Is A Macan GTS A Better Alternative Than A 911?
Eleven After Nine | A Porsche Culture Podcast · Sep 9, 2025
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Welcome to Renthousiast Radio, the podcast where Will and Derek navigate the winding
roads of Porsche Obsession, exploring the good and the bad of Porsche ownership.
Grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair and join us, Renthousiast Radio, because life's
too short not to talk about Porsches.
Welcome to Renthousiast Radio.
I'm Will.
And I'm Derek.
And in this episode, we're going to be talking about a little bit of a left turn, as it
were, that I have taken recently in terms of my consumption of Porsche products.
I have traditionally owned Porsche sports cars.
And if you've been following my channel, I'm somebody that just really, I can't get enough.
And so I buy a model, I experience it, I shoot content on it, you know, and I share
it with viewers.
And then frankly, I will sell that particular model, maybe at a loss and move on to the
next one.
This particular model, I'm actually very, very excited about it is a 2021 Porsche
Macan GTS.
And this particular car has been a long time coming, we're going to kick that around.
Today, I'll tell you the story of the car and spoiler alert, I think it's fantastic.
So I'm going to talk with Derek about why I think it is.
But at first, I'm going to go ahead and just throw it over to Derek.
Derek's going to chat with you a little bit about our podcast and our videos.
And he's also going to talk to you a little bit about the tech specs, because that's
what my man Derek does on this content, is he's the guy that brings in the facts
and figures.
I'm the guy that's full of shit.
So Derek, what do you got to say, man?
It's a perfect marriage.
Yes, I'm putting my pocket protector in will and we'll get into the background on the
Macan.
I'm actually excited about this episode.
We've talked a lot in the past about the Cayenne and how I'm a huge fan of the Cayenne.
I have a Cayenne S from O-13.
It's the other side of Porsche.
It's not just about 911s.
It's funny that the progression of this podcast, your channel, you know, very
air-cooled, heavy, then moving into water-cooled on the sports car side.
And now we're kind of exploring the other side, dark side of the moon, when it comes
to, you know, what's a family Porsche look like?
So I'm actually excited about this.
I think it'll be fun to talk about this in comparison to a 911 because you have
what's essentially a Porsche hot hatch.
And I have a bunch of questions for you because I have not driven a
Macan GTS.
I've driven the base.
I think I've driven a turbo in the past.
So anyways, long story short is there's already some content on Renthusias'
YouTube channel on this Macan.
So following this podcast, if you guys are listening in your cars or watching
this on YouTube, once you're done watching this, flick over and check out
Will talks about his initial purchase of the car, but then also talks about
what it's like, his initial drive, that first 50 miles of what it's
like in the car.
And those are often maybe the most truthful, most telling because you
don't, you know, it's more visceral.
It's right from the heart.
So check that out.
Also, if you get a chance, good stuff over on 11 After 9, my YouTube
channel all spelled out.
In addition to my previous video, I have a cool video, Will, coming out
in about a week on one of the rarest 911s I've ever driven, maybe ever
made.
It is a 05-911 Turbo S.
And so yeah, man, they made 500 for the world.
And this is a stick.
And so this was a car that's here in New England.
I was able to drive and give you some of my impressions on that.
Very, very cool car.
Man, OK, so yeah, just to plug your channel, man, you've
enjoyed some pretty monumental growth quickly.
And I think it speaks to the quality of the channel.
So for those of you out there listening or watching,
you ought to go check it out because when a channel grows quickly,
I think it indicates it has good Porsche content.
So yes, sir.
Yeah, thanks, dude.
Yeah, it's a little bit of that salt and pepper, sugar and spice.
What you get here on the podcast is what you see on our YouTube channels.
And they're very complimentary.
So in addition, if you guys are in your cars,
please continue to share this podcast with your driving groups.
I know that a lot of people when they're heading to work
like to listen to this on Tuesday mornings when it drops
and make that part of your daily regimen as well.
That'd be great.
So Will, let's hop into the McCann talk.
This is the baby Cayenne.
This was the conception of,
everyone said when the Cayenne came out
that this was going to ruin the company.
It ended up saving the company from a financial standpoint.
In the mid-2000s, 2008, 2009, Porsche began developing this
because they looked around and they saw
that the mid SUV world was really exploding.
I mean, you think about it.
You have the BMW X3, the Audi Q5, the Mercedes GLK.
So these were cars that came on the scene
as the baby brother to the larger SUV.
They were fast, they were fun,
maybe a little bit more sport-oriented,
a little bit less family-friendly,
but that mix between the sports car and the SUV.
