Pretty soon there are going to be two different Porsche Macans. They won’t share the same platform, the same powertrains, or the same bodywork. The current Macan is based on the same platform as it has been since it was introduced in 2014. The next Macan will be all-electric and based on the Volkswagen family PPE platform. Both the gasoline Macan and the new all-electric Macan will be sold alongside each other on Porsche dealership lots, and for the aging gas Macan to remain relevant on Porsche showroom floors, it needed a bit of work to get it up to par with the rest of the lineup. A nip there, a tuck here, and now it’s back in business.
After interior and exterior refreshes in 2016 and 2019, the Macan is getting its third facelift next year for the 2022 model year. The exterior will get a sharper edge and more aggressive fascia at both ends. The “side blades” along the lower edge of the doors will feature a new textured appearance, which is pretty cool. The big news with this facelift, however, is two-pronged. First, the Macan Turbo is dead. Second, the base model, S, and GTS all receive impressive boosts in power output. More power is good, right?
Why did Porsche kill the Macan Turbo?
The current Macan Turbo is hardly a sales monster, as it is the most expensive version of Porsche’s least expensive model. If you’re going to spend $84,600 on a Macan Turbo, you’re probably more likely to step up to the larger and more comfortable Cayenne S, which is powered by the same 434 horsepower twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 for just a few grand more. Furthermore, if you were looking for a more performance-oriented Macan which took advantage of its nimble size, you probably opted for the less expensive GTS model anyway. That’s the sporty model of the Macan, it’s the one you’d pick if you liked driving, honestly.
So that left the Macan Turbo in a weird position between two better and more logically-focused choices. So instead of letting it soldier on in a weird limbo position, Porsche canned it and cribbed that 434 horsepower engine for the newly promoted GTS to give it an impressive 49 horsepower bump! Who doesn’t want an extra 49 horsepower? So the Turbo is dead, but the GTS now makes Turbo levels of power and torque, so it’s really only dead in name. And to make things even better, Porsche also gave the GTS a more impressive stiffer suspension and a bunch of standard equipment that it didn’t have before. The new GTS is a bit more expensive than the old GTS—$7,800 more expensive to be exact—but it’s far less expensive than the now-defunct Turbo.
What about the 2022 Porsche Macan S?
Like the GTS, the S model has also been pumped up. Instead of its old and slow 348 horsepower engine, it now possesses the power once held in the engine bay of the Macan GTS. That’s right, a whopping 375 ponies give the mid-grade Macan its push. Also like the GTS, the S receives a price bump to go along with its power bump, up $5,200 to $66,750. It doesn’t get the trick suspension bits that the old GTS did, but that’s a pretty significant price decrease from the car this engine came in last year.
How much does a 2022 Porsche Macan cost?
If you’re looking for what Porsche calls the “standard model” Macan, powered by a 2-liter turbocharged four cylinder engine, it has also received a price bump and a power bump. Instead of 248 horsepower, the new base model got an extra 13 ponies, now making 261 HPs. That’s pretty good for the new least-expensive Porsche on the dealer showroom floor. The price did go up slightly, however, from $52,100 to $56,250. That undercuts a base model 718 Cayman by a few grand, and it can carry your whole family!
Expect the Macan to drop on Porsche dealer showrooms in early 2022, while S and GTS models will be a few months later than that. No matter which one you get, you’ll surely love it. Porsche is going to sell an absolute boatload of these, you can bet on that.
