I also have a Macan and a Defender - a 2023 Macan S with every convenience and performance option other than PSE, and a 2021 Defender 110 S P300 with most convenience options and every off-road option. The two cars are completely different and honestly incomparable. The Defender is a proper luxury off-roader with generous passenger space, solid on-road dynamics and excellent off-road capability. The cargo space in the 110 isn't hateful, but not great. The 90 is a joke. But that's not the point of the 90. It is also refined, luxurious, makes an excellent tow vehicle and highway cruiser. Driving dynamics are great for an off-roader, but its still an SUV with a high center of gravity. Good for what it is, but not ideal if sporty driving dynamics are a huge factor.

The Macan is a full-on performance car that happens to be a small crossover. I wasn't a big fan of the way the Macan drove until the second facelift for the 2022MY. The early cars are nice, but felt very Audi. The 2022MY had huge changes to the interior, suspension and powertrains and now feels like a proper Porsche. It drives and handles better than most sports sedans, and is about the closest thing you can get to a sports car in an SUV. I autocross mine and I put down similar times to 981 Boxsters and Caymans. The PDK transmission is also fantastic. Interior space is a lot more cramped than the Defender, especially in the back seat. Cargo space is decent, but nothing to write home about. They're also expensive. Mine stickered for just under $88,000, which is astronomical for a small SUV. However, I don't think there's a better performance crossover. Maybe the F-Pace SVR, as that has the supercharged V8 and loads of character, and excellent handling, but not as sharp and precise as the Macan.

I will say, you want air suspension on both. Defender air suspension gives you more ground clearance at the push of a button, you can lower it for easy access, you get significantly better suspension articulation, and adaptive dampers for a smoother ride. That being said, the coils are not bad. Still ride well and in the long run won't go bad. On the Macan T and S, PASM with steel springs is standard, with PASM air suspension being an option. GTS comes standard with air suspension. On the Macan you can raise it, as well as lower it for better handling, and you get three damper settings. Even in sport +, the ride is very compliant over broken pavement.

 

BATTERY
Yes- Ignoring low battery warning quickly escalates your car to dead condition. I had to go to home depot to buy jump starter. Jump starting a car shocked electrical and had CEL for a couple of days then it went away. PowerfulUK tested that when you open a door, it drains 10 amps right away to preload computers and electrical. That seems like the issue.

HUD
my symptoms were rarely on initial drive (from home where car was not driven for overnight), HUB didn't show up then next drive (whatever outside location), it shows up again. This happened 3-4 times in a month. Fault code was insufficient power to run. Some sort of shortage. In initial dealer visit, they reset the ECU. but when it happened again, dealer replaced whole HUB unit that requires taking whole dash a part. Paperwork shows it's $4.5k job (with southern CA stealership rate).

ELECTRICAL HEATING/COOLING
Heated steering wheel, heated seats (both fronts and rear), cooled seats (both fronts) were not working right after dealer delivered my car back from battery replacement. When it went back, my SA claims some shortage on ECU connection but I believe they simply didn't connect some harness when installing the battery. At least that's what internal person told me at the dealership. It's just hard to believe all stopped working same time after battery replacement unless its some simple mistake.

CHARM OF DEFENDER
Again, I never had these many issues on any cars especially with CPO. Normally, I would start hating it and asking dealer to buy back but man, this thing is different.
All the cars I owned had tight bolstered seats, smaller steering wheel that makes me wants to drive fast. However, with Defender, it's very roomy, sit super high on lazy boy size seat (compare to all of my previous cars) just make me cruise. Not precise steering any anyway for city/highway driving but I really felt that all M and P cars brain washed me to drive fast, take corners hard. Make sure to watch traffic light so I take off within 0.1 sec of change. But in Defender, I'm sitting high on comfy, roomy seat where I can see everything. Lacking speed but plenty of TQ. made me relax and cruise. and when you take it to national park, it drives like luxury car on unpaved road where it really shines. So very comfortable ride on both paved and unpaved road. It made you relax but the same time, it's not slow either (P400). I enabled Dynamic mode but never really used it as that's not how I like to enjoy Defender (also rear dip when accelerate and front dip under heavy break aren't really pleasant). I never knew I can enjoy driving by just cruising and no worry on any road condition (or even high parking bump). it's really refreshing experience. Def. Great one to add in your fleet.

MACAN VS. DEFENDER
Long story short, Macan is much better dynamic car that does everything well (4 people carrier with enough trunk space, handles like M340i, not quite true M cars) but Defender is just letting you forget everything and make you comfortably drive anywhere, fancy restaurant valet parking to national parks. If I compare, Macan is like you are at the gym with dumbbells but with Defender, you are at the spa bed in 3-4 star hotel (not quite over the top, 5-star hotel where over done everything). Just relaxing and make you smile while driving.

