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Post by franki68 on Mar 7, 2022 13:23:49 GMT
So the gt3 was in for it's 4 year service and I was given a macan as a courtesy car for the 2 days.Unfortunately when I picked the gt3 up the headlamp washer decided to go crazy and blow bubbles all over the car as I drove away from the dealer.I promptly returned and was given an x3 to use over the weekend whilst they investigated it.
So here are some random thoughts about both cars.
The Macan
So I think it was a 2 litre petrol car,but it had a very high spec.The interior looked absolutely lovely ,very clear/clean design and helped by I think a lot of leather which I do not think is standard.So I have driven many macans but this one was the first of the current gen and it was very impressive especially with regards to the ride quality which whilst ok on previous macans ,never stood up to the ride quality on the cayenne (which has air suspension) ,I soon realized this was because it had air suspension which is the first time I have driven a macan with that option.
Aside from that it drove like every other macan ,that is to say a rather nice thing to drive.
The seats were magnificent ,in fact I suspect they were an expensive option ,I am not sure of the specs on these cars but these felt like the comfort seats I tried many years ago,great support and very comfortable.
There were 2 issues though,the first was the engine ..petrol engine just felt so weedy ,you could go fast but it took a long time to get there and as lovely as the interior is to look at I really cannot bear using it.It is all touch controls and I even struggled reading the text on the large display .On the journey home I found several occasions where I could not recall what I had just driven past because I was spending too much time trying to adjust the heating or something.
So the x3 which was a 2.0 d sport model.Firstly I use to own one and wow have they improved the ride ,it used to be truly abysmal but now I would say it is very good.The engine shows why a 2 litre diesel is better than a 2 litre petrol in such applications .The interior was ok ,not great to look at but much better than the porsche to use whilst driving,but the seats were very firm ,too firm really .What surprised me and please bear in mind both cars were driven from my house to tewksbury so there will no great insight into the handling here,but on the road it felt a dynamic match for the Macan ,it certainly seemed to turn in quicker although the steering was typical current BMW ,the wheel is too large and there is little feel ,the porker annihilates it in this respect.
It was an interesting test of two cars that compete in the same segment ,both driven on the same roads in the same conditions .The macan is the one to have but the x3 is massively improved over the one I had and a viable alternative to the macan.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Mar 9, 2022 21:02:09 GMT
I’d agree on the firm seats, it took me a few weeks to get used to them.
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Post by racingteatray on Mar 11, 2022 12:45:27 GMT
Interesting. Thanks
Given the price of fuel, I've been reconsidering whether an X3 M40i would be a better choice than a Macan. Because it takes the best bit of my car (ie an engine with a remarkable performance/economy ratio) and puts it in a suitably-sized and not ugly SUV.