And so Porsche wanted to make one of their own.
So they began work on their McCann.
So Will, the Cayenne, I shared with you
that they called it Project Colorado
when it was being developed.
Any idea, fun trivia fact, because I'm a nerd,
any idea what the internal project code was
for the McCann as it was being developed?
The 95B.
Well, you know what?
As far as the internal number designation,
it is most likely something like that,
and I actually don't even know what it is.
I think it is.
I think it actually is, and there you go.
That's why I grabbed at it.
But if somebody out there is listening,
I am sure beyond the shadow of a doubt
they will correct me.
It's the 95B A-626.
Well, no, no, just the 95B.
It was called the Project Cajun.
That's what it was, as they were developing it,
it was called the Cajun,
and that was short for Cayenne Junior,
which I thought was kind of funny.
They called it the Cajun for Cayenne Junior
as they were developing it
before they did the internal designation.
So I'm always, I'm a business guy,
and I'm thinking about all the boardroom meetings
I've been in and the marketing brainstorming sessions
and the strategy sessions.
And so all that crap you do for two days straight
in the boardroom and you got poster paper
stuck to the wall and all this,
like there's a bunch of Porsche people sitting around
and they're like, okay, we're gonna build this thing.
And so what are we gonna call it?
Oh, I know, Cajun.
Right, how does that happen?
I guess why I would like to be a fly on the wall
and just understand like, yeah, yeah, that's a great idea.
Like capture that, right there on the whiteboard
kind of thing.
Okay, what's the next one?
And then they all vote on it.
Like, how does that play?
Exactly, you can only imagine
what other words were up on the whiteboard,
you know, just silly, silly crap.
And then the young kid, whoever the hell's
on the marketing team, like he got the,
they said, we're gonna use yours.
And it was like an apex moment in his career, you know?
That's right.
Yeah, Tommy, we're going with Cajun.
But unfortunately, when the time came
to actually really name the car,
sorry, Tommy, that didn't make the muster.
And so they named it Makhan,
which is Indonesian for tiger.
Okay.
I was thinking it was nuts.
It was a nut.
You thought it was Indonesian for nuts.
It's pecan, but it's a Makhan.
I don't know.
Close, man, close.
I think they went for something with a little more teeth.
So they did, they named it Makhan
and it quickly became the best selling model for Porsche.
And also even the Cayenne.
And so Porsche was right.
It was built on the MLB platform,
which is shared with the Q5 on the Audi side.
Very fast car.
I think that they did a refresh in 22.
So I think is yours the last year
before they did the refresh?
Buddy, you know, I think I recently,
I am very guilty of, I'm gonna digress
and then we'll get back in your tech specs,
but it's really interesting.
I used to obsessively look for any resource
on a particular model as I was hunting for it.
I mean, I could like spout off every obscure detail,
every potential problem, everything I would obsess.
I mean, on this Makhan, I didn't do any research.
And so, you know, I can't really tell you
a lot of the things that you're already gonna know
and you don't even own one.
And I do, I was just like, hey, this looks cool.
I wanna experience it and I purchased it, so.
The only reason I ask is,
I think that there was a refresh change.
I thought you had a 22, you have a 21.
I have a 21.
And sorry, I kind of lost my train of thought.
Man, my daughter was just texting me in my bed.
So the thing about the 21 that I tripped over
after I purchased it is it's the last year of all the buttons,
like the button controls internally,
which I just gotta say, I love that, love it.
I did have a head of loaner based Makhan.
We can tell the story if we want for a period of time
while I was kind of getting my hands on this chalk example.
And it was all that piano black button kind of stuff
where there aren't physical buttons there.
It's like you touch the piano black and it has,
is it haptics, whatever the heck it is.
But anyway, it's a fingerprint magnet is where it is.
And so.
Fingerprints, central.
Yes.
My 21 is apparently the last year with the buttons
and maybe the last year of a couple things.
So I kind of tripped into that one
that if you are a Makhan person, it's the one you want.
Which is like I said earlier on,
I mean, maybe if I'd done my research,
I would have been chasing a 21.
But I feel like in this case with this particular example,
I kind of fell into the perfect one
that people really want
if you know what you're looking for.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I want to say then if you have a 21 GTS,
has somewhere in the high 300 horsepower,
maybe like 375, 380, I don't know if that sounds right,
but lots of get up and go.
The following year when they did the refresh,
I think into 22, it actually got to 21's turbo motor.
So it jumped to I think 430, 434, something like that.
But your car very well balanced.
Motor Trend called it the world's greatest VW GTI,
meaning that it's just a really fast, fun, hot hatch.
