2019s Porsche Bike S In All White
I am a fanatical Porsche enthusiast. I love all things Porsche. This has led me to explore the depths of the automobile brand including some of the least known items the marque is known for. My latest journey - Porsche bicycles and running! When I was 11 years old, I fell in love with Porsche cars. Delivering the morning newspaper on my Schwinn ten-speed bike brought me face to bumper with a white 911T each morning and from there I was hooked. Some of my more prized Porsche possessions are my three Porsche bicycles. Yes, three. One is a 100% original 1996 Bike S. The other is a heavily modified 1998 Bike S I use for road and mountain riding. And the latest is a touring-style 2004 Porsche Bike X that I turned into a road bike. I have ridden these three bikes over 4,000 miles in the last two and a half years. In 2016, I rode many training miles in preparation for a 53-mile ride in the California Sierra foothills, a 72-mile ride around Lake Tahoe and the grand finale ride of 100 miles at the Sacramento Century. And this blog shared every mile! 2016 and 2017 were great years of riding. What could possibly follow that? My latest goal is to add running into the mix of Porsche bike riding. I bought a special pair of shoes for this effort - Porsche Design Endurance Boost running shoes.
There are four generously sized storage bins, a large cubby under the centre front armrest and a useful rubberised tray on the centre console that鈥檒l happily store a phone or wallet - cupholders are located beneath this. The Range Rover Evoque measures in at just under 1.65m tall, 4.37m long and a few milimetres over 1.9m wide - or 2.1m including mirrors. For comparison, the Volvo XC40 is a few millimetres taller and longer, but a shade narrower at 2.03m including mirrors. The BMW X2 is lower, measuring just over 1.52m tall, but almost the exact length and width of the Evoque - 4.36m and just under 2.1m including mirrors, respectively. There鈥檚 enough space in the Evoque to sit one six-footer behind another, but despite a small increase in leg room over the original car, the rear-seat occupant will still feel a little hemmed-in. Longer journeys may become uncomfortable for adults in the rear as a result; sitting three-abreast will also prove pretty cosy as the car tapers towards its rear.
The sloping roofline will annoy anyone much over six feet tall. Rivals like the Volvo XC40 and Audi Q3 make a much better job of rear-seat packaging. The Evoque鈥檚 boot is up 10 per cent in size versus the outgoing car. There鈥檚 591 litres on offer with the seats up, but this is probably measured floor-to-ceiling; rival鈥檚 figures seem small on paper by comparison, but the difference is not as drastic in actual use. For example, BMW quotes 470 litres for the X2 and Lexus 475 litres for its NX. Fold the seats down and there鈥檚 1,383 litres of space to play with. The rear seats folds on a 40:20:40 split - this can be done via a handle in the boot. The Evoque lives up to its badge when it comes to towing. All Evoque models can tow an unbraked trailer of up to 750kg; choose an automatic gearbox and diesel engine combination and there鈥檚 up to 2000kg of braked trailer towing ability. The entry level diesel with two-wheel drive and a manual gearbox is limited to 1,600kg braked trailers.
From its first appearance four years ago, the Porsche Macan has established itself as a beacon of Porsche-ness in a sea of luxury compact-crossover mediocrity. With its responsive powertrains and sports-sedan-like handling, the Macan is what to drive when a 718 Cayman is too small鈥攁nd that has earned this Porsche accolades as our Best Compact Luxury SUV two years running. Now, the Macan is undergoing a mid-cycle update: one that sees a new V-6 engine slip under the hood of the volume model, various mechanical upgrades elsewhere, new interior tech, and minor design tweaks to the front and rear. The net result doesn't so much alter the Macan's personality as refine it, and we're okay with that. Although we expect the revised Macan to be offered in all of its current permutations鈥攂ase, S, GTS, and Turbo鈥擯orsche has so far unveiled only the 2019 base model and the S (both should be arriving in showrooms in the spring). The base Macan continues with its turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, good for 248 horsepower. All Macans come with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.