Problem is that I just don't look at an X3 M40i, nice car though it is, with anything like the same level of desire as a Macan. Fuel economy aside, the Macan feels like as close to having cake and eating it, in terms of my wants and needs, as I have been able to find. With the X3 M40i, I look at them and cannot escape the feeling that I prefer my existing car.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Mar 11, 2022 13:26:34 GMT
Interesting. Thanks Given the price of fuel, I've been reconsidering whether an X3 M40i would be a better choice than a Macan. Because it takes the best bit of my car (ie an engine with a remarkable performance/economy ratio) and puts it in a suitably-sized and not ugly SUV. Problem is that I just don't look at an X3 M40i, nice car though it is, with anything like the same level of desire as a Macan. Fuel economy aside, the Macan feels like as close to having cake and eating it, in terms of my wants and needs, as I have been able to find. With the X3 M40i, I look at them and cannot escape the feeling that I prefer my existing car. I know what you mean; I like my car for all the reasons mentioned above, but my neighbour has an X3 M40i in the same silver and, to me, it just doesn't look differentiated enough from mine to make it seem worth the money. It does sound nice though - albeit I've heard the ride does suffer compared to the bobby basic ones like mine. The Macan does look a level above in terms of desirability. |
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Post by Big Blue on Mar 11, 2022 13:45:14 GMT
Interesting. Thanks Given the price of fuel, I've been reconsidering whether an X3 M40i would be a better choice than a Macan. Because it takes the best bit of my car (ie an engine with a remarkable performance/economy ratio) and puts it in a suitably-sized and not ugly SUV. Problem is that I just don't look at an X3 M40i, nice car though it is, with anything like the same level of desire as a Macan. Fuel economy aside, the Macan feels like as close to having cake and eating it, in terms of my wants and needs, as I have been able to find. With the X3 M40i, I look at them and cannot escape the feeling that I prefer my existing car. How many miles do you do and what stretch of your personal budget is the price of petrol to have the car you actually want to be in when you're relaxing from being engaged at a high maintenance job? |
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Post by garry on Mar 11, 2022 15:36:29 GMT
Interesting. Thanks Given the price of fuel, I've been reconsidering whether an X3 M40i would be a better choice than a Macan. Because it takes the best bit of my car (ie an engine with a remarkable performance/economy ratio) and puts it in a suitably-sized and not ugly SUV. Problem is that I just don't look at an X3 M40i, nice car though it is, with anything like the same level of desire as a Macan. Fuel economy aside, the Macan feels like as close to having cake and eating it, in terms of my wants and needs, as I have been able to find. With the X3 M40i, I look at them and cannot escape the feeling that I prefer my existing car. This is like turning down Megan Fox for her plain sister because the latter shops at Aldi and will keep your weekly grocery bills down. |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Mar 11, 2022 15:57:00 GMT
An'Aldi' Megan Fox is not an unappealing proposition.
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Post by racingteatray on Mar 11, 2022 16:27:44 GMT
Interesting. Thanks Given the price of fuel, I've been reconsidering whether an X3 M40i would be a better choice than a Macan. Because it takes the best bit of my car (ie an engine with a remarkable performance/economy ratio) and puts it in a suitably-sized and not ugly SUV. Problem is that I just don't look at an X3 M40i, nice car though it is, with anything like the same level of desire as a Macan. Fuel economy aside, the Macan feels like as close to having cake and eating it, in terms of my wants and needs, as I have been able to find. With the X3 M40i, I look at them and cannot escape the feeling that I prefer my existing car. How many miles do you do and what stretch of you personal budget is the price of petrol to have the car you actually want to be in when you're not at a high maintenance job? Yes, yes, yes. I'm not actively considering it but I cannot say the thought didn't cross my mind. When I went to fill up my car last weekend, I think it was 151p at our local Esso on the Kings Road. This morning, on my way back from Heathrow, I noticed it had gone up to 165p. It was, what, 115p this time last year? It isn't really about affordability as much as cost. I do about 9,000 miles per year. In a car that averages 32mpg at petrol costs of £5.50/gallon, that costs me about £1,550 per year in fuel. In a car that will probably average 10mpg less at current petrol costs of £7.50/gallon, it more than doubles my annual fuel bill to £3,375. Or another way of looking at it is as an extra £150/month in fuel. That's not a negligible increase, irrespective of how much I earn. |
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Post by Martin on Mar 11, 2022 17:55:03 GMT
The X3 M40i would be a decent replacement for the 4GC in a lot of ways, but the problem is you’ve had your heart set on a Macan for a long time and if you went for an X3 instead, it would always feel like second best.
I don't get the Megan Fox reference though, as desirable as a Macan is, its not that attractive!