So I kind of want to get into it real quick.
You said that you didn't do any research into it,
but you wanted it.
We were looking at Cayans for you for a while,
and you decided to opt not to go the Cayan route
and you went small.
I'm gonna hurt your feelings.
I'm gonna hurt your feelings.
Go for it, man.
I'm used to it.
We've done an episode on this,
the internet forms of death.
So in the case of the Cayan,
because there are just so many different generations
and trim levels and whatever,
I don't know, I still haven't locked in
on the different generations and which one you want
and blah, blah, blah in the different motors,
but I joined a couple of Facebook groups.
And of course, Facebook, the algorithm,
as you show interest in certain groups,
it'll start to feed you more of this content
in your news feed.
So for a period of time,
I thought I was a rabid Cayan fan.
And so it was feeding me tons of posts
like in my main news feed.
And dude, three out of four posts
where people that had owned like a little bit older Cayans
and some shit show mechanical problem had occurred for them.
And because the cars were like 15, 20, maybe $25,000,
you look at a $5,000 repair that this guy was facing,
I was like, I was high on the idea early on,
but the more of those I saw,
the more I'm like, I don't want any piece of that.
And so then my mind goes to, okay, well,
I'm gonna get a newer one or a brand new one.
And then you started to get into a buck and a half
and they're hard to come by
and I didn't want a base and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And so that's where this thing started.
And I also want to just talk a little bit about
daily driver versus my, I don't know what the right term
is, but like how I view my other really cool cars
that are fun and fast and special and unique
like the 911s that I have or the Boxster.
So when I think about a daily driver,
I think about something that, I want it to be cool,
I want it to be fun, it needs to be usable,
but I don't do a ton of research.
I don't care particularly about what the ins and outs of them
are.
And so that's how I view this Macan as well.
Derek.
Like you're disposable maybe, like less of a collector thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so people often ask me, hey,
and I've always been reticent to get into this
because it's just feels very personal
and maybe tacky and weird.
People ask me, hey, how do you afford this hobby?
Like what do you do for a living?
And my daily driver is a company car.
And for whatever reason,
I just kind of view that differently
than I view the other cars that I have to,
you know, that are the main cornerstone of my channel.
And so this Macan is a corporate car.
It's a company car that I've purchased with my company.
And so for whatever reason,
I view that a little bit differently too.
And maybe I'm quirky,
but it's disposable.
I hate to use that word, but how about this?
I'll park this car outside and it won't bother me
if that makes any sense.
Yeah, you're not washing it every afternoon.
No.
In fact, it's already like massively dirty
and tons of brake dust on and all this and whatever.
I get that certainly because you can't love it
the same way you love your other cars
because if you're gonna be putting miles on it every day
and you know, throwing the dog in the back
and driving through muddy puddles,
it would kill you to do that.
And then you'd have to buy a second daily driver
to save your first daily driver.
So I get that.
Talk about your first Macan
because this is a funny story about the car you almost bought.
Actually, you did buy it, but then you unbought.
All right, so why the Macan and not the Cayenne?
We just, we kind of touched on that.
I mean, it was price point.
It was everything that I told you about.
And I wanted a little bit more space,
but as I began to think about like my lifestyle
and where I'm at, you know, my kids are older now.
I don't need, you know, a lot of space.
And so that helped me land on the Macan too
because it is smaller.
You can't put a ton of stuff in it,
but again, like where I'm at in my life, like that's okay.
So I started to look around
and I had actually kind of hunted for a Macan,
I don't know, a year ago, I don't know how long it's been.
And I just kind of came up empty
because I couldn't find the one that I wanted
and I lost interest because I'm impatient as hell.
And if I can't find what I want, I just move on.
That's what it is.
So I found a high mileage example.
It was a blue example.
It had the Bordeaux interior.
Car had like 86,000 miles on it.
But the interesting thing about this particular example
was that it was a CPO example.
And so what I've learned about owning a modern Porsche
is you definitely want to own it in warranty.
I have learned that through ownership of different cars.
There's a Spyder I had, a GT4 I had,
my 991.2 is still under warranty with 40,000 miles on it.
There's just something after running the gamut
of the air-cooled trials and tribulations
and surprises that is just so freeing
when you get into a CPO car
and you don't have to worry about it.
So I knew I wanted CPO and I could not believe
that they would have certified a car
that had 80,000 miles plus on it.
But indeed they did.
Yeah, I've never heard of that by the way.
Really, that's a lot of miles.
I thought it was a huge win.
