG 53.

The Genesis starts from $132,800, the Audi from $151,400, and the Mercedes from $194,100, all before on-road costs or options.

Compared to these rivals, the Macan Turbo has the longest driving range, is the most powerful and quickest from 0–100km/h, and is cheaper than all except the EQE AMG 53 – though it is every bit as luxurious.

No, the Porsche Macan is now fully electric, with the petrol model discontinued in 2024.

Porsche is reportedly developing a new petrol-hybrid SUV, which is expected to arrive around 2028, although it will not be called the Macan.

Yes. If you are shopping for a luxury SUV at this price point, it is absolutely worth it. It’s every bit as much a Porsche as its sportier siblings.

It’s quick, agile, comfortable, quiet, and it has a good amount of driving range, so if you’re mostly driving around town and can recoup energy, you won’t need to charge it that much.

Most of all, it’s beautiful and comes with the brand cachet of being a Porsche.

Sure, the costs can start to rack up when you add options, but in truth, there are only a few that were on our car that are absolute must-haves.

Paint and interior colours are a matter of individual taste, but the four-wheel steering is worth the extra cash, and if you’re shopping further down the Macan range, I’d suggest adding the air suspension too.

A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.

Read more about Kathryn Fisk