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Post by garry on Mar 11, 2022 19:43:34 GMT
How many miles do you do and what stretch of you personal budget is the price of petrol to have the car you actually want to be in when you're not at a high maintenance job? Yes, yes, yes. I'm not actively considering it but I cannot say the thought didn't cross my mind. When I went to fill up my car last weekend, I think it was 151p at our local Esso on the Kings Road. This morning, on my way back from Heathrow, I noticed it had gone up to 165p. It was, what, 115p this time last year? It isn't really about affordability as much as cost. I do about 9,000 miles per year. In a car that averages 32mpg at petrol costs of £5.50/gallon, that costs me about £1,550 per year in fuel. In a car that will probably average 10mpg less at current petrol costs of £7.50/gallon, it more than doubles my annual fuel bill to £3,375. Or another way of looking at it is as an extra £150/month in fuel. That's not a negligible increase, irrespective of how much I earn. You need Martin to get his man maths calculator out to show that the lower depreciation on the Macan more than compensates for the additional fuel costs. His calculator might even make a conti gt look financially sensible! |
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Post by Martin on Mar 11, 2022 20:31:34 GMT
All pretty straightforward Garry. But Racing has already applied man-maths to the depreciation iirc, ignoring Porsche GFV and using current inflated used prices and ignoring the the extra value due to a 5 year old car looking broadly like a new one. All that’s easy, it’s getting anything pst Mrs Racing that sounds the really tricky thing and he’s on his own there’  |
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Post by franki68 on Mar 14, 2022 12:49:41 GMT
I think you would need to balance the extra cost of fuel in the macan with the fact that it holds onto its value better.
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Post by racingteatray on Mar 14, 2022 18:23:40 GMT
I think you would need to balance the extra cost of fuel in the macan with the fact that it holds onto its value better. Yes, absolutely. Although I'd only ever buy a used X3 M40i for say £40k as an alternative to going out and spaffing £75k on a Macan GTS. |
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Post by racingteatray on Mar 14, 2022 18:26:27 GMT
All pretty straightforward Garry. But Racing has already applied man-maths to the depreciation iirc, ignoring Porsche GFV and using current inflated used prices and i gnoring the the extra value due to a 5 year old car looking broadly like a new one. You've lost me here. What are you talking about? |
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Post by Martin on Mar 14, 2022 19:19:24 GMT
All pretty straightforward Garry. But Racing has already applied man-maths to the depreciation iirc, ignoring Porsche GFV and using current inflated used prices and i gnoring the the extra value due to a 5 year old car looking broadly like a new one. You've lost me here. What are you talking about? That there is extra 'value' in something that is either the same as the current model or looks very similar. Put a non dating plate on a 2014 Macan and it won't look 8 years old to most people, which increases the value. I know the replacement will be an EV, which may keep the values up (unless petrol vehicles get taxed too high), but if it was a normal replacement cycle then a 2022 Macan could look very dated in a year or two when the replacement is launched and wouldn't retain the same % value as a result. |
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Post by johnc on Mar 15, 2022 8:06:36 GMT
I think you would need to balance the extra cost of fuel in the macan with the fact that it holds onto its value better. Yes, absolutely. Although I'd only ever buy a used X3 M40i for say £40k as an alternative to going out and spaffing £75k on a Macan GTS. A £40K X3 M40i is always going to cost significantly less than a £75K Macan GTS over the time you have it. There would be less interest to pay and even when the GTS has fallen in value to say £35K, the X3 will still be worth at least £20K. However as we all know, there is much more than money involved when it comes to buying a car - sometimes the head decisions win and sometimes the emotive reasons dominate and maybe if you are very lucky you find something that matches both requirements. Only you (and your wife) can make that call. |
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Post by racingteatray on Mar 15, 2022 9:17:07 GMT
You've lost me here. What are you talking about? That there is extra 'value' in something that is either the same as the current model or looks very similar. Put a non dating plate on a 2014 Macan and it won't look 8 years old to most people, which increases the value. I know the replacement will be an EV, which may keep the values up (unless petrol vehicles get taxed too high), but if it was a normal replacement cycle then a 2022 Macan could look very dated in a year or two when the replacement is launched and wouldn't retain the same % value as a result. Got you. |
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