And I will say this, this is something I do
on a research is like the depreciation curve
on these McCons is massively steep.
I mean, as soon as you, you're taking a hit
to drive one of these cars.
And so I thought that maybe, hey,
somebody else has suffered the pain
and I think this car was 35 grand.
So CPO 35, pretty example,
and Porsche won't certify something
unless it meets certain criteria.
So not only do you have the peace of mind
when something breaks,
but you're also like operating under the assumption
that everything should work as it's designed.
And you should have some level of robustness
in the example that you buy.
So anyway.
I feel a butt coming up.
And yeah, so bought the car.
I negotiated a deal with the seller
where it, the car had had a lot of,
it had had been resprayed on the front of it,
stone chips, which is fine.
But when you zoomed in on the pictures,
you saw that it was a shitty paint job
where you can see the sand marks through the paint
and it just wasn't ideal
when you looked at the front end of the car.
So I negotiated a deal where they said,
hey, we'll respray the hood for you.
Well, they, okay, I do the paperwork
and like after two weeks,
I still didn't have my hands on the car.
Oh, it's in a body shop and they got behind.
And I had a road trip coming up
and I said, look guys, here's the deal.
Like I'm not trying to be difficult,
but I need a car to drive.
I can't just drive my freaking 991 around all the time.
I mean, you know, whether or not you can daily drive
that car is a separate episode in and of itself, Derek,
I think, but you know, to drive a manual 9-11
around all the time is just not what I wanted to do.
And furthermore, I had money out on the thing.
Like send me my car.
Yep.
So to their credit, they did send me a loner, Macan.
It was a 2024 Genshin blue car.
It was base, very lovely utility car where I think that,
and I said this on one of my videos.
It's like, if you're not a car enthusiast,
it would definitely be adequate, great, tight, whatever.
I drove that car.
I think they hated me when it was all said and done
is I put 1800 miles on that as a loner.
And it was an example that was for sale.
This wasn't in their loner fleet.
It was like, it was in their inventory.
So we talked about depreciation.
I mean, that couldn't have helped them maximize
their price on it.
There's no better car than someone else's car though.
You weren't, you weren't guilty.
So I drove that to the beach and back
and took my girls with me and it was, anyway.
So they finally delivered the car that I purchased
and I drive the car to target, all right, something
or to get a fricking smoothie bowl with my girlfriend.
And like I look out and I'm driving
and I look at the left side
and I'm looking at the driver's side mirror
and it's shaking as I gather speed.
And I'm like, oh, well, you know, I'm sure,
follow me if you have ever seen
where the glass in the mirror, the side view mirror
has come loose, you can see it kind of shakes.
And I'm like, oh, okay, well, whatever.
Like I'm part of me is like,
I'll just stuff something in there
and like so it'll hold, hold still.
You know what I mean?
Like have you ever done that?
You know, but then, so I get to my destination
and I start looking at it
and the mirror has a gap of about,
it's got a quarter inch gap under it
between like the mirror stock and the body.
Or attaches to the body.
Yeah, so this wasn't the glass in the housing, brother.
This was the freaking hole.
So then I step back from the car and I look at it
and I'm like, you gotta be shitting me.
This whole door has been painted.
And as I look at it, like you,
the paint is so bad on it,
it looks like you could like touch it
and leave a thumbprint in it, you know?
Well, there's no worse feeling.
This is, you just got your car.
No, they didn't repaint the car
as in when they redid the hood for you.
This had been painted at some time in the past
that wasn't disclosed.
I have a theory, okay?
I have a theory.
And I'll tell you the theory in a moment.
And I hope that the listeners
are like at least finding some interest here.
We're not necessarily talking about the McCombs platform,
but it is an interesting story
and it may be a cautionary tale
for anyone who's looking at CPO
thinking it's a total slam dunk.
Yeah, you know what it is, Will?
It's Schadenfreude.
Everyone loves to laugh at someone else's Porsche Payne.
You know what I mean?
I'm in, let's go.
I mean, if you really want to get into some shadyness,
again, this is a factory dealer,
but I bought it from a dealership
and it was three hours away from me, okay?
And it's in a city that I like to go visit anyway.
And so right before I'd done paperwork,
but after I'd committed and put a deposit down,
I happened to be going to the city
where the car was located.
And the car was still on the lot.
It had not yet shipped it out to the body shop
to handle the painting, the paintwork
that I said that I negotiated in.
So I was to be there on a Saturday
and I let the rep know,
hey, I'm gonna be there on Saturday.
I'd like to put eyes on the car, okay?
So by the way,
this was sight unseen.
