[ADVICE REQUEST] 2026 Macan EV Build-Out

[SergeyIndy]

This is certainly very unique build, and I understand the theme that OP is going for but based on other cars owned, new to Porsche option packaging. Let me unpack a couple of things that may be helpful and focus on functional elements since cosmetics and colors are personal preference.

- Base model from the packaging standpoint has the most minimal standard equipment so any option that is included or optional on higher trims will cost more. OP does not seem to be concerned with cost so that may not be relevant but wanted to point this out.
- Base from the handling standpoint has unique character with rear only motor, but from the performance standpoint it is very slow given the weight. OP says it is fast enough, but has the OP driven it to understand the dynamics of something this heavy and slow with numbers telling you everything you need to know. This will probably be the only car on the road at this price that is that slow, but understand that other things matter more.
- The other downside of the Base trim without front motor, is that there is no benefit of regen from the front axle, therefore, some rear motor regen and physical front brakes blending going on to make it seem natural, so again recommend OP driving one and understanding the braking dynamics.
- Thermal Glass main function benefit is its thickness that helps with frameless doors, so I always option it for that benefit alone, however, in terms of its thermal and noise properties those appear to be very minimal based on numbers and experiences, since the glass must allow certain frequencies such as emergency vehicle sounds to be heard.
- Drive Assist is not checked, so as long as you understand what you are missing by not optioning this, then go for not having it.
- Leather is certainly will be nicer but leather trimmed seat consoles and seat backs will be prone to scratches.
- Bose audio from my experience is about the worst in any current cars and sounds like lifeless FM reception, so BM audio will sound like an HD radio.

I am interested to see if you are going to make any changes and post revised code after forum feedback.

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[pdealessandrini1930]

Honestly, I'm getting stressed about the sound system..
. I ordered the Macan with Bose, but I could go crazy and pay an astronomical amount of money for the Burmester system!
Would it be worth it?
I love music, I have Apple Music, and I love listening to it in high quality.

Hi To All -

Also a music aficionado and absolutely love to play various kinds of music when on road trips as much as local short commutes.

Having had Bose in all prior Porsches, and other high end audio systems in our other non Porsche family vehicles, I was surprised by my Macan 4 Bose sound quality. It is definitely better than the basic stereo Porsche provides as basic stereo. However, lower quality sound than any other Porsche Bose I’ve had.

I wonder if it’s the stereo vs speakers themselves. In setting up sound quality, there are good features such as stereo, sorround, eco, etc., Also the ability to shift center of audio in the cabin front to back and side to side. That said, base, treble, mid range aren’t really functional to differentiate instrumentation or vocals like other systems.

Whilst I’m not a fan of spending even more money on the top of the line system, I’ve concluded the price vs quality of Bose vs next level is ok to live with. Wishing all a wonderful Holiday Season and a superbly rewarding 2026!

 

[SergeyIndy]

@pdealessandrini1930, glad you second me on the Bose. I tried several back to back Bose cars (Cayenne, Macan ICE, Taycan) and Macan EV Bose and by far it is the worst lifeless mess with no settings to help it.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

That is a good point but we had out front door windows tinted with ceramic heat-rejecting window film. But were we to live in a very hot climate (sure not needed in Oregon 95%+ of the time), we might choose to get the factory window insulating option. For us the front window ceramic film works really well in keeping heat out

 

[W1NGE]

My Macan EV Turbo is quiet just as is. I bought it as a CPO and just checked last week to confirm it does NIOT have the insulated glass option. While I travel suburban interstates a fair amount, and have been in very large cities about once per week this last year, I have never once felt it was noisy, never felt it needed better glass insulation.

The insulated glass doesn't prevent tyre / road noise coming through the footwells - a lot of people don't realise this.

Sensible idea to not choose this option for noise reduction reasons. Good security aid however.

 

[CHP]

@SergeyIndy

Agree with all your points except centre console leather. It is rather difficult to scratch but have no long term experience. For me it’s too much plastic without and in brighter colours interior looks so much better with it. Would definitely keep it in this build.

Off topic, same for plastic B pillars. Cayenne EV does have an option to have them in leather but this includes door sills as well. No go as you correctly mentioned some areas are more prone to wear and one female customer ended up having even holes. This was very expensive repair according to my dealer.

Back seat leather. If you have smaller kids, you don’t want leather due to wear and if you have older kids, well, back is slightly small. On longer drives the back is getting rather cramped due to all the “essential” (my kids words) entertainment stuff squeezed against back seats.

