Prestige Performance SUV 2014 Comparison

Sexy. Practical. Status.
Sexy. Practical. Status: Those right there are three boxes that are difficult to tick when in the market for any car, let alone a Sports Utility Vehicle.

The simple fact is, Australian SUV market-popularity is flavour of the month in the ’burbs, but many mainstream offerings can be a little, well… a little boring.

Countering this is the growing segment of the Prestige Performance SUV. Think of these as cars that do all the things that make an SUV a smart and practical choice, with a strong degree of performance and quality thrown into the mix. Cars that will competently deliver the kids to school during the week and, with equal efficiency, rip a good country road to pieces on the weekend.

Diesel motivation only adds to the practicality factor. Recent sales take-up would suggest so anyway, with the diesel-powered SUV segment market growing by 7.1 per cent YTD to September 2014.

Enter Audi’s S Q5 TDI, Porsche’s Macan S Diesel, and BMW’s X4 xDrive30d.

Each are priced from between $80,000 and $90,000 before on-road costs and options are considered, all are powered by seriously powerful, turbocharged six-cylinder diesel engines, all boast all-wheel drive and all are from prestige German builders.

The Audi S Q5 was introduced to these shores in 2013, boasting a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 (the same engine utilised in the brand’s top-enders, the A6 and A7 models), good for 230kW at 3900-4500rpm and 650Nm at 1450-2800rpm. It's coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, using a hydraulic torque converter with lock-up clutch.

The fanfare around the car was significant, with Audi proudly trumpeting that it had built the world’s fastest diesel-powered SUV.

The Audi is by far the most expensive of the three at $90,600 (MRLP), our test example adding metallic paint ($1850), 21-inch alloys ($3600), digital radio ($800), Dynamic Steering ($2400), Audi Connect ($800), adaptive headlights ($900) and luggage rails and net ($1350) for a total of $103,200 (plus on-road costs).

Our measured fuel consumption delivered figures of 10.1L/100km (average, as tested), but the big news is the Audi is indeed the fastest car here covering the 0-100km/h dash in a measured 6.2sec (Audi claims 5.1).

The Porsche Macan S Diesel arrived this year, powered by a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 diesel hooked to a seven-speed PDK transmission (Porsche Doppelkupplung, which rather anti-climatically translates as ‘double clutch’). The Macan range shares the essentials of its architecture with the Audi Q5, but they are in reality far different beasts; the list of differences twixt the two in fact far longer than the list of similarities.

You’ll part with $84,900 (plus ORCs) to park the Porsche in your driveway, but our test car would set a purchaser back a pretty hefty $107,270, being adorned with the following options from what really is a very impressive list of gear: Panoramic roof ($3790), leather seats ($3720), 20-inch wheels ($2710), Sport Chrono Package ($2690), adaptive cruise control ($1990), metallic paint ($1990), SportDesign side skirts ($1920), brushed aluminium interior package ($1090) front heated seats ($890), three-zone automatic climate control ($830), and black roof rails ($750).

Measured fuel consumption figures were 10.2L/100km (average, as tested), and the best we could do for the nought to 100km/h sprint was 6.9sec with Porsche’s official claim at 6.3.

BMW’s X4 xDrive30d also rumbled into town this year, equipped with a 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder engine, making 190kW at 4000rpm and 650Nm at 1500-3000rpm, and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Again, there’s a seemingly endless array of add-on gear available for the X4. In standard spec you’ll pay $83,900 (MRLP), our test car copping these options: metallic paint ($1900), fine-brushed aluminium interior trim (no-cost option), glass sunroof ($2920), Driving Assistant ($900), Internet ($200), head-up display ($2000), digital radio tuner ($800) and ConnectedDrive Freedom ($1200). All this sees the price at $93,820 (plus ORCs), keeping it well-optioned, but significantly cheaper than its test rivals here.

Measured fuel consumption figures were 10.4L/100km (average, as tested) and our measured nought to 100km/h figures were 6.5sec against an official claim of 5.8.

The S Q5 has the most power and torque on test, is fastest from nought to 100km/h and has the tightest turning circle, but is the dearest and heaviest (at 1920kg versus the next best Porsche at 1880kg and the BMW at 1820kg).

Porsche’s second SUV (after the Cayenne) offers the same power as the BMW, but more torque. It looks more compact than both the S Q5 and the X4, but is in fact marginally larger than both at 4681mm in length, the Audi is surprisingly the smallest with 4644mm, with the Beemer splitting the two at 4671mm. The X4s taller stance and swoopier lines belie this, the car visually appearing to be larger than the others by some way.

