The T-tail can be traced back to the original 9 1 1 model, which means travel, but in fact the T-tail model has little to do with travel in the usual sense. Its real significance actually represents Porsche's unique dynamic driving experience: on the basis of upgrading the basic model, without changing the powertrain and increasing the price, it adopts a more sporty adjustment style, providing consumers with an excellent driving experience that is greatly improved than the entry-level model. The T-tail has always been exclusive to coupes in the past, and Macan T became the first four-door model among T-tail models at a price of 665,438+0.8 million yuan.
In terms of appearance, compared with the entry-level models, the most important change is the embellishment of agate gray metallic paint on the details. In particular, the color change inside the front bumper makes the low-width visual effect of the front face of the third generation Macan more prominent. Other details using this color include the exterior rearview mirror, the lower skirt, the rear spoiler on the roof and the tail logo. At the same time, the bright black sports tailpipe is also standard, and the decorative strip under the front door also has the words Macan T. In terms of wheels, Macan S's 20-inch wheels are standard, and the color is dark titanium gray that echoes the details of the body. It can be said that the elements that highlight the T model in appearance are still very rich.
In the interior, the main changes are the standard use of leather and sport-tax fabric stitching seats, 8-way electric adjustment and heating functions, and the Porsche Crest logo of the headrest position. In addition, the popular GT sports steering wheel with heating function and sport chrono components are also standard, while the carbon fiber interior panel and race-tax fur steering wheel need to be optional.
As a T-tail model, the detailed changes inside and outside Macan T are not the focus of the model, but more importantly, the improvement of driving experience. However, it should be noted that the adjustment style of all T-tail models is limited by positioning and price. Instead of focusing on the pursuit of extreme track driving, it focuses on providing a more sporty driving experience during daily driving. In order to verify this, the test drive on the track is obviously inappropriate. This time, we took the mountain road near Nice, France as the test drive section, which was also one of the most classic sections of the Monte Carlo Rally. There are many dangerous curves in the uphill and downhill sections. But unfortunately, due to the restrictions of local laws and regulations, the test drive model is still equipped with winter tires, which obviously reduces the absolute grip. But this does not prevent us from experiencing the positioning and pursuit of this car: to enjoy leapfrog driving pleasure with a limited budget.
First of all, I got the standard configuration version of the steel spring. It should be noted that this Macan T is the only model that comes standard with PASM active suspension management system as steel spring suspension, and its body height is also reduced by 15mm compared with the entry version, and the front anti-roll bar is also harder. It can be said that even the standard version is ready for mountain driving.
Set out up the hill. The first thing you need to feel is the power: the 2.0t EA888 EVO4 engine, which is consistent with the entry-level model, has a maximum output of 265 HP, a maximum torque of 400 Nm, and a 0- 100 acceleration time of 6.2 seconds. The gearbox is a familiar 7-speed dual-clutch PDK gearbox. In the Porsche brand, this relatively entry-level powertrain is obviously not very powerful, but it is quite handy if compared with other models on the road. On the way up the hill, the power of this engine is not strong, but it rarely makes you feel lack of power. By my standards, this engine is the best expression of the word "enough" in my heart on the mountain road. Of course, if you get the scene of daily commuting in the city, the motivation of 6.2 seconds is not just "enough".