Again, operating on pure faith on the CPO deal.
So I show up that Saturday,
oh, hey, listen, I'm really sorry,
the car got picked up early to go to the body shop.
It got swept away.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, you know.
This winter, know what your vehicle needs
before it needs it.
Visit your GMC certified service center
and ask for a multi-point vehicle inspection
and take advantage of stackable rebates.
See dealer for complete details.
Multi-point vehicle inspections,
very by participating dealer.
They knew I was coming.
Oh, oh.
I mean, I'm not gonna sit here
and accuse anybody of negative intent.
It was just, it was odd.
It could have been totally innocent,
but it was still like,
I would have liked to have seen this car.
Right.
Okay.
All right.
So you're standing next to the car.
So anyway, let me fast forward back to the moment
where I realized the mirror was shaking.
So I look at it and I'm like, damn it.
There's a gap here and the paint's not great.
And I'm like, okay.
And I'm like, well,
and this goes back to daily driver.
Do I really care?
Or am I willing just to accept it and whatever
and just roll on?
And the more I thought about it,
the more I was like, yeah,
it's one of those you can't unsee.
Like, yeah, this is not
in my core collectible group of cars,
but it's also like I want to,
I don't want to look at the door
every time you're pissed off,
but this gets better.
So I climb back in the car
and when I'm getting into the car,
for some reason I put some upward pressure
on the steering wheel,
electric steering like column, right?
So like up, down, in, out with a switch.
Dude, the steering wheel is moving up and down like an inch.
So it should be locked in place,
but you know, like I can move the steering wheel,
it's wiggling by as much of an inch,
up and down, up and down, up and down.
So it won't hold still.
So then I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.
I can imagine what was coming out of your mouth at the moment.
Who was the tech that went through like the checklist
of trying to make sure everything operates as it should?
So anyway, then I'm like, man, it's hot.
And I turn on my ventilated seat
and I can hear the fan,
the fan in the seat is rubbing against something.
So it's making noise.
Oh my God.
So man, at that point, I'm like, okay,
I'm taking this thing home
and I drove the thing home
and I actually, thankfully,
have you ever had a problem with a car that you,
it happens and then you try to catch it on video
and you can't.
Every time.
Yeah, in this case, both,
I mean, the steering wheel was self-explanatory.
You could get that on video.
And then the fan noise showed up loud and clear on video.
So I sent it to the rep, I'm like, what the hell?
I'm like, this is probably true
for people who are sticklers.
But I was like, this steering wheel is a safety issue.
I want you to come get this car right now.
And I want something to drive.
So they, and this was the same day
they delivered the car, by the way.
This did not go on for days.
Like this was the same day.
To their credit, that night, this was three hours away.
They sent the base McCann back to me.
Okay.
The same morning they had picked it up
and dropped off my new car.
They sent a guy back down with that base McCann
and they took the blue car away.
So I won't continue to belabor the story,
but the bottom line is we went through
a dealer buyback situation.
And to their credit, man, they took care of it
and it was gone and they reversed the deal.
And was it a pain in my ass?
Yes, but at least I'm not sitting here
with a wrecked ass McCann sitting in my driveway.
Okay.
Maybe it had an accident though.
I mean, the car fax was clean.
I kind of wonder, I kind of wonder
because the thing lingered in the body shop so long.
I wonder if something didn't happen at the body shop.
Oh, got it.
Yeah, because why do you paint a door?
You know, unless you side swipe something
or there's a major scratch,
I can understand the front clip,
maybe the front quarter panels.
But when it starts rolling back into the doors,
they also painted the A-pillar most likely
to blend it in, you know, a suspect.
Well, I can't remember.
I talked to somebody who knows,
but like the CPO program too,
like they can't accept certain amount of damage.
And also like it was so readily apparent
when the mirror was shaking,
like I gotta believe when the CPO car, they test drive it.
So initially when it went through the shop
before it went out to the body shop,
you know, I think they probably would have seen that.
Well, I know exactly what happened.
So this car was CPOed during the Christmas company party.
Everyone was drinking.
The guy who was doing your CPO work, you know,
had a couple and then the guy test driving it
had a couple more.
And so this is how it got CPOed
because obviously it was a steaming pile
when you got it.
Yeah, it was fast though and it was awesome.
It was red.
So let's get out of the hole like,
hey, you know, here's my shitty story.
And let me talk to you about the car itself.
Like I'm gonna talk to you about the example
I ultimately landed on and I will say this.
Thankfully, because all this went down
and it was painful as hell,
I ended up buying a car that I just love.
