90 days later - What I would have changed in my config (2025 Macan 4S EV)

[gw5815]

I took delivery in mid-March of my new 2025 Macan 4S EV in Copper Ruby Metallic - nearly maxed out with options. I absolutely LOVE LOVE this car. The handling is spectacular; it's super efficient; it's fast; and it looks really good. I haven't had any major issues.

However, knowing what I know now, if I could go back in time, I would modify a few things on the order. Since I know that many of you are in the config stage, I thought I'd share my thoughts:

Things I was hesitant to get, but am happy I did:

• Rear Axle Steering - I read a bunch of mixed opinions on this, but it has exceeded my expectations. The cornering is excellent, especially driving in the city (San Francisco) where a quick u-turn is sometimes needed. I'm also impressed at how agile it feel at high speed when quickly switching lanes.
• Porsche Electric Sport Sound - I went back and forth on this. I was almost embarrassed that I ordered it, but I've found an unexpected benefit. When driving in the city around a bunch of pedestrians, turning on the sport sound makes the folks more aware of the car. Downtown can be a loud place, so being able to make the car a little more noticeable is nice. If I didn't do a lot of city driving, I'd probably skip it next time. It's fun for a few minutes, then it's annoying
• Passenger Display - We use this a lot on road trips. When I'm driving, my wife is watching YouTube. When she's driving, I'm watching YouTube or picking out music or helping navigate, etc.

Things I would not do again:

• 9Z2 - 115-volt Power Socket $160 -- it only supports 150W, which eliminates a lot of possible uses for it.
• KS5 - Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display $2530 -- this is fun for awhile, but I honestly don't find it that useful. If you use Google Maps, Apple Maps, ABRP, etc., the augmented reality doesn't work. It's Porsche nav only.
• UD1 - Under Door Puddle Light Projectors $320 -- These project the word "Porsche" onto the pavement - very sharp - but they actually don't function as puddle lights. In other words, they don't help you see what you're stepping in because the light doesn't spread at all.
• VW6 - Thermally & Noise Insulated Glass (Front and Rear) $930 -- I wanted the car to be as quiet as possible, so I went for it, but since then I've compared it to another Macan EV without it and it's barely noticible. I live in San Francisco, so the thermal part isn't really needed.
• 9VJ - Burmester High-End Surround Sound System $4710 -- this was the single biggest regret. I'm a bit of an audiophile, especially when listening to acoustic jazz music. The burmester sounds great, but not $4710 great. My wife has a Volvo EX90 with a Bowers & Wilkens system, and it blows the Burmester away. If the car was super quiet, I might could justify it, but if I did it again, I'd go for the Bose.

The above list would have saved me $8650!

One other note -- when maxing out the 4S, I did consider upgrading to the Turbo, but with similar options, it was still considerably higher priced, and I worried that the Turbo wouldn't be as comfortable to drive. I was optimizing for comfort and quiet.

Greg

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[dgkhn]

KS5 - Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display $2530 -- this is fun for awhile, but I honestly don't find it that useful. If you use Google Maps, Apple Maps, ABRP, etc., the augmented reality doesn't work. It's Porsche nav only.

Apple maps when using CarPlay does show up in the HUD (though not animated). It is useful as it typically shows recommended lanes for turns. I use it frequently (the Porsche navigation has a tendency to show funky routes at times).

Comment on the HUD: it is way overpriced. I mean, it's fine; I personally consider a HUD to be almost an essential feature, so I would spec it again even at its high price, but it's not the big deal some people have made it out to be IMHO. Besides turn animations, it shows collision warnings and LKA animations (which would be great if only LKA weren't so poorly implemented).

 

[RunningOnSolar]

Yours is an amazing build with practically everything anyone could want. This demonstrates that personal taste is highly individualized as my list is somewhat different. I’m also fortunate to have almost nothing that I regret after having my car almost a year now. For example I thought the air purifier was a little over the top and then drove the car through bad Canadian wildfire smoke in Northern Michigan.

Top features:

• Rear Axle Steering: This has proved to be tremendously useful in making the car much easier to turn around in tight spaces.
• Heads Up Display. The arrows don’t work with CarPlay, but the lane recommendations do. I use Porsche Nav for long trips for the arrows, the preconditioning and the excellent integration with driver assistance features. Distance and speed changes are extremely important indicators as the car will slow down sometimes for exit ramps (when it shouldn’t) and misinterpret speed limits on exit ramps. Setting following distance with the HUD is phenomenal. Also it keeps my attention focused on the road as it should rather than the instrument cluster.
• Surround View: You just have to park a Porsche precisely. Right?
• Air Purifier as described above. Normally not needed unless you have respiratory issues.
• Heated Seats, Ventilated Seats, 14-Way Adjustable: Make the car very comfortable.
• Bose Sound System: Just enough sound quality and not too much

Toss Ups but still significant

• Trailer Hitch: If you have trailers specify this, but all the adapters you need to tow more common trailers in the US are a pain and you really need to know how to set the driver assistance features so they don’t scream at you when you are trying to back up with a trailer.
• Passenger Display: Not getting as much use out of this as I would like, but still don’t regret it. Will be of more use when we do more long trips together. Mostly it is displaying current song and album art.
• 115 volt power socket: It’s nice to know its there, but probably will never use this.

