48 hours in the Cotswolds

There is a particular kind of Friday afternoon that calls for a small, fast SUV and a full tank: the kind where London dissolves behind you somewhere past Oxford and the roads start to fold into themselves. We took the Macan for exactly that — 48 hours, two overnight stops, and a loose rule that motorways were for emergencies only.

The Macan's case has always been that it drives like a hot hatch wearing walking boots. On the B-roads between Burford and Stow-on-the-Wold that claim holds up beautifully. The steering is quick and honest, the body stays flat through tightening corners, and the whole car feels keyed to the road in a way nothing this tall has any right to. It is the smallest car in our fleet and, on roads like these, arguably the most entertaining.

Practicalities, briefly: the boot swallowed two weekend bags and a farm-shop haul without complaint, the seats stayed comfortable over four-hour stints, and the infotainment behaved itself. Fuel economy settled into the low thirties — respectable for something this eager.

The verdict after two days: if your weekends involve more B-roads than motorways, the Macan is the member's pick. And if they don't, it might change that.