So once the dealer buyback happened,
I went on the Porsche Finder
and anybody out there who's looking
for like a really, really interesting choice spec
of any of these like modern Porsches,
like you're just gonna have to watch the Porsche Finder
which is the national database of, you know,
cars that are available at Porsche dealers.
You gotta watch it like-
Well, this even exists.
Like you can, it's almost like the PCA marketplace
but for actual Porsche dealers
that they'll put their inventory up
and you can search nationwide for like really cool cars
at the dealership and find out if they're CPO or not.
Yeah, and I'm sorry that we're even telling people that
because, you know, and I've struggled with this
over the years, every time I talk about like
where you can buy cool cars in a public venue,
like this is like, I'm just creating more humans
that are now competing with me for cool cars.
You wanna buy them all?
Yeah, I wanna steer you wrong.
I'm gonna tell you like some fake website
where you need to spend all your time looking for Porsches
just to divert your attention away
and I can steal the good stuff.
But yeah, no, so I saw, I found,
I came across the listing and it was like,
it was coming soon.
It was the stock rendering.
It was one of those where like
you couldn't really tell what the car was
and you had to click and go a little bit deeper
but it was chalk with a Bordeaux interior
and 28,000 miles and GTS and CPO.
So I jumped on it and made contact
and I actually had the reps send me pictures
and the car was still filthy
because it had literally just been traded
in that day on a Mercedes.
And that's my favorite way to get them early.
Be the first to the dance.
And so I will say that the purchase process
took about three weeks.
I bought it out of Dallas, Texas,
pretty corporate entity, like in other words,
I don't know, there was Penske,
but large organization with a lot of hoops,
you got to jump through,
especially when you're making a corporate purchase.
So anyway, fast forward, car shows up,
meet the driver at Target, okay,
in the big parking lot and I show up
and I'm tickled to death.
Car presents better than I thought it would.
I had had them fix some cosmetic issues.
I think whoever had bought that car brand new
had been maybe not a Porsche enthusiast,
so there were just some kind of like dings and dents
and just some things on it that told me
that it was used fairly, maybe not carefully.
So anyway, the car showed up man
and so I've had a chance to drive it
for maybe 300 miles now and God dang,
we're 27 minutes into this thing
and maybe here's the punchline on it, fabulous car.
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
What would you call it?
Not an SUV, is it considered an SUV?
Yeah, it's funny, BMW coined a term,
what is it, XUV?
Like everyone, or SAV, that's right,
sports activity vehicle.
Yeah, it's not, and this is,
what I'd love to do is I just want to transition
this discussion real quick into who is this good for?
Because as far as our audience goes,
this is either an amazing first Porsche
if they want to get into the brand
or it might be a second Porsche
when they have their weekend car
and they want a daily driver.
Kind of like my whole thing that I talked about
when it comes to the Cayenne,
how cool is it to have a weekend car
or a special occasion car that's a Porsche
but also have a daily driver that's a Porsche
and it's a nice experience, maybe not as special
but it's definitely more special than driving
maybe a more common domestic brand or foreign brand.
So let me ask you this,
you have any number of 911s sitting in your garage
and they all give you a certain type of experience
when you drive them,
would you put your Macan GTS at that level
of a special drive when it comes to some of the,
the more modern water cooled 911s?
So I think like the question is,
hey, you know, is it a bit of a sense of occasion
when you climb in and you know,
you're gonna go drive it around.
Are you excited to get into it
or is your mind elsewhere
because it's like who gives a shit?
This is a, it's a pure like a tool
like I had a Tacoma pickup truck.
I mean, I never got excited getting in the car.
It was just, okay, I'm gonna start it and drive it.
Yeah, take the company car aspect out of it.
Like just look at it as if this was your car.
I, the answer is yes.
And I do want to say this too.
Like, you know, new car fever.
We're always excited about our new toy.
And, you know, I think you got to come see me
in six months and maybe you get a different answer.
But as it stands right now, I like starting the car.
I like flipping it into sport mode.
I like hearing the exhaust start to burble.
I like when I drive out of the driveway with it, you know,
and it's kind of, it's cold, but it starts to warm up.
The PDK, the quick shifts.
And so to answer your question, yes,
it is an exciting, fun tool that you jump into
and you know, you reach for to go to the gym
to run the errands, to take a quick road trip, you know,
whatever.
So yeah, man, that's a lot of words to say.
The answer is yes.
I mean, it's an exciting daily driver.
How does the engine feel compared to the base?
I remember I had a, I've had a couple of Macan owners
in the past, actually I have two questions on this,
but how did the motor feel?