Similar to the X6, the X4’s rakish roofline does limit visibility when viewed against traditional SUVs like the X3. Although there is a loss of 50 litres from the X3, the canted rear roof area fails to impact passenger and cargo space in this company, with numbers identical to the Macan S at 500 litres, along with its braked towing capacity (2400kg for all three on test) and CO2 emission figures (159g/km). The Audi is slightly less efficient in this area, claiming 179g/km. The Audi has more interior cargo space at 540 litres, so you can toss in the terrier when heading to the beach.

Three different wheel and tyre sizes featured on our test examples. All three were indeed fitted with purposeful alloy wheels, the X4s standard-sized 19-inch jobs shod with 275/40-series Michelin Primacy hoops, the Audi 21-inch optional items (20-inch standard) and 255/40-series Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs and the Porsche optioned with 20-inch wheels (19-inch standard) and huge 295/40-series Michelin Latitude Sport 3 items.

Each comes with leather seats powered at the front, xenon lights with LED daytime running lamps, sat-nav, sports steering wheels, parking sensors fore and aft and a rear-view camera.

The cars are all 1624mm tall, probably purposely standardised in that efficient Aryan style, all offer a 36-month/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and all are five-star ANCAP-rated.

Oh, and all are limited to a top-speed of a claimed 250km/h. Plenty fast enough.

The Audi interior is a little ‘previous generation’ in its look and feel. The central dash area could easily have been designed in 2004, such is its austerity.

The X4 is tidy and well thought-out without being flamboyant. Neat and sensible, with a touch of class, leaving you in no doubt that this is indeed a prestige German car. Everything has clearly undergone extensive ergonomic testing, and will probably make perfect sense the longer an owner lives with it. Such is the BMW way. Exciting though, it is not.

It’s the Porsche that takes the interior honours in our book. After all, these cars have more than a pretension towards sports operation and the Porsche’s rich leather and quality fittings are really a cut above.

Exterior looks are always subjective, but the Audi and the Porsche certainly exhibit a sportier silhouette. Both announce their attitudes from the rear, with four sizeable exhaust outlets, the X4 more subtle with two, mounted to the left. The lack of symmetry here grates a little, looking slightly unfinished.

The Porsche’s lines are the easiest on the eye, the Audi looking much more like the traditional SUV and the BMW, well, it just looks a little odd. That said, some will love the rakish line swooping to the rear.

While it really is pretty extraordinary that handling can be as competent as exhibited by all three, the Audi struggles slightly when the going gets twisty. It is a little nose heavy in feel which manifests as slight understeer when pressing on.

The Audi’s steering offers nice weight and feedback, and the extra torque on offer is noticeable. The transmission tends to shift down a little late, but we found a similar tendency with the Porsche. Handling asks the driver for more precise input, while the Porsche tracks beautifully, and higher mid-corner speeds are achievable in the Macan S.

The X4 is the least sporty of the three. It feels taller (although, as mentioned, heights are identical), and a little underwheeled. The transmission shifts down with alacrity, ratios are spot-on and handling is predictable, if a little unexciting.

One noticeable bugbear was the length of the brake pedal throw, compared to the Audi and the Porsche. It was also a little spongey, which erodes confidence in serious sporty going.

The Macan S has a much more refined power delivery, the torque curve more linear, building to good speed without histrionics. It feels more precise, with phenomenal grip and roadholding ability. It might be slower than its rivals here, but that is quickly made up with assured handling.

The X4 is a pretty distant third on the road. In this company it felt decidedly under-rubbered (although, to be fair, it was the only one applied with the standard smaller wheels), and wasn’t helped by that spongey brake pedal.

The X4 will have the widest appeal for the ‘practical buyer’, the others holding an edge for the more serious sports-canny buyer.

The Macan S is undoubtedly the most balanced, although the steering is a little heavy, particularly at lower speeds. However, you forgive all that pretty quickly when driving in a ‘spirited manner’. The Porsche’s steering is incredibly direct and responsive. It is a sports car, for all intents and purposes, when driving dynamics are concerned.

The Macan, simply, is the best thought-out and most competent car in the trio. You pay for it, there is no doubt about that, but at the end of the day you’ll be driving a Porsche – and one that holds true to the brand’s incredible aim building quality ‘sports’ cars.

Performance figures (as tested):

Pricing and specifications: