Optional sport tyres always deliver better performance, right? Not necessarily, says auto motor und sport (ams). When the German motoring publication tested the latest Porsche Macan Turbo Electric, the model they received didn’t arrive on standard 20-inch rims, rather with 22-inch wheels fitted with “performance tyres” – an option that costs £464 in the UK.
These optional tyres are the Pirelli P Zero Corsa Elect, which the Macan wore in size 255/40 R 22 Y at the front and 295/35 R 22 Y on the rear axle. When delivered on 22-inch rims, but without the optional performance rubber, the Macan Turbo Electric is typically fitted with tyres such as the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport.
The ams team subjected the Porsche Macan Turbo Electric to extensive testing, and although marking it highly for braking (thanks to a 32.4 metre stopping distance from 100 km/h) and driving dynamics (18-metre slalom speed of 69.4 km/h), they only awarded the SUV a total of 632 points out of a possible 1,000. The testers considered driving pleasure inferior to the prior model’s, adding that the SUV was simply “less Porsche-like to drive.”
During testing on both B roads and motorways, the ams test team encountered “unusually sharp, almost angular handling.” The Porsche also delivered undistinguished straight-line stability, abrupt steering response and below optimal suspension comfort.
Same Macan, different tyres
Porsche management was less than thrilled with the 632 points given to their pride and joy. They also expressed consternation at the result of the 0 to 100 km/h sprint, which at 3.5 seconds was two tenths worse than the factory specification – an unacceptable difference for the manufacturer. Porsche asked ams to repeat the test with Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres, a standard fitment on the Macan Turbo Electric and a product more closely aligned with everyday use.
When testing the E-Macan on the Goodyear tyres in the same 22-inch sizes, steering was “significantly less beastly” but “remained Porsche-agile.” Ride comfort felt noticeably better, but levels of grip still extremely high. “Driving behaviour is more harmonious, natural and predictable with the Goodyear,” commented ams.
Motoring along B roads with the Goodyear tyres, and ams judged overall driving behaviour to be “more harmonious, more natural and more predictable at a remarkably high level of agility.”
Not for everyday use
The motoring publication informs us that, according to information supplied by Pirelli, the optional P Zero Corsa Elect tyres only reach their maximum performance levels at temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius – a range not experienced during testing. This, combined with the handling and comfort issues we’ve already mentioned, is reason enough for ams not to recommend the performance tyres that Porsche offers at extra cost for the Macan Turbo Electric. It emphasises that these are not tyres for everyday use.
“Porsche has overshot the mark with the performance tyre,” states Jens Dralle from ams. “Although it delivers top values, it spoils the fundamentally pleasing driving character outside its feel-good temperature window. With the Goodyear tyres, the Macan remains a highly dynamic E-SUV with slightly more suspension comfort.”