Because I know the base Macan, it's pretty subdued,
you know, and it has punch,
but it's not an exciting motor.
I haven't driven a GTS before.
Does it give you feedback?
Do you feel vibration?
Does it give you good sound?
Yeah, the sport exhaust is fun.
You know that it's a turbo motor,
but I mean, it's got enough punch
where you start getting in the gas.
Like, so obviously, I say obviously,
for those of you who don't know,
you know, as you go from like normal mode
into sport into sport plus, it adjusts the throttle map,
but it also adjusts the PDK shift points.
And so when you get into sport or sport plus,
which I don't really get into sport plus
because it's just unwieldy around town,
but I'm always in sport, the revs are a little bit higher
and all, like I share that to say,
the power becomes more accessible more quickly.
So dude, you get into that gas and this thing will,
you know, it'll stick you to the seat
and you can roll and you can control,
like you can pull away, you can pass with ease.
And so, you know, you can,
for me, the punch, the way that it makes power
is entertaining and it's definitely more than adequate.
The base.
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I mean, I don't know, it's been a little while
since I drove it.
I mean, just, it was fast enough.
I mean, I took some road trips in it
and, you know, I like to rip on the highway
and get around people who are annoying, et cetera.
But, you know, it wasn't like, holy shit,
I just left them in the dust.
I was like, okay, I feel comfortable
that I have enough power,
but like, this is nothing to ride home about.
Yeah, I mean, it's a 4,000 plus car, right?
With a, that base had a four cylinder motor.
And so, there's only so much you can do with that, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, man, I don't,
I never fool around with the paddle shifters,
at least so far, just as an item of interest,
but sport mode all the time.
And the answer is, yeah, I mean,
the motor is fun and how it works.
You get some people who complain, man,
about how the turbo, you know,
my 991.2 is the same way, right?
So it's the first three liter turbo model.
Yep.
Oh, well, you know, the power's not there
and I don't like how it makes it.
I love it.
I think you and I have talked about this a lot.
You've just got to accept it for what it is.
And once you learn how to work it correctly,
it's super fun and engaging, you know?
Yeah, you just have to drive it differently.
You're not going to be revving it out
because it doesn't rev as high.
All the torque's down low.
Yes.
Yep.
And I like that swell.
You know, the swell is there.
I like that slight turbo lag
that starts to come on and it feels like a rubber band
because you're getting, you know, as it spools up,
it's pushing, it's pulling harder, you know?
That's exactly how I felt,
just referencing that turbo SI drove
because unlike those early 911s
where the turbo was much more violent
and it was much more of a light switch,
the modern turbos, it's such a cool feeling
where you feel it build
and as the PSI increases on that turbo
and you just feel the car like,
it's like exactly like a rubber band.
It just zings you
and the faster you go,
the faster it wants to go until you hit red line.
That's what I love again about my 2017.
I mean, I just, I have had,
this is a semi-related piece of information.
I've let a couple of friends drive that 991.2
and they just don't,
it's one of those, they get out
and they politely don't say much about the car
and you can just tell that they're not excited by it.
I think those turbo engines, those three liters,
like it is so fun.
And I can't figure out for life
me why people don't find it to be exciting.
I mean, it's, I think it's one of those,
like give it another five to eight years
and then everybody'll be chasing it.
Just kind of like right now,
everybody's chasing the 997.2.
Yeah, well, spoiler alert,
our next podcast is actually going to be comparing
in earlier 911, a 997 versus the 991
because I think there is a conversation there.
Is it better to stay NA or just better to go turbo?
And I have my thoughts.
Last question for you.
If you were going to pick a car
for someone that has a small family,
see, one of the issues that I had with the Macan,
I had a long-term loaner there for a while.
It was an early one.
I found that getting in and out of it,
the doors in the seats,
it's the same problem that the Taycan has a little bit
is that the door, front door openings
are a little bit small.
Do you think that this is for a family, this car,
or is it really just for you and a significant other
in one suitcase?
I think it's for you and a significant other
and maybe five suitcases or in a dog.
I will say that, and this is the case with the 21,
but also the base.
I took my daughters down to the beach,
two and a half, three hour drive in that base.
As I alluded to earlier,
I needed a daily to take down there
and that's why they gave me the base.
Loaner, the seat back in the rear seat,
I'm all overstated, is almost vertically straight up
and it doesn't recline at all.
So I heard a lot of complaining from the back seat of
I'm uncomfortable, I can't get comfortable.
And so finally, Olivia, my older daughter
had to like lay down on the seat bottom
just to kind of relax and let her back, you know.
