From XC60 to Porsche Macan or BMW X3?

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by Arianne

I also have grown to like the XC90 but I just cannot get my head around a 4cyl VEA engine in this size of car. I have come to learn the DNA of the VEA unit - it's competent, enjoyable but just lacks that certain something which a 5cyl or 6cyl unit might provide.

Arianne

The new XC90 is surprisingly capable off road. Look at this video about 7 minuets in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY91fZ--Tao

[NigelDay]

Just been on the Porsche website. Not easy to find a brochure download (had to use Google). Very seductive. Then I looked for a price list to download but even Google failed to find one, so I had to use the configurator. Strange how they don't seem to want to publish this.
As a quick comparison, I selected those options I have and (OK, it is a 3-litre, AWD and automatic) and it came out the north side of £54k (if I added the power passenger seat, that's part of a package that is a further £1000 !). Around £10k over the LIST price of my XC60 (remember no discounts with Porsche).
A similar exercise with a Q5 or X3 brings in a price quite close to the XC60.
The Macan looks very nice, and gets some rather good reviews. The problem for me (as I like lots of toys) would be a battle with the options list. As pointed out above, it would need to be compared with the SQ5 which is very fast. The new Q5 could be tough competition when it arrives especially as it will be on a newer platform than the (currently shared) Macan.

[MikeIOW]

I also feel the Porsche is fugly....but not been on the inside, which is of course the view YOU would have most often!

Have to say, perhaps because I haven't suffered the turtle, I cannot see any alternative that I would prefer today.
~27K miles in, long runs to Les Arcs, many motorway miles under the luxury of the DSP, family, jukebox and radio for company, stonking price compared with all the ones you & others mention, I would do this all again!
I am quite taken by the XC90, but it is too big for our needs...

I will certainly hold ours for another year or two (hey, 5 years servicing package here).

Other than "wanting a change" - if you had not suffered the turtle pain (& I know how that was for you, so understand if that is the only reason!), would you still want to move from the XC60?

[NigelDay]

The new XC60 (but we don't know exactly when it will hit the UK showrooms) with the D5 VEA (which surely they must have 100% sorted by then) must be up there on any premium SUV shortlist. Without getting into the debate on the absence of a 5/6 cylinder in future Volvo cars, a 225bhp / 470Nm torque VEA in an XC60 body will be quite adequate for most drivers. Certainly as good as any of the competitor 2-litre offerings. For the few who seek more, then there are the alternatives already discussed. I suppose it all comes down to when Arianne wants to change, and there will 'always be something new round the corner'.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by NigelDay

The new XC60 (but we don't know exactly when it will hit the UK showrooms) with the D5 VEA (which surely they must have 100% sorted by then) must be up there on any premium SUV shortlist. Without getting into the debate on the absence of a 5/6 cylinder in future Volvo cars, a 225bhp / 470Nm torque VEA in an XC60 body will be quite adequate for most drivers. Certainly as good as any of the competitor 2-litre offerings. For the few who seek more, then there are the alternatives already discussed. I suppose it all comes down to when Arianne wants to change, and there will 'always be something new round the corner'.

Haven't seen any issues with the VEA D5 posted on the new XC90 forum yet.

[Arianne]

What a day.... we set off in truly blizzard conditions from the Central Scottish Borders for Edinburgh and experienced near white-out conditions over Soutra on the A68. Got there though!

First up: the Porsche Macan. I have never experienced a drive quite like the Macan. The engine is phenomenal, the PDK gearbox changes are seamless such that you only know it's occurred by the engine note and the suspension defies the laws of an SUV. Cabin felt a bit 'old-school' with lots of buttons and a somewhat old-fashioned central display but the build quality could not be faulted. The Bose sound system is an audiophiles dream. Front seat passengers do better than those in the rear but the back is still a nice place to be. The cabin is hushed, perhaps not as much as I had expected, and the rear seat passengers can pick up tyre noise from the rear wheel arches. The boot is, without doubt, smaller than the XC60. Is this the best SUV for driving experience? I have a feeling it is. Those journalists are not wrong.

But here's the problem. You know what I am going to say...... This all comes at an eye watering price. The entry for the V6 3.0 Macan diesel S is about £46k. Our original plan was to keep things simple and add minimal essential options - adaptive suspension perhaps. But having seen the car, driven it and spoken with the dealer..... it's clear to us that one needs to add more in order to ensure that it doesn't feel all wrong. For example, Mrs A made no secret of the fact that, for her, the Macan just doesn't look pretty. She doesn't like the headlights or the 18" wheels. We can resolve that to some extent by adding the 'smoked' headlamp units to blend with the dark grey (£600 optional extra) paintwork. But to get these headlamps they have to be bi-xenon and that little package adds an extra £1,350. The wheels are similar since the cheapest 20" rims add another £1,450. Here's where we ended up in addition to the foregoing:

* privacy glass £320
* Bose sound £800 (essential for me as an audiophile)
* roof rails £350 (only factory fit and needed because a roofbox will be essential)
* panoramic roof £1,100 (considered essential for resale and you know why when you've sat in a Macan with black upholstery)
* heated front seats £300

Kerching..... £53,500 before tax & delivery. No discounts on anything. It's also worth explaining that this specification means that the interior will not include leather seats, only alacantra. No satnav, no memory on the driver's seat etc. Resale in three years is £26k. Can I justify this to myself? £27.5k over three years.

Meanwhile, Mrs A has explained that it will be three years in which she won't glance out of the window and swoon for the car sitting there. All credit to SWMBO, she genuinely said she wouldn't stand in my way if I wanted the Porsche but that three years is all her sweet eyes could bear looking at the Macan's exterior. Ignoring Mrs A's eyes for a moment, the thought of owning a Porsche out of warranty is somewhat anxiety inducing!

