2018 BMW X3 vs Porsche Macan

What's the difference?

BMW's 'B58' six-cylinder engine is what's known in the trade as 'a cracker'. Three litres and a turbo's worth of silky smooth power, it delivers big dollops of torque with the kind of immediacy once reserved for much larger units.

It's already a perfect match for the M140i hatch, as well as the M240i coupe and convertible. And once you hit on a winning formula, why not spread the joy into the ever-growing world of SUVs?

Enter the X3 M40i, the first performance variant in BMW's compact SUV range, sitting just under $100k (before on-road costs) and aiming up at a quality field of similarly sized and specified performance versions like the Audi Q3, Jaguar F-Pace, Merc-AMG GLC, Porsche Macan, and Volvo XC60.

My mate Bram is the hardest of hardcore Porsche-philes. For him, Porsche ceased to exist 20 years ago when the 911 switched from air to water cooling. He once sent me a scan of a press ad for the Panamera E-Hybrid, and seriously questioned the meaning of life in his accompanying note.

So, you can imagine his confusion when, in 2002, what he refers to as “the company formerly known as Porsche” produced the Cayenne SUV.

Then, just over three years ago, the decision-makers in Zuffenhausen doubled down on the whole SUV thing, unveiling a mid-size five-seater called the Macan.

Bram remains in occasional therapy, but there’s no doubting the new car’s success. It was far and away Porsche’s biggest seller in Australia in 2017, with nearly two-and-a-half thousand finding homes here; that number more than doubling the brand’s next best result, for, you guessed it, the Cayenne.

About a year ago, Porsche launched this entry-level model, the Macan. That’s just M-A-C-A-N on the boot. No S, no GTS, no Turbo. And to help get to an $80,110 price-point (easily the cheapest way into a Porsche in this country), Porsche has slipped a relatively humble 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine under the bonnet.

So, is the ‘base’ Macan experience a truly Porsche one, or that of a posh SUV with a go-fast badge?