Before we start, here are some extremely simple rules. Tequipment accessories are excluded as they’re generally dealer-installed add-ons rather than true factory options. In addition, popping for a higher trim doesn’t factor in to cost of options, and we’re not going to worry about freight charges here, nor count delivery to California or Atlanta. Everything else is fair game though.
First up, let’s indulge in Porsche’s paint-to-sample program with Speed Yellow. I’m a sucker for Speed Yellow, although $11,430 for a color most people won’t be able to tell apart from the free Racing Yellow on a base 718 Cayman is on the steep side. A set of 21-inch Neodyme wheels clock in at an equally eye-watering $4,850, while getting the lower plastic trims painted runs $1,840. Oh, and one other big frippery costs a steep $1,390. That would be carbon fiber trim on the lower doors.
Right, enough with the exterior stuff for now, time to talk interiors. Porsche loves leather, to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if someone with deep pockets could pay Porsche to wrap their dining room in cowhide. As such, it shouldn’t be hugely surprising that our theoretical Macan features $21,190 in leather alone. It starts with a charge of $3,630 for black extended leather, followed by $5,460 in deviated stitching and centers. Leather interior trim is $1,950, with leather dashboard trim another $1,570, leather air vents for $1,950, leather seat consoles for $2,040, and leather sun visors for $660. It was at this point that I realized a very yellow Macan needed a nickname, so on came bespoke floor mats with leather edging for $1,470, and a bespoke owner’s manual wallet in leather for $960, both with “banana” embroidered onto them. Add in a few other leather-related goodies, and the total sounds about right.
As for performance, this fictional-yet-possible Macan gets all the goodies, from Porsche Surface Coated Brakes to air suspension. A torque-vectoring diff is obviously on hand, as is the desired Sport Chrono package. Total performance spend was $11,890, which seems surprisingly reasonable considering I’ve seen carbon ceramic brakes cost more than that. Equally reasonable is total spend on general interior bits, which came out to $2,430. Then again, I did option the Premium Package Plus, which included heated front and rear seats, ventilated front seats, a panoramic roof, blind-spot monitoring, and optional 18-way seats and black LED headlights. All that added $3,910 to the price. Things quickly re-enter ludicrous territory with a textile Porsche calls Race-Tex. It’s another version of the mouse fur faux-suede so popular these days, yet a heated Race-Tex steering wheel with matte carbon fiber trim clocks in at a staggering $1,860. That’s more than having the headliner done in Race-Tex for $1,550. Chuck in the $660 Race-Tex gear selector, and that’s about enough faux suede for me. Mind you, that $1,860 oil-trapping steering wheel doesn’t even come close to the price tag of personalized carbon fiber door sills. Imagine paying $3,080 for two pieces of light-up plastic that say “banana” or other such nonsense.
The last big spend is $5,700 on the Burmester premium audio system. Add a few other bits and bobs like lane keep assistance and clear tail lights, and the total comes out to $79,220 or 137.7 percent of the base price in options. In total, this Macan smashes straight through the six-figure barrier and into 911 territory with a $136,720 price tag, all while still packing four cylinders. Oh, and the best part is that I’ve tried to keep this build moderately tasteful. Should you wish to go overboard, you can ring up a higher number. Of course, nobody ever options all of these crazy high-margin bits onto a base Macan, but just because you shouldn’t doesn’t mean you can’t. It all just seems extremely silly, don’t you think? I’ll leave a link to my entirely stupid Macan here, and I’d love to see you try to out-do me in the comments, whether you start with a base Macan, a 718 Boxster, or something else entirely. All photos courtesy of Porsche How to add 79g ontop of a 59g BUCKET of a “Porsche” Mecan err Audi Q3 err Q5…. Rip out the interior.. custom colored cloth, nice tan maybe. Decent 5-6spd manuel. Gauges and running gear out of a 80s 911 Turbo. Lower the thing with a flat car crusher top. Add in the fabrication for a wagon for 25g, decent seats, decent motor, decent hips.. nice Whaletail. None of this hybrid, electric, weenie bs. It is a PORSCHE. It should DRIVE, look and act like a PORSCHE! The front end has a black bumper cover. That seems to be a bug in the program, as it was added when I added 360° surround view. It should be green like the rest. As a German I’m appalled by Porsche’s lack of attention to detail. Slobs! “Minion Macan” was right there!!! I’m absolutely positive I would not like the kind of person who selects them. I didn’t go all out and get a paint to sample color though. PP37NCZ2 https://www.carsensor.net/usedcar/detail/AU0256156561/index.html?TRCD=200002&RESTID=CS210610 It is a bummer when I go build a “normal” car and get to choose from white/gray/silver/black paint (maybe there is a red or blue if you are lucky) with black interior….and that is it. Ive got B L U E VINYL that matches the exterior of my car. THAT.. would be worth.. 79g. And yeah, suede anything on touch points is just so dumb. So incredibly dumb. Headliner, fine. But steering wheel? You’re basically asking your car to look terrible in under 5 years, but I guess the people that like that stuff don’t even keep a car that long. Many decades ago, one of my classmates at college was wondering out loud about designing an all-leather car. I wittily piped up “What about the windows?”, to which one of my other classmates immediately came back with “Jellyfish leather!!” He now works for Porsche… Because I have no doubt the options on those can get pretty steep.
