www.womanthismonth.com June 2016 43 I’m no petrol head by a long shot. In fact my current vehicle is a bit like a cross between a garbage disposal, a closet and a kennel. As long as it gets me from A to B and the air-con and radio work, that’s pretty much all I ask. But, when someone suggests you take a Porsche for a spin, even an automotive ignoramus like me would be hard-pushed not to feel a frisson of excitement. I collected the brand new, bright blue Macan S from the Behbehani Brothers showroom with, I must confess, a hint of trepidation. A small disagreement with a bus the week before had left me more than a little nervous. But this is a feature about women on wheels and, for this purpose, my regular male motoring colleague simply would not do. A quick demonstration of how to get the thing going and I was off pootling at a gentle 70km/h towards the yacht club. The handling’s so smooth, you could almost forget you’re motoring at all, but little touches such as the left-hand positioning of the ignition – a hangover from when drivers at the world-famous Le Mans would run to their car and start it at the beginning of the race (the left-hand key slot meaning they could cut their time by hitting both ignition and gears simultaneously) – and a tiny steering wheel showcase backed by steel lugs for manual operation, which give an almost industrial appearance, are a reminder that you’re actually driving a piece of motor racing heritage. It's a fact that makes itself abundantly clear when you hit the open road. I briefly found myself stuck behind a cement mixer, but the merest tap of the accelerator and the Macan’s 340 horses sprang into life with a throaty roar powering me past the obstacle and a good way further down the road somewhat faster than I was expecting – this is a car built to scare old ladies; I know, I am one! A little terror is a good thing and there is much to be said in praise of the Macan; in fact, I did tell friends I was just a teensy bit in love. But, given the aforementioned accident, the one thing I liked more than any other is just how safe it made me feel. Yes, it’s a sports car – Porsche adamantly doesn’t make anything else. But, from my point of view, it’s reassuringly solid and the handling’s so responsive that my earlier nerves were soon forgotten. It’s not so big as to be cumbersome but big enough, with the seats down, to fit my two large dogs or the spoils of a serious afternoon’s credit card bashing. So, on that score, it’s a thumbs up. The control console looks a bit space-age but everything’s really easily reachable and you quickly become accustomed to the touch button parking brake and fingertip command air-con, which, like everything else about this car, is seriously efficient. So, there we have it. I started out by saying my car needed to be dog-sized and with efficient air conditioning and radio – the Macan met all my requirements in spades. Just a shame I had to give it back. THE MACAN BY NUMBERS Engine: 2-3.6litres Number of cylinders: 6 Displacement: 2,997 cm Engine layout: Front engine / active all-wheel drive Power: 250 kW (340hp) at rpm 5,500-6,500 1/min Max. torque: 460Nm at rpm 1,450-5,000 Compression ratio: 9.8 : 1 Performance Top speed: 254 km/h Acceleration: 0-100 km/h 5.4 seconds In-gear acceleration: (80-120km/h) 3.6 seconds Design The Macan comes in 10 colour options with eight different interior combinations. Price Starting price BD19,200 WHERE PERFORMANCE AND SECURITY MEET BEHBEHANI BROTHERS Liz O’Reilly finds herself falling in love with the Porsche Macan.
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