Also my very important point of buying a car is timeless design. As all car design changes so quickly, I wanted to buy a car that I can own 10-years and still want to look back after parking. 911 is a great example. Of course, new one looks good, faster and handles better but it's still so beautiful to make you look back. All of your cross shopping cars (except G-wagon) have current, time-specific design that may (most likely, will) go out of style. I believe Defender isn't following any design trend and has great heritage like 911. This design is going to be classic and classy for a long time.

With potential hassle in near future with Defender, I still highly recommend.

 

I used to drive my buddy's Macan GTS often and it's a perfect performance SUV.

Would you say both drive similar for around town and hwy?
Which gives you more excitement?

In regards to cargo space where there instances you had to take the Defender over the Macan? Could you give a solid example? Any time the Defender let you down in terms or cargo space?

 

Around town and on the highway they're completely different. Defender is a more comfortable highway cruiser, and more relaxed daily driver. The Macan is a much sportier, firmer and sharper car around town and on the highway. It is an excellent autobahn cruiser. The compactness of the Macan certainly has its benefits, as the Defender is about 4-6 inches too wide IMO.

In terms of excitement, they're both exciting in different ways. The Defender has so much charm and character, it never fails to put a smile on my face every time I press that start button. British cars have their flaws, but that's what makes them charming. The Defender does a lot of things right, which only adds to the experience. And off-road, the Defender is hands down one of the most capable cars on sale today. It never ceases to amaze me how good these things are, especially since they don't have solid axles or front differential locks. Hell, most Defenders only have a center diff lock (2023.5+ models have a clutch pack that mimics a center locking diff in place of a center differential), and those are still amazing off-road. The Macan on the other hand, is an engaging and exciting driving experience. You can daily drive it, autocross it, and track it and it makes light work of all three. However, like every single German car I've owned and/or driven, it has absolutely zero character. It is so well-engineered and so good at what it does, its almost boring. It's an excellent car, but just a bit sterile. I know it will do everything I ask from it with ease. You want to drive it harder because you can, and it can take it no problem.

Coming from an LR4 (which has the best interior packaging of any car I've owned and/or driven) and a Discovery 5, the 110's cargo space behind the second row is abysmal. Compared to the LR4 and D5, the cargo area is a lot shorter, and despite being a good bit wider, the Defender actually has a narrower opening than the LR4. Also, the split tailgate on the LR4 was one of the best things about that car. Much better than the swing-out tailgate on the Defender. For example, with the second row up, I can only fit one set of golf clubs. They have to rest at a diagonal angle because the cargo space isn't wide or long enough to lay them down. I'd have to fold down either the rear passenger seat or the rear driver/central seatback to fit two sets of clubs. LR4 and D5 could easily fit four sets of clubs with the second row in place. I usually drive to the airport when I go on family vacations, and we often take my car instead of my dad's 2018 Q7 (which has more cargo space) and we can fit all of our luggage, but carry-on items have to go on top of the luggage and obstruct visibility. If i had the ClearSight mirror, that wouldn't be an issue, though. Anything marginally big requires the rear seats to be folded down.

 

A Macan GTS vs a Defender? No, Not at all. I would say they are not similar vehicles. Getting in one, then the other, not similar. Cincy can speak to that far better though - Look in his garage.

I’ve had Macan (S or base) as loaners from the Porsche dealership at least 4 times (I have a 911) and my very quick take with probably 10 days total seat time in a Macan (?) vs my Defender P400 I’ve had for 4 years now is something like the following. I will say I have been pleasantly surprised by how good the Macan is.

1) Macan does not work for my big bloodhounds with the slopey back. Defender does. Cargo in the back to Defender. That’s my specific use case.

2) Macan S and above (ie GTS) is superb but is very nimble, handles very well and is sporting. Defender is less nimble but for a boxy SUV handles brilliantly - nowhere as good as the Macan though. It’s much bigger length and width and weight too. That is noticeable. The Macan is fun to take on twisty roads. Defender is fine for twists but I would not grab the Defender keys to go on a twisty road drive. A Porsche feels like a Porsche. A Land Rover feels like a Land Rover. Different driving experience. Each of the manufacturers actually managed to capture their DNA in these respective vehicles.

3) Defender P400 is suprisingly fast and handles surprisingly well for something that looks like a battle tank. As compared to any other SUV. It really handles almost as well as a Range Rover Sport (the main difference being that Supercharged Sports have this anti-lean technology that doesn’t allow body roll). They really nailed this chassis. Truly. I would say a Defender with air suspension handles better and is more sporting than a full size Range Rover or a Discovery, by far. BTW. (although that is not a question you asked)

4) Speed: I love ripping around town in the P400 Defender - and highway high speed runs -- I coded in Dynamic mode and it makes a big difference on highway (I regularly drive my Defender at 90mph (flame away about the irresponsibility of it, but it’s true, and it’s great between San Francisco and Oregon -- I came from a Sport Supercharged to this car and its not as fast on the highway and top speed not as high, but every bit as rock solid at high speeds). Macan though - very easy to travel above 100mph. One comment: My friend rented a Macan GTS last year from Turo at Monterey Car week and we completely flew around in that thing all week going back and forth to Laguna Seca. FLEW. I rarely go that irresponsibly fast in a Defender. That’s for other cars.