So we left the dealership and I got back into my XC60 to drive off for lunch somewhere. It was only while we were eating lunch that it dawned on me that I hadn't given the thought of being in the XC60 a second thought after getting out of the Porsche Macan. That taught me something important.... the Macan is very good but the law of diminishing returns applies here. For every extra £'000 we're investing in a better car the percentage improvement becomes less and less. The Macan didn't blow us away in the way we had hoped, including my 23 year old son who drives our Audi TT.

My heart said 'yes' but that was mainly because of the Porsche badge, not because of the Macan's beauty or because it was a compelling proposition. It took me until 7pm in the evening for the head and heart to become reconciled.

I agree with the journalists that the Macan is probably the best compact SUV but not when the price is factored back into the assessment. It is only the best in absolute terms of performance alone.

And so we come to the dowdy BMW X3: It was with a heavy heart that we trundled off along the City Bypass to the 'Luxury Car Village' which is the home of Eastern BMW outside Edinburgh. After visiting the Porsche dealership in the morning, sited alongside the Aston Martin and Ferrari dealerships, the term 'luxury' to describe the home of the BMW, Lexus and Toyota dealerships didn't quite have the same resonance as it might have done on another day.

Entering the dealership was a very different experience from the Porsche boys. Not quite as heartless and efficient as Edinburgh Audi but clearly Germanic.

A few days earlier the dealer was offering us an X5 with the 30d & auto box because they couldn't locate the engine combo in the X3. I told them that, unless they found an X3 with the right engine & gearbox combo the meeting was to be cancelled. Voila! Car located and available for us upon arrival!

Our test drive was to check four things: the engine, the auto box, steering and the suspension. We have no plans to buy the current X3 which is to be replaced later this year / early 2017. This was a 65 plate car with 4k on the clock.

Our experience then? The engine was great. It's just as eager as the Porsche with a decent note when you really let it loose. The car can be a comfortable cruiser but, at the flick of a switch, it'll change the damper settings, throttle response, gear settings and steering to become quite a beast. The gear changes are not as smooth as the Porsche but by auto standards still very good with almost no delay and a smooth action. Steering, suspension and road noise were all absolutely fine. The handling on this car and its performance are clearly superior to the Volvo XC60 D5 polestar AWD geartronic demonstrators that Clelands let us borrow two years ago. Really, it's that different!

The financials are streets better than the Porsche Macan. And that's because the list price can be completely ignored with BMW offering discounts of around 10% if I worked them hard on this type of car and price point. The BMW comes with most of the stuff you want already included in the package. Just as an example, any paint colour.... no extra charge. Leather is standard on the M-Sport trim etc.

But Mrs A didn't like the look of the X3 either. Too boxy on the side profile and with odd angles at the front and rear. Hmm! Maybe the 2017 X3 will resolve that, who knows since there are no clear pictures yet with all the photos showing that confusing wrap over the paintwork of the new cars).

Conclusion
Well, it won't be a Porsche Macan. Too expensive and not much of a looker (or plain ugly according to Mrs A).

It probably won't be a BMW X3 either. It's definitely affordable but Mrs A doesn't like the look of that one either and, let's be honest, who gives an X3 a second look on the road?

We had a nice day, it made a change and the three of us had some fun. Both dealers were good to us, albeit very different. Are we any further forward? Yes, but not by much. We know it's not going to be either a Macan or X3. But we have lots and lots of time (we're targeting a March 2017 plate). I won't be holding onto our XC60 as, even though the turtle has gone into hibernation, it's just not the driver's car I thought I was buying (I know, I know....I was a twot buying the VEA D4 from the reviews and technical sheet rather than wait until the new cars made it to the UK for a test drive). The engine is not quite what I had hoped (I hanker after 5cyl D5 performance), I now know that AWD is better (only by a small margin but it's a noticeable margin nonetheless) and the manual gearbox just isn't good enough.

For the price, as someone else has already said on this thread, the XC60 is good value - no denying that, for sure. But I am seeking that bit more and I am prepared to pay a bit more for it. The Jaguar f-pace isn't that car either - the V6 starts at £51k before any options and there's no discounts there either - and no prospect for most of 2016 of that changing I think.

The search continues. Have a good week people and thanks again for the 'community's' help.

Arianne

PS. Health warning... Mrs A spotted a 30d M-Sport BMW X4 in the showroom. She likes the look, what is the X4 all about!

[MikeIOW]

Thanks, nice summary....and perhaps tells us all that there is no perfect motor!

Maybe by then the new XC60 will be upon us......or maybe you are too tainted to ever consider another

Have you tried http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/chooser/ to see what it comes up with? Put 3 of 4 things in, and let us know what it picks for you ;-)

[Arianne]

Originally Posted by MikeIOW

Have you tried http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/chooser/ to see what it comes up with? Put 3 of 4 things in, and let us know what it picks for you ;-)

....... and the answer came back as: Mercedes GLE

No thanks.

.... the search continues. Arianne

[RoyMacDonald]

Why not try the latest version of the XC60 D5 AWD? It won't be the same as the one you drove 2 years ago. I Would have though it worth a test drive if only to rule it out.

[isleaiw]

Really enjoying your right ups, partly because I am in a similar boat (but with less money!) and partly because your writing style is great.

I dont have the "assistance" of a wife with an opinion on things (for the first time for 30 years and I am missing it!) but I am doing a really good job of coming up with her criticisms on her behalf.

I will probably end up with an estate instead (with 4WD) and forego the higher driving position to get a few more options. New A4 (3.0 TDi Quattro) is a contender....

Ian