Quote:
Originally Posted by kozzi
When you were cross shopping for this, did you find that the Macan was too small? What lead you away from the GLC? Any input would be appreciated.
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I'll post what I liked and disliked about the Macan S and GLC43 below. But keep in mind you can't go wrong with any of these cars they are all very good. The order of my test drives was SQ5 --> GLC43 --> Macan S.
The GLC43 has a noticeably stronger motor. It pulled harder and had a more hardcore feel to it. The exhaust note was also more raw and raspy. The exterior was not my taste though. The dotted front grill was an eye sore and kept reminding me it's not a real AMG. The rear exhaust tips look like someone melted them. I loved the meaty tires though gave it a nice aggressive look from behind. The interior was good but the front passenger area felt smaller compared to the SQ5. Seats were cushy but the leather quality wasn't as good as Audi. I despise the Command system so that wasn't helping either. The transmission was quick when driven fast but felt laggy when you drove casually. I didn't like it very much. It had more noise inside the cabin compared to the SQ5. The air ride was nicely sprung but it didn't have the adjustability like the SQ5. The SQ5 is very cushy in comfort mode but gets reasonably firm in Dynamic mode.
The Macan S was a fine driver's car. The motor was slick and loved to rev. In fact I thought it was lacking some grunt down low and you had to constantly rev it out. It definitely felt the most agile. The air ride was comfortable though I'd say about as on par with the SQ5. The interior felt a little dated, though it was composed of good quality material. The buttons up and down the center console made me laugh. It's just ridiculous to have that many buttons. The transmission was great fast when you wanted it and smooth when driven normally. The cargo area was smallest of the three and rear seat area was somewhat cramped. The test car had a $79k price tag and it didn't even include keyless entry! Similarly equipped a Macan S is about $18-20k more expensive (not including the additional maintenance costs). Overall a good car but I simply could not find the value in it.
The SQ5 just did everything so well and for a reasonable price. The interior is modern and solid, the ride quality is superb, the tech is best in class, and it's quick enough for me. Also worth mentioning is the fuel mileage I'm getting. Going 65mph and 75mph I get 31mpg and 27mpg respectively. That's significantly better than the EPA rating of 24mpg highway. Even C&D got an observed 75mph highway mileage of 28mpg. Just another way the SQ5 has impressed me.