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2017 Porsche Macan GTS First Drive

Zebulon Pike, the military commander and explorer for whom America's best-known mountain is named, never reached "his" peak, even though he tried. Over 200 years later, with a grin so giddy that I blame it on the thin air at 14,114 feet, I crested the summit of Pikes Peak a tick over 14 minutes after leaving the starting line. I was behind the wheel of the most fun-to-drive crossover anyone has ever built: the Porsche Macan GTS. I can't take credit for what must be one of the fastest unmodified sprints to the top. That goes to Pikes Peak legend Jeff Zwart, who led a pack of journalists in Porsche's latest Macan up the hugely demanding paved road. Zwart wasn't piloting a Macan GTS; instead, he was behind the wheel of the 911 GT2 he drove back in 2002 when much of the route was gravel. Today's pavement provides more grip but also less room for error, Zwart told us. Unforgiving, he called the mountain. That's just what you want to hear at 6:30 a.m. when Zwart, two cars in front of you, takes off at a racing start. Pressed later, Zwart admitted he drove at a fraction of his racing pace while juggling two radios (one to communicate with us and one for park rangers to alert him to wildlife on the road) and shifting a manual transmission. Strapped into a Macan GTS, however, I found the trip plenty stressful – but that's because of the blind corners, the narrow road, the frost-heaved pavement, the blinding sun, and, of course, those unforgiving drop-offs. The polished GTS, which slots in between the mainstream Macan S and the bonkers Macan Turbo, proved unflappable. Of the Macan flavors, which will soon include a four-cylinder base model, the GTS is best suited to carving through the Rockies. Its 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6 comes from the Macan S, but Porsche dials its boost from 14 to 17.4 psi, bringing output to 360 horsepower at 6,000 rpm (up 20) and 369 pound-feet of torque from 1,650 to 4,000 rpm (up 30). The only gearbox available is the PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplung) seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus modes. In addition to the power increase, the GTS gets a standard air suspension that sits 10 millimeters lower than the optional version for the S and the Turbo. Front brakes cribbed from the Turbo and a switchable sport exhaust with a single flapper valve round out the performance changes.

Driving the Chevy C8 Corvette Convertible, Polestar 1 and Porsche 718 Cayman T | Autoblog Podcast #649

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. Lately, they've been driving some pretty great cars, and one OK car. John's had the Chevy C8 Corvette Convertible and Polestar 1. Greg's been enjoying the Porsche 718 Cayman T. Jeremy's been testing the Buick Encore GX. After a long day of driving and writing, our editors like to enjoy a cold beer, and share some of their favorites for the fall. They also get an update from a listener about a winning recipe and a new plug-in hybrid purchase. Autoblog Podcast #649 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman T 2020 Polestar 1 2020 Buick Encore GX Fall beer fun (For those interested: Shakshuka recipe) Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Overnight action from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

We won't go into a recap here, but there are still leading positions being fought for in all classes - it's so close that leads are changing when a car goes into the pits. We'll let the recap wait until the end of the race, so for now enjoy some shots from last night's action at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.