In the process of going up the mountain, you often meet tourists who ride bicycles. You need to slow down to a very slow speed and then find a safe time to speed up overtaking. This kind of accelerated demand is also easy for Macan T to cope with. However, due to the narrow mountain road and few other vehicles, I have no safe chance to experience the scene that tests the acceleration ability of the middle section more than the car. However, I guess it should be no problem. Last year, when I test-drive the third generation Macan in Norway, I was deeply impressed by the response speed of this EA888 EVO4 engine. This advantage has also been retained in Macan T. If the power of the engine belongs to the middle and upper class, then the performance of dynamic response can be called first-class. On the mountain road with changeable slope, you can fully experience the comprehensive power output characteristics of the engine in the middle, high and low speed range and at different throttle depths, and the responsiveness of this engine is almost impeccable in the four-cylinder model. Low speed, high speed, small throttle and large throttle are randomly arranged and combined, and respond very quickly to the change of throttle. Correspondingly, the optional sports exhaust can also give you some exhaust sounds that are not rich but enough to create a sports atmosphere, and even some tempering sounds. More interestingly, after releasing the throttle, the sound of the pressure relief valve is also clearly discernible. In the dimension of sound, the creation of a sense of movement can be said to be comprehensive and thoughtful.
The performance of the chassis can also be called excellent. 15 mm height reduction and harder anti-roll bar are very obvious on this medium-sized SUV. On the one hand, it slightly reduces the degree of roll, on the other hand, it also makes the car faster in continuous mountain corners. Of course, the more obvious change is the fineness of the roll, which is really amazing. On many SUV models that don't exercise much, a typical phenomenon is that as long as you enter the corner a little faster, the whole car will lean to one side like a collapse. As the cornering speed becomes faster and faster, the degree of roll does not increase obviously, because the chassis support reaches the limit ahead of time. But this Macan T is different. First of all, it is very supportive. More importantly, its roll degree has a high correlation with the speed and strength of cornering. Through this, you can easily judge the state of the vehicle. SUV models can do this, and the adjustment level of this steel spring suspension can be imagined.
After a short lunch at the top of the mountain, on another downhill road, I replaced a high-profile car with an optional adaptive air suspension with PASM and an upgraded PTV Plus torque guidance system. The total price of the two main candidates is around 38,000 yuan. Of course, this high-profile model is also equipped with carbon fiber interior panels and a racial tax fur steering wheel. As soon as you get on the bus, your sense of movement will be greatly improved.
Compared with the morning, this downhill road is narrower, the continuous left and right bends are more closely connected, and there are many turns of 180 degrees. Actually, as soon as I set out, I thought it would be good to shoot the letter D here.
After only a few turns, I made a direct judgment: if you want to get the ultimate sports driving experience on Macan T, then this adaptive air suspension is a necessary configuration, and there is no possibility, even if you don't choose anything else for it. On the other hand, PTV Plus is a half-degree recommendation, which we will discuss in detail later. Let's talk about this air suspension first. Although the reference height of Macan T air suspension is 5mm higher than that of steel spring, when the driving mode is switched to sport+, the height of the car body can be further reduced by10 mm. We all know the benefits of low center of gravity, but the more amazing thing is the support: I have tried to push the tire in circles at almost every corner. Although the absolute limit of tires will not be very high in winter, this speed is much faster than the usual mountain road driving. Even so, at this speed, the roll of the car is almost imperceptible, which should not be an SUV at all. Even a sporty car is really hard to do. This performance can even rival many sports cars or high-performance cars. Another improvement is the sense of steering. In fact, in the steel spring version, the steering feeling has not changed much compared with the entry version, but after the optional air suspension, the steering feeling has also been improved to a certain extent, which is also a plus point for this option. The steering becomes sharper and faster, and the front of the car responds to the steering wheel action more quickly and accurately. Moreover, this change can only be realized when driving is relatively intense, and the car will not be too sensitive when driving very gently in daily life. More importantly, Porsche mentioned a word in the data: lightweight, but in fact Macan T does not have many weight reduction measures compared with the entry version. So I didn't quite understand this before. But after driving to this model with optional air suspension, I immediately understood that the so-called lightweight is not compared with the entry version, but with the S and GTS models equipped with V6 engine, especially the weight reduction of the front axle, which is almost equivalent to a person's weight reduction. The most intuitive feeling is that the front of the car becomes more flexible, which can't be compensated by more power. It is precisely this that highlights the biggest feature of T-series models: it brings the same or even better driving pleasure as S-series models only by adjusting and changing. On the winding downhill, no matter how tight the connection between the left and right continuous corners is, this Macan T can keep up with the rhythm, and the whole car has no feeling of dragging its feet. If you ignore the high sitting posture, you may even have the illusion of 7 18. Another advantage of air suspension is that while the sportiness is greatly improved, the comfort of daily driving is not compromised, and even the texture will be better. This is especially obvious on the mountain road with uneven road surface. 1.8 million optional equipment is really worth it.
As for PTV Plus, the reason why it is recommended to give half a degree is because with the upgraded torque guidance system, the dynamic change of the car cornering is obvious. In order to ensure safety, I almost always choose to turn off the oil later on the mountain road. On the low-profile models in the morning, even if this way is adopted, the rear of the car will have a little outward trend, but because of the low power, it is very comfortable to control. Even if I try to open the oil directly after bending center, it is handy and very fun to drive. Moreover, this high-profile model can obviously feel that the outer front wheel can get more power distribution, and there is an action of straightening the front of the car at once, instead of straightening the rear of the car. Theoretically, it will be easier to dump the rear of the car on the downhill road, but it is very stable in this car. This can really drive safer and faster, but I personally prefer a direct and flexible rear. But this is just a personal habit preference. You must try it yourself to know which feeling is more suitable for you.
Another key to downhill is braking. Of course, to be on the safe side, after a little intense driving, I will try to let the car slide for a distance in low gear and use the engine brake to control the speed to dissipate heat. But in general, even the standard brake system can easily cope with this kind of moderate-intensity intense driving. For this car, the standard brake system is enough.
An hour's mountain road, driving this Macan T, will soon reach the foot of the mountain. And during the whole driving process, I can't help laughing from time to time. The SUV that made me laugh on the mountain road last time, I thought about it for a long time and didn't remember it. I suddenly remembered the Cayenne Turbo GT that was tested last year. It is the strongest SUV model of Porsche and still maintains the lap time record of the New North SUV. However, after a day's test drive, I feel that if the scene is limited to a narrow, winding and compact mountain road and the evaluation dimension is not speed but fun, then Macan T, especially the version with air suspension, seems to be able to beat the Cayenne Turbo GT.
But Macan T is perfect? Not exactly. After arriving in Nice at the foot of the mountain, I found a very obvious problem: the performance of the gearbox of this car is really a bit poor in daily urban road conditions. In fact, on the mountain road, this 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox still performs very well when driving in a relatively moving way. No matter the shift speed or logic, including the feeling of the whole shift process, it is still very good. However, in the city, especially when switching between 123 gears and starting and stopping frequently, the sense of frustration is still a little more and more fragmented, and there will be a little abnormal noise under some special working conditions. After all, this gearbox is not young. It has been used since the first generation Macan went on the market. Although there are various forms of optimization during the period, it is still a bit old. However, considering that Macan will soon be purely electric, Porsche really doesn't need to invest a lot of money and manpower to update this gearbox at this time.
The last point is very interesting. After the test drive, I communicated with another teacher. Unlike my high evaluation of the air suspension version, he prefers the steel spring version. Because he thinks this is an SUV, not a sports car, and he doesn't have to pursue the chassis feeling of a sports car or a high-performance car too much. On this model, you should show more characteristics of family cars, such as a little tilt. In particular, this kind of roll is moderate and clear, which can help the driver to perceive the state of the vehicle, which is a very fine adjustment. But I still think it is more difficult for SUV to make an experience close to sports car with air suspension. Indeed, different people have different views on cars. We can even see the subtle differences between different models and versions, but it is entirely possible to draw the opposite conclusion for the more popular choice. For example, both sour and sweet are delicious, but different people have different opinions on which is better. So, which do you prefer, steel spring or air suspension? But after the test drive, we reached a consensus that Macan T, as the first four-door model with a T-tail, can definitely reach the level of a coupe predecessor.