I remember there not being a lot of space either
for the legs, not 9-11, no space,
but not as much as you'd want,
putting someone back there who wasn't a child.
Yeah, I think that to answer your question,
I don't know that you're gonna, you know,
a whole family, I mean, I think that's a reach.
Just for the three of us, so the three human bodies
and you know, a couple of cases of water
and then three suitcases and some other odds and ends
like that thing was full.
And you're talking to someone who at one time
in my 993 had two car seats in the back
and so I 100% would try to make something like
that work just to drive a fun car.
But I think nowadays we just have options.
I mean, if you do have a family, just go Cayenne.
The Cayenne GTS, Cayenne Turbo is so capable,
especially if you get it under CPO to your astute point.
You do have options nowadays.
And then, you know, when the kids are in college,
you graduate too, maybe the Macan.
Yeah, I mean, that's, you know,
my kids aren't in college, but they're old enough where.
Yeah, anyway, so that would be my answer is,
I think it's a great car for when you're getting closer
to being an empty nester.
No doubt, we're gonna see a lot more content
on your channel on this car.
I think that this is gonna resonate with people out there
because this is a daily driver Porsche
that makes sense for a lot of people.
As a commuter car, as something for a city car,
because it's not as big, you can park it.
It's got PEP, so you can work,
you don't worry about it in traffic.
And so I'm excited to see what else you're gonna produce
on Renthousias, the YouTube channel.
And also we'll probably touch base on this in the future
as I move forward with some of my daily drivers
as I transition out of some things.
The Macan is always on my list of potential cars
because you get to drive the brand and it's a fun car.
So I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, Will.
Yeah, there seems to be an appetite out there.
I just glanced at my studio, my YouTube channel analytics
and I've had about 20,000 views across the two videos
I've done, which is decent number of views.
So that tells me that people are looking at Macans,
whether it's just for idle boredom in the evenings
when they're looking for Porsche content
or they're looking within the intent to purchase.
Yeah, well, I'll keep you apprised of this thing.
I mean, I have been taking some grief from viewers,
like, oh, can't wait for your next video.
Here's why I'm selling my Macan.
Because that's been a little bit of my playbook.
But yeah, man, cool platform.
I would strongly recommend it.
Definitely go test drive one,
but in the GTS is the trend to have.
Down in the comments, definitely let us know
what you all think about the Macan.
I'd be very curious to see if it's an overwhelming yay
or if it's more lukewarm with people that are owning it.
I have a feeling it's probably more the former
less the latter.
But Will, we will talk to you next week, man.
I'll catch you later.
All right, my friend.
And that's a wrap for this episode of Renthousias Radio.
We hope you enjoyed diving deep
into the world of Porsches with us today.
And if you enjoyed today's show,
be sure to check out previous episodes
and subscribe to Renthousias Radio
wherever you get your podcasts.
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About this episode
Exploring the 2021 Porsche Macan GTS, Will shares his excitement about this SUV as a daily driver alternative to the iconic 911. He discusses his journey from traditional Porsche sports cars to this family-friendly model, highlighting its performance, tech specs, and unique features. Derek adds insights on the Macan's development and market position, comparing it to the Cayenne and addressing its suitability for families. The episode also dives into the nuances of Porsche ownership and the thrill of driving this versatile vehicle, making it an engaging listen for enthusiasts.
Original notes
Is the Porsche Macan GTS a better alternative than a 911? In this episode of Rennthusiast Radio, Will and Derek dive into Porsche’s best-selling model and ask the big question: can a 2021 Macan GTS deliver the excitement, character, and sense of occasion we usually expect from a 911?
Will shares the full story of his new Chalk/Bordeaux Macan GTS — from almost buying the wrong CPO example to landing the perfect spec — and explains why this Porsche hot hatch might just be the smartest buy in the lineup. Derek brings the facts, history, and context: the Macan’s “Cajun” origins, why Porsche built it, and how it compares against the Cayenne and 911 in terms of driving feel, practicality, and ownership.
We cover everything from reliability and CPO pitfalls, to what makes the GTS trim special, to the real-world daily driver vs. sports car debate. If you’ve ever wondered whether the Macan GTS can stand toe-to-toe with the legendary 911 — or if it’s the perfect second Porsche — this is the conversation you don’t want to miss.
Drop a comment: Would you daily a Macan GTS, or is the 911 always the answer?
#Porsche #MacanGTS #PorscheMacan #Porsche911 #RennthusiastRadio #PorscheLife #PorscheFamily #PorscheDailyDriver #PorscheOwnership #PorscheCommunity
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