 

[CHP]

@surfcitydermatology

below GTS build at 127k

https://porsche-code.com/PTW81V98

 

[shawn]

Stunning although I think unless I missed it you are missing the best option on my Macan which is innodrive, the car completely steers itself on the highway just by resting a hand on the steering (bottom let’s say).
On the MY26 I believe it’s call drive assist or something and does even more things like change lanes by itself if you indicate (same as travel assist on VWs).
Regarding Burmester I would start unticking options left & right just to pick it over Bose, lesson learned.
It’s refreshing to see a high spec Base, I am in the minority but do not like the look of the GTS/Turbo models.

I would double check the features provided by “driver assist “ as I do not think it provides steering like innodrive did. I think they removed that capability and added some lane change enhancement. Innodrive is not offered on 2026 models of Macan or cayenne EV but it is on the Taycan and Panamera for some reason. As far as I can tell, it does not steer you into the new lane it just indicates that you can.

 

[pm4s]

I would double check the features provided by “driver assist “ as I do not think it provides steering like innodrive did. I think they removed that capability and added some lane change enhancement. Innodrive is not offered on 2026 models of Macan or cayenne EV but it is on the Taycan and Panamera for some reason. As far as I can tell, it does not steer you into the new lane it just indicates that you can.

Cost is 1.1K, several items listed, I copied the 2 of interest:

1st sounds like my Innodrive, car does 100% steering on highway, zero input from driver, you need at least 1 hand touching the steering, this is no iX3

2nd sounds like travel assist in iD3, you indicate and the car will overtake by itself, i.e. pull out, pass, pull back in.

Innodrive is the best option on my Macan, but have no experience with drive assist.

What makes you think it doesn’t steer?
Any MY26 owners can confirm?

• The Macan Electric follows the lane independently.
• The lane change initiated by the indicator further enhances comfort while driving on highways. If a vehicle ahead is travelling slower than the speed set in Drive Assist, the system offers assisted lane change, provided that the traffic situation allows it.

 

[CHP]

Cost is 1.1K, several items listed, I copied the 2 of interest:

1st sounds like my Innodrive, car does 100% steering on highway, zero input from driver, you need at least 1 hand touching the steering, this is no iX3

2nd sounds like travel assist in iD3, you indicate and the car will overtake by itself, i.e. pull out, pass, pull back in.

Innodrive is the best option on my Macan, but have no experience with drive assist.

What makes you think it doesn’t steer?
Any MY26 owners can confirm?

• The Macan Electric follows the lane independently.
• The lane change initiated by the indicator further enhances comfort while driving on highways. If a vehicle ahead is travelling slower than the speed set in Drive Assist, the system offers assisted lane change, provided that the traffic situation allows it.

Drive assist on MY26 should be level 2+ versus 2 for MY 24&25. Difference is camera monitoring attention so hands on wheel should be no longer needed. That’s why there is a new “box” above steering column in MY26. All other features should remain.

 

[SergeyIndy]

@SergeyIndy

Agree with all your points except centre console leather. It is rather difficult to scratch but have no long term experience. For me it’s too much plastic without and in brighter colours interior looks so much better with it. Would definitely keep it in this build.

Off topic, same for plastic B pillars. Cayenne EV does have an option to have them in leather but this includes door sills as well. No go as you correctly mentioned some areas are more prone to wear and one female customer ended up having even holes. This was very expensive repair according to my dealer.

Back seat leather. If you have smaller kids, you don’t want leather due to wear and if you have older kids, well, back is slightly small. On longer drives the back is getting rather cramped due to all the “essential” (my kids words) entertainment stuff squeezed against back seats.

Completely agree.

- I did not call out center console, because I do agree that it is a premium touch that is close to the driver and passenger.
- I have actually optioned B-pillar and Door sill in Leather on my Taycan and would not have it any other way, but the B-Pillar leather gets scratched easily and so I have a few as careful as I am, and I am ok with it. However, the Door sills in leather have been resilient and scratch free, but you have to be mindful not to drag any shoes with sharp edges over them.
- Back seat Leather will get damaged easily as rear space is tight.

 

[CHP]

Completely agree.

- I did not call out center console, because I do agree that it is a premium touch that is close to the driver and passenger.
- I have actually optioned B-pillar and Door sill in Leather on my Taycan and would not have it any other way, but the B-Pillar leather gets scratched easily and so I have a few as careful as I am, and I am ok with it. However, the Door sills in leather have been resilient and scratch free, but you have to be mindful not to drag any shoes with sharp edges over them.
- Back seat Leather will get damaged easily as rear space is tight.

Sorry, misread your post in a hurry. Interesting comment about B-pillar. Had optioned it on Cayenne EV until dealer advised against it. I am usually quite careful but see dirt at side-sills, most from kids though. Such a shame how B-pillars are now designed on most Porsche. IMHO should be leather just below height of door armrests.

 

[shawn]

Cost is 1.1K, several items listed, I copied the 2 of interest:

1st sounds like my Innodrive, car does 100% steering on highway, zero input from driver, you need at least 1 hand touching the steering, this is no iX3

2nd sounds like travel assist in iD3, you indicate and the car will overtake by itself, i.e. pull out, pass, pull back in.

Innodrive is the best option on my Macan, but have no experience with drive assist.

What makes you think it doesn’t steer?
Any MY26 owners can confirm?

• The Macan Electric follows the lane independently.
• The lane change initiated by the indicator further enhances comfort while driving on highways. If a vehicle ahead is travelling slower than the speed set in Drive Assist, the system offers assisted lane change, provided that the traffic situation allows it.

Because I found this on a google search to find out the difference between innodrive and drive assist

" Porsche removed the full "InnoDrive" option from the 2026 Macan EV configurator, rebranding its features into standard "Drive Assist," but without the advanced steering/lane-change capabilities found in the Taycan's InnoDrive; this change likely stems from hardware/software integration challenges, requiring new sensor hardware (like eye-tracking) for true autonomy, leading to a simpler, non-steering driver-assistance package for the Macan EV for now. "

The entire thing is very confusing. I will not believe that "drive assist" includes innodrive auto steering capability until I see it for myself. I think drive assist is a watered down innodrive not an enhanced innodrive. The verbage "follows the land independently" is too vague. Just look at the description of innodrive on the Taycan and it is clearly all about steering and the drive assist does not use the word steering at all. If there is anyone who can confirm otherwise I would love to see your post on that. I would like to be wrong on this but from the above I have doubts about it.

 

[CHP]

Because I found this on a google search to find out the difference between innodrive and drive assist

" Porsche removed the full "InnoDrive" option from the 2026 Macan EV configurator, rebranding its features into standard "Drive Assist," but without the advanced steering/lane-change capabilities found in the Taycan's InnoDrive; this change likely stems from hardware/software integration challenges, requiring new sensor hardware (like eye-tracking) for true autonomy, leading to a simpler, non-steering driver-assistance package for the Macan EV for now. "

The entire thing is very confusing. I will not believe that "drive assist" includes innodrive auto steering capability until I see it for myself. I think drive assist is a watered down innodrive not an enhanced innodrive. The verbage "follows the land independently" is too vague. Just look at the description of innodrive on the Taycan and it is clearly all about steering and the drive assist does not use the word steering at all. If there is anyone who can confirm otherwise I would love to see your post on that. I would like to be wrong on this but from the above I have doubts about it.

Had a quick check on German website. It's not watered down - new functionality. Now independently (self steering) until 210 kmh with active lane change (indicator activated, except PTS). Functionality however specific to countries so can't comment on US.

 

[PastaSource]

Because I found this on a google search to find out the difference between innodrive and drive assist

" Porsche removed the full "InnoDrive" option from the 2026 Macan EV configurator, rebranding its features into standard "Drive Assist," but without the advanced steering/lane-change capabilities found in the Taycan's InnoDrive; this change likely stems from hardware/software integration challenges, requiring new sensor hardware (like eye-tracking) for true autonomy, leading to a simpler, non-steering driver-assistance package for the Macan EV for now. "

The entire thing is very confusing. I will not believe that "drive assist" includes innodrive auto steering capability until I see it for myself. I think drive assist is a watered down innodrive not an enhanced innodrive. The verbage "follows the land independently" is too vague. Just look at the description of innodrive on the Taycan and it is clearly all about steering and the drive assist does not use the word steering at all. If there is anyone who can confirm otherwise I would love to see your post on that. I would like to be wrong on this but from the above I have doubts about it.

I’m confident that search response is an AI hallucination, I have seen an almost verbatim response when searching the same topic a month or so ago… can’t rely on an AI based search on a very new subject being remotely accurate, an easy trap to fall into… while I can’t say whether drive assist is level 2+ (it does appear so, especially with the driver monitoring cameras above the steering wheel on MY’26 photos we’ve seen), I’d be inclined to take what the Porsche config description states over that response, and as suggested that implies something that supercedes innodrive.

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