Don’t have and don’t regret

• Electric Sport Sound: I’m sensitive to sound and like the comparative quiet of an electric car. Making people aware of your presence is really important, but the native sound (kind of a growl) seems adequate for this.
• Sports Chrono: An analog clock on an all digital dash, not for me. I do slightly miss having Sport Plus, but use Sport mode infrequently. Spent the money on other features.

 

[gw5815]

Apple maps when using CarPlay does show up in the HUD (though not animated). It is useful as it typically shows recommended lanes for turns. I use it frequently (the Porsche navigation has a tendency to show funky routes at times).

Comment on the HUD: it is way overpriced. I mean, it's fine; I personally consider a HUD to be almost an essential feature, so I would spec it again even at its high price, but it's not the big deal some people have made it out to be IMHO. Besides turn animations, it shows collision warnings and LKA animations (which would be great if only LKA weren't so poorly implemented).

Yeah, the HUD is great. It’s the augmented reality that I would drop. It only works with Porsche nav.

 

[robrain]

Didn't realize the sound was piped outside.

 

[Garylaw]

I took delivery in mid-March of my new 2025 Macan 4S EV in Copper Ruby Metallic - nearly maxed out with options. I absolutely LOVE LOVE this car. The handling is spectacular; it's super efficient; it's fast; and it looks really good. I haven't had any major issues.

However, knowing what I know now, if I could go back in time, I would modify a few things on the order. Since I know that many of you are in the config stage, I thought I'd share my thoughts:

Things I was hesitant to get, but am happy I did:

• Rear Axle Steering - I read a bunch of mixed opinions on this, but it has exceeded my expectations. The cornering is excellent, especially driving in the city (San Francisco) where a quick u-turn is sometimes needed. I'm also impressed at how agile it feel at high speed when quickly switching lanes.
• Porsche Electric Sport Sound - I went back and forth on this. I was almost embarrassed that I ordered it, but I've found an unexpected benefit. When driving in the city around a bunch of pedestrians, turning on the sport sound makes the folks more aware of the car. Downtown can be a loud place, so being able to make the car a little more noticeable is nice. If I didn't do a lot of city driving, I'd probably skip it next time. It's fun for a few minutes, then it's annoying
• Passenger Display - We use this a lot on road trips. When I'm driving, my wife is watching YouTube. When she's driving, I'm watching YouTube or picking out music or helping navigate, etc.

Things I would not do again:

• 9Z2 - 115-volt Power Socket $160 -- it only supports 150W, which eliminates a lot of possible uses for it.
• KS5 - Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display $2530 -- this is fun for awhile, but I honestly don't find it that useful. If you use Google Maps, Apple Maps, ABRP, etc., the augmented reality doesn't work. It's Porsche nav only.
• UD1 - Under Door Puddle Light Projectors $320 -- These project the word "Porsche" onto the pavement - very sharp - but they actually don't function as puddle lights. In other words, they don't help you see what you're stepping in because the light doesn't spread at all.
• VW6 - Thermally & Noise Insulated Glass (Front and Rear) $930 -- I wanted the car to be as quiet as possible, so I went for it, but since then I've compared it to another Macan EV without it and it's barely noticible. I live in San Francisco, so the thermal part isn't really needed.
• 9VJ - Burmester High-End Surround Sound System $4710 -- this was the single biggest regret. I'm a bit of an audiophile, especially when listening to acoustic jazz music. The burmester sounds great, but not $4710 great. My wife has a Volvo EX90 with a Bowers & Wilkens system, and it blows the Burmester away. If the car was super quiet, I might could justify it, but if I did it again, I'd go for the Bose.

The above list would have saved me $8650!

One other note -- when maxing out the 4S, I did consider upgrading to the Turbo, but with similar options, it was still considerably higher priced, and I worried that the Turbo wouldn't be as comfortable to drive. I was optimizing for comfort and quiet.

Greg

Why would you just watch Youtube on your phones and save $1500? Does it also play through the speakers, must be irritating for the driver!!

 

[Blanshed]

I totally respect your points above, I would just like to give people looking for purchasing help another point of view.

I also have a similarly specced 4S.
I also decided to go with a maxed out 4S instead of a Turbo because of reduced range and the fact the turbo still ends up quite a bit more expensive then a maxed out 4S.

I personally took the offroad package. I would take this again 100x over. I think the body color painted skirts look better then the gloss black on the Turbo since they match the car more even when broken up with some black plastic.

Rear axle steering is incredible for low speed maneuverability. I have a ICE Macan GTS as well and the 4S handles much better (1m smaller turning circle) in town and especially in parking lots.

Where our opinion differs is on both the Thermally & Noise Insulated Glass & the Burmester High-End Surround Sound System. I would repeat both if given the chance. The Burmester is much better than the Porsche Bose (not comparing other car brands here) and I did drive Macans with and without the glass and heard the difference.

