Jeremy Clarkson (of this parish) has called caravans a “menace” that “clog up the British countryside all summer long”. Which may explain why he, Richard Hammond and James May relished destroying more than a few on Top Gear and The Grand Tour . Many drivers who consider themselves “helmspeople” have a similar view… though perhaps not as extreme. I had always thought of caravans as a bit naff, and there’s no question that getting stuck behind one on a country road can be a pain. However, during a camping trip a few years ago with my family I was shocked to realise that I could see the appeal.
We were slumming it in a tent (a fairly plush one, as tents go… but still no more than a bit of canvas protecting us from the elements), but in the next pitch was a shiny new Swift caravan that radiated light and warmth from within. Its owners were cooking in its kitchen and drinking chilled white wine from the fridge, and I knew that they had a dry bed with a proper mattress and duvet waiting for them when it came time to turn in. I looked back at my cold, dank tent filled with inflatable mattresses and sleeping bags and felt envy. At a caravan. Everything is relative, I suppose.
What was parked next to the caravan was even more interesting, though: a Porsche Macan GTS. The Macan is Porsche’s baby SUV — the little sister to the Cayenne — and the GTS version is the sportiest version below the brawny Turbo models. There’s a GTS version of all Porsches now, and what you’re buying into is a sportier styling pack, lowered suspension and impressive performance… though not as much punch as a Turbo.
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The Macan GTS has a 2.5-tonne towing capability, but expect the range to suffer
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As I watched the couple next door I realised that, far from being weirdos, these guys had things worked out. They had a comfortable base and when they wanted to go off and explore the local area they had a terrific machine in which to do so. A sporty SUV that could handle the roughest and remotest roads (and off-roads) while also delivering class-leading driving pleasure. It turned out the owner had recently sold his business and retired, and he and his wife were fulfilling a lifelong dream to explore the far corners of the UK. OK, some would still prefer to stay in luxury hotels; they probably planned to do that at some point, but for now, the UK was their oyster.
That previous-generation Macan GTS was petrol-powered, but the one you see here is pure electric. That rather scuppers the caravanning idea, you might be thinking. Well, yes and no, because unlike most electric cars this one has a maximum towing capacity of 2.5 tonnes, which is more than double what most can handle and easily enough to pull a moderately sized home on wheels.
The downside is that doing so would seriously erode the claimed electric range of the car. Porsche says this is up to 363 miles on the official WLTP test, but if you’re lugging around more than two tonnes you’d expect that to be a lot less. Even without anything hooked up to the back, my driving partner and I found the car returned 2.4 miles per kWh from the 95kWh (useable) battery pack, which would mean a real world range of 228 miles. In the interests of fairness, I should say we weren’t hanging around and our 170-mile test route involved blasting along twisty roads and into the frigid mountains above Nice in early February.
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An 800V electric system can recharge at up to 270kW, which means a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in as little as 21 minutes at a compatible charger
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I asked Porsche’s Macan engineering chief what happens to the car’s range when towing. Like any EV it suffers, he said, but I was surprised to be fed some details. His wife uses their Macan Turbo to pull a horsebox, he told me, which weighs two tonnes when loaded — he would expect to see about 1.8-2 miles per kWh on the way to events. That would mean running out of charge after as little as 171 miles.
This car, then, can tow… but isn’t ideal if you need to go long distances with something hitched up. In other words, my camping pals should hold onto their old petrol model, or grab an updated one before dinosaur juice Macans go the way of, well, dinosaurs.
Thankfully, Porsche has given the new Macan GTS the Taycan sports car’s 800V electrical system, which is twice the power of your average modern EV. It allows rapid DC charging at up to 270kW from a suitable charger, and topping up from 10 to 80 per cent can take as little as 21 minutes. So the stops might be frequent but at least you’ll be able to get back on the road quickly.
It’s when you’ve unhitched the giant plastic snail that the Macan GTS will be most satisfying, though. It has two electric motors, one on each axle, and they’re the exact same units found in the Macan Turbo — though the rear motor’s wick has been turned down.
Don’t think the GTS lacks punch, mind you. The combined power output is 510bhp under normal conditions, though up to 563bhp is available when using launch control, and there’s a huge amount of instant torque available (704 lb ft, in fact, which — for perspective – is more than a McLaren P1 hypercar). What that means in real terms is acceleration that will pin you to your seat — the sprint from 0-62mph takes as little as 3.8 seconds (the same as a 2012 Ferrari California), and you can go on to 124mph in 13.3 seconds. Top speed? 155mph.
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The Macan GTS interior looks cramped with tall Dron behind the wheel, but he found the driving position perfect. It features black Race-Tex smooth black trim, while the body-coloured stitching and seatbelt are part of an optional extra package
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The Macan Turbo is even more brutal thanks to the extra poke at the rear end, and that makes things more lively. But the performance of the Macan GTS in relation to its weight and grip levels is in the Goldilocks zone — not too much and not too little. On the launch, Porsche called the GTS “the most emotional” Macan experience, which is obviously guff, but I reckon this is the sweet spot of the electric Macan range because you can plant the accelerator and rabbit out of corners without worrying about overdoing it. Only under extreme duress will the tyres lose traction, even in Sport Plus mode.
This is also an amazingly engaging car to fling around. It’s heavy, of course, but with 48:52 weight distribution, air suspension, race-spec double wishbones at the front, a rear electronic limited-slip differential and Porsche’s active stability management system, you don’t really notice the heft. The Macan GTS also has an extremely low centre of gravity, thanks to its underfloor battery pack and the lowest ride height of any Macan. In Normal mode the GTS sits 10mm lower than any other Macan, and in Sport Plus drops a further 10mm closer to the asphalt. Porsche’s engineer admitted the Turbo drops to the same level in its most potent mode, mind you.
There’s not even a whiff of understeer into corners and the grip and poise through the turns is immense. Our test car was also fitted with the optional rear axle steering, which dramatically reduces the turning circle at a crawl, helps turn the car quickly on switchbacks and at motorway speeds improves stability during lane changes. Changes of direction on twisty roads are lightning quick.
Air suspension, a rear differential, clever torque vectoring tech and optional rear steering hide the Macan GTS’s heft
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There’s not much space left now to mention techy things like the transparent bonnet system, advanced AI voice assistant and self-parking, and the fact that it remembers the last 50 metres you drove and can reverse automatically along the same path. Nor go into too much detail on the interior, but you won’t be surprised to hear that it’s excellent: the seats are figure-hugging yet comfortable and the driving position very natural; Porsche’s Alcantara-like material Race-Tex marks out the GTS in various places; there are plenty of switches and buttons to go with the screens; and the quality of the switchgear is top notch. The nannying driver aids are easy to turn off, too, and adults will fit in the back fairly comfortably.
What does need a proper mention here is the optional passenger screen, which shows driving data, the navigation system or streaming services. Porsche is still adding apps to the Google Android-based system but we got a demo of the Asphalt 9 game, which you can control via a PlayStation or Xbox controller, and it runs faultlessly. Video streaming from Disney+ is coming too. When running, the screen dims and the driver can’t see the display… which is obviously a good thing.
The passenger screen can run karaoke apps and video games, including Asphalt 9… or stream movies about horses (and other things)
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Like it or not, this is the direction in which many cars are going — they’re moving from “computers on wheels” to “PlayStations on wheels”. Fortunately, though, Porsche hasn’t forgotten to keep the driving experience entertaining.
Just pray you don’t get stuck behind one towing a caravan, particularly when the owner has misjudged its range capabilities.