5). Interior. A fully tarted up highly optioned Macan interior with full leather is far more luxurious than a Defender’s utilitarian interior. Every time in my Porsche I worry about scuffing this scuffing that. Everything’s easily damaged if you’re not careful, because it’s very pretty. In the Defender I don’t worry about it ever. Interior materials are more durable in the Defender. In a Macan, I would. Same as in a 911.

Note: Trim level in Macan matters big time. Cross base off the list. Base Macan is a snoozer. Porsche people hate the base Macan with the 4 cylinder. And I agree. It’s basic and feels like a base Audi. Rubber dash, Boring motor. Base Macan makes me want to off myself and I’ll just get a Lyft next time or drive one of my other cars although my warranty on the 911 is up so they won’t be giving me loaners anymore anyway.

 

^ couldn't have said it better myself.

Hit nearly every nail on the head. Agree that the Defender does handle very well for what it is. I also have Dynamic mode programmed in and the biggest difference on my P300 110 w/ air suspension is when the suspension is set to Dynamic, the body control is noticably better. It still leans, but less so than in comfort mode. Damper stiffness is just a tiny bit firmer - just enough to notice it, but the body control is noticeable. Engine response is a bit better, and the transmission performance is definetly sportier. Gearbox in S with Dynamic mode enabled will let the transmission rev-match downshifts. The steering gets a bit heavier, too.

I had a Macan T when I had mine in for service in November and I actually liked it a lot. I think it is the best value in the Macan lineup, but I'd stick with the S or GTS. The T gets all of the performance hardware upgrades that you get on the S, as well as a retuned traction/stability control to make it even more nimble than a GTS IMO. The steering is better in the T than my S, probably because there's less weight on the front end, and since the Macan is based on the first-generation Q5 (even though it shares less than 20% of its parts with a Q5), it still has the engine in front of the front axle, the worst place you could put an engine for weight distribution and handling characteristics. Somehow, someway, Porsche was able to engineer all of the terminal understeer and Audi-ness out of the Macan. Base still feels like an Audi, but T handles like the S and GTS. Hell, the Macan can drift. Like properly drift. The night before I got new tires, I decided to act an *** and get involved with some tomfoolery and go into an abandoned parking lot and drift. That thing started to slide a bit with PSM in sport, and when off it was a hoot to slide around.

Here's a video just to show you how fun the Macan really is:

Go to 2:41

 

All of your reviews is EXACTLY why I don't want a Macan HAHA! My Sport car itch is tickled with other cars, and I only even considered the RS Q8 because my wife loves the thing. Wonderfully engineered cars but as Isugoo stated, I want a refreshing experience. Thank you all for confirming that for me.

Question for anybody, I've seen some off road guys add a second 12v battery. Do you believe this would help with some of the Defender electrical woes?

 

My 2024 V8 built last April did not get the metal pipes. I've read elsewhere this was added to '24 models, but based on my car, it must only be late '24 models onwards. I have purchased a set and will replace them myself at some point.

 

My 2c

• Rear shocks. Common failure on air suspension. Listen for a rattle over small bumps (think cats eyes or the like). The rattle will reduce/disappear if you go into off-road height. Simple diagnostic test.

• Headlights with DRLs will fail. The halos all fail. When not if. Simple task to replace. $400 or so per light. Don't have dealer hose you on this inevitability. There's an even cheaper repair option but it's not for everyone. A bit more work involved.

• Rear e-diff. (if equipped) Listen for clunks from starting. Have a drain and fill done earlier than scheduled. Simple preventative task that all e-diff owners should be doing earlier than the scheduled 63k miles. Simple 15-30 minute task costs less than $100 on fluids and new drain/fill plugs.

• Have the spark plugs been changed or are they due changing soon? That's a big task that costs far more than you'd imagine it should. Can be DIY but it's a big job.

• Rims. Do you want choices in tires? If you do, don't get one with 19" rims. If you're happy with the OEM options then this is moot.

• Don't worry about any software things you want that the vehicle doesn't have. Think adaptive cruise, advanced tow assist, TR2, etc. You can all of these afterwards yourself. Simple DIY takes minutes.

• Hitch receiver. A must have. Massively devalues the car if one is absent IMO. I'd not look twice at a Defender without one.