Perhaps it is because I purchase my vehicles and keep them longer then most people, but I feel the quality of life improvement of for example the Burmester over 8 years is totally worth the cost.

 

[MatC21]

I also have a pretty well specced 4S with almost all technical goodies, here is my verdict:

- I regret not picking Oakgreen. It looked too green in the configurator and somehow do not like it too much in the Taycan. But the few Macan I saw, wild!
- No regrets on hud, rear axle and air suspension. All money well spent
- Unsure about the Bose. It is okay but maybe standard would have been enough plus you gain some trunk space
- I should have specced rear seat heating
- Electric sound is a love/hate. I am somewhat embarrassed spending money for it but I do find myself enabling it during engaged driving
- insolated glass totally worth it
- No regrets for not getting the turbo. The 4S is plenty fast

 

[Pappamoto]

When I bought my Porsche SUV instead of a luxury ride (for example a Lexus) the extra money I spent is because I wanted the legendary Porsche sporty drive experience. I figured the extra money was just that and all the other luxury items the Lexus gives would be there as well. If it was a great drive, but lacking the luxury items done well like a Lexus I would think the price would be closer.

 

[SergeyIndy]

My view on your regrets.

* 9Z2 - 115-volt Power Socket $160: This is an interesting input about 150W max, what things you are not able to use that need more.

* KS5 - Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display $2530: Agree with this. I test drove one with it and it was a quick no, as it is mostly redundant and distracting. I have it on my Taycan which is a very basic one and did not plan to have it, but as part of the Tech pack it was basically free, and I do like it and use it, and like the basic clean functions of it.

*UD1 - Under Door Puddle Light Projectors $320: Biggest rip off in my view and to your point, zero function as a light. However, if someone really wants the flare, you can add after market for a fraction, which is what I did with much better graphic and a light output bright enought to be a puddle light.

This is Macan GTS (ICE) and THIS is a puddle light.

• VW6 - Thermally & Noise Insulated Glass (Front and Rear) $930: You are completely missing the point of this option. This is designed specifically to let certain frequency sound in, specifically in town, so this is what you are hearing, but make it more silent at highway speed, such as tire noise. Also, Macan EV doors are frameless, so the glass is thicker and technically safer during collision since there is a film. I always order this option without hesitation, with the only downside cell signal, which has not been a problem for me, except GPS signal sometimes gets spotty in remote areas.

• 9VJ - Burmester High-End Surround Sound System $4710 -- Yes, while it is expensive, having Bose on Macan EV is like having AM radio only, it is so bad, I could not believe it. I have not heard BM audio on Macan EV, but I would spend on BM without hesitation so may be it will be FM type sound. I have Bose on Macan GTS and it is great, no need for a BM. I have spent many days in a Taycan with Bose and it is superb, but on my own Taycan I have BM and it is better than all of the above, but not great.

My view, is that if I had your build, I would be only regretting the HUD and be very happy with Glass and BM!

 

[sor]

To be fair to the Burmester, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a car audio as good as the EX90. I thought my iX B+W was good, but the Volvo is insane.

 

[ColdCase]

..

• Trailer Hitch: If you have trailers specify this, but all the adapters you need to tow more common trailers in the US are a pain and you really need to know how to set the driver assistance features so they don’t scream at you when you are trying to back up with a trailer.
• ...

There are 1$5-20 adapters with integrated resister available that silence those alarms.

I'm not sure if the number of adapters is any different on a Macan than most cars. Light trucks may have both a 7 pin and 4 pin sockets. But thats only one adapter for 7 to 4 pins.

 

[ColdCase]

I think you are missing PTV+. Useful on snowy hills, but I'm surprised how much difference it makes on fast winding roads. Apply some throttle and feel the Macan pull you through. Impressive. Then I tend to prefer performance over comfort in my transportation appliances.

 

[Yves]

For me Personally the HUD is a must have option, it probably is not for the day to day driving, but when you go places you never have been it‘s cool to have speed indications and guidance from Apple Maps in the HUD, especially as I wear reading glasses, and I do not need them to read the HUD …

 

[jwatte]

Unsure about the Bose. It is okay but maybe standard would have been enough

I'm unsure the other way -- when I turn it up to just slightly-too-loud, I can hear the speakers starting to bottom out. It comes nowhere near my whole-room Genelecs in the living room, even though the car is much smaller. I'm thinking the Burmester might have been better?

what things you are not able to use that need more

Any gaming laptop will draw more than 150W.

Essentially every power tool (corded drill, circle saw, corded chain saw, ...) will use more than 150W.

If you want to use the car as an emergency power backup for your refrigerator, well, that'll need 400W or so. (I've done this before with aftermarket inverters.)

If you want an outback movie experience, you might want to plug in a projector or TV screen in the back. This is likely to need more than 150W.

It's interesting that the 12V outlet is rated for 20 Amps, which is 240 Watts! (or more like 280 while main power is on, and you have a 14 Volt system.)

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