CarMiddleEast - Tested: Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Porsche held its regional launch for the all-new Cayenne this week and we’ve been behind the wheel of both the staggeringly quick 500bhp Turbo and gone off-road in the 400bhp Cayenne S. Read all the technical details of the all-new Cayenne, plus news that we’ll be getting both the Hybrid and diesel variants at launch by clicking here.
Watch the video of the launch drive in the dunes of Dubai here.
How does it look in the metal?
So much better than it did before. Despite the fact that’s actually 48mm longer and slightly taller and wider too, it looks sleeker and smaller – less aggressive but more muscular at the same time.
Admittedly it will be hard to discern it at first glance, but it’s only when it’s parked next to a previous car that the differences become really apparent. The bonnet curve is more linear and in true Porsche style the badge moves to the bonnet, the wings are more contoured with more appealing headlights.
The air intakes are better integrated and the sticking out wing mirrors are, again, more in keeping with the 911 style that is signature to the Porsche design language.
Its side profile appears more elongated with greater emphasis on the wheel arches, but the most marked difference is how it all tapers into a much less abrupt rear end. The d-pillar is curved in, there is a ‘double-bubble’ rear roofline that flows into a split roof spoiler, and the LED tail lamps now wrap around and ingress further into the back.
In fact it has a more squatter and contoured appearance, which does closely resemble an Infiniti EX – although frankly that’s not a bad thing. Still it’s not surprisingly therefore that the company thus felt it necessary to write Porsche in big letters right across the rump.
So considering I never fully came to terms with the previous Cayenne’s ugly duckling stance, this new version is a far more appealing blend of Porsche style and SUV lines. Much more acceptable in my eyes, though I do wonder if I’ve just become used to seeing the Cayenne around.
Interior wasn’t too great before either
Yeah it always appeared as if the traditional architecture of an old 911 interior had been pumped up and forced to occupy the increased area demanded by an SUV, which basically put its traditional delicate detailing all out of proportion.
The new dashboard, instrument panel, and wedge-like centre console sweeping down from the fascia is all pure Panamera, and that’s a good thing. It instantly raises the bar in every way – it looks better, feels better, and even contrives to make the cabin sportier by enveloping the driver and spreading the key controls orientated around him.
It’s also as futuristic as the old interior was, shall we say, ‘retro’. The big rev dial in the middle and the TFT display in the dash are also nice touches, as are the uniquely angled grab handles that have been copied over from the current Cayenne.
Okay it’s much better looking now, but how does it go? You drove the Turbo. Quick hey?
Oh yeah, and then some! Driving the new Turbo on UAE roads it was easy to go much faster than you intended – though be aware that that’s not admissible evidence in court!
Put the suspension into Sport – one of three settings but the best for firm body control – hit the other Sport button below that which livens up the gearchanges based on your driving style, locks out 7th and 8th gears on the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission, and automatically downshifts on braking for better getaway, and you have startlingly quick SUV that lays down a challenge to all-comers – including junior supercars.
Stamp on the throttle from standstill and after an initial hesitation as the four-wheel drive grips and bogs down momentarily, the Turbo gathers itself up and brutally launches at the horizon with the nose reaching for the skies. 100 is dispatched in a blip – just 4.7 seconds. It'll hit 160kph in 10.5secs and cover a kilometre from a standing start in just 23.5secs.
There’s a nice satisfying grunt as the new tranny changes up, but there’s little or no point in trying to make the changes yourself in manual mode – for one, the buttons confound and confuse. Having said that the three-spoke steering wheel with proper paddleshifts from the 911 Turbo PDK is available as an option.
But there’s still no point in having them, because as clever as the Tiptronic is, and it is, it’s still no match for the PDK system. There’s no reward for taking over the gearchange duties, no delightful blips or slammed in ratios. The Tiptronic just quietly, efficiently and relatively smoothly goes about its business unflustered and learning your driving style thus learning when to be in what gear. Excellent if not the most thrilling.
Thrill seekers, however will be mollified by not only the performance, but the way it grips and handles. Naturally it has four-wheel drive of the active sort allowing computers to vary torques fore and aft, port and starboard plus, most impressively of all the Porsche Torque Vectoring system. This feels a little like four wheel steer and during cornering pushes the car tighter around a corner by cutting or increasing torque to the different wheels – more to the outside wheels etc…
The effect is that after initial understeer, the car seems to pivot on its centre and dramatically tighten back onto the line you want – you can actually feel it at work. Along with the fact that it has great grip the cornering forces despite its size and bulk are extraordinary and although nerves will get the better of you at higher speeds, the rest of the time, you’ll find yourself throwing this thing around like a hot hatch.
One thing you will find is the shock realisation how quickly you arrive at corners and how much speed you have to scrub off. Fortunately the brakes are strong and bite well, but the regular anchors tend to suffer from fade, and if you are a hooligan, it might be worth investing in the optional carbon ceramic jobbies.
Easy to drive fast then?
Seems to be the whole point of this car. Okay, it’s not an outright sports car, but it will embarrass a few of them. It also inspires confidence despite its great dimensions but effectively doing the shrinking-around-you-trick – partly down to the interior styling methinks.
You can hustle it along with confidence, or put it in the regular modes and crush vast distances in no time at all. Incident, there’s not a lot of difference in the three suspension modes in terms of harshness, they’re all pretty comfortable, the difference is in the body control and damper settings which tighten up the sportier you go.
Comfortable then?
Aside from the headrests which seemed to be digging into my shoulder blades until I realised you could just manually adjust it up, and the odd electric steering column adjustment button which feels more like a manual release, but with good length and rake adjustment for the column, it’s spacious and comfortable in a cosy, body-hugging sort of manner.
Same goes for the rear, which at first acquaintance doesn’t seem that much roomier, but the contours and detailing contrive to make it mimic the sportiness of the front compartment.
Can it go off-road?
Even the old Cayenne was surprisingly able when it left the tarmac, it’s just that with something so valuable and sporty you never would, would you? And such hesitation is justified when for example we saw that several of the Cayenne S models being used for the off-road part of the launch test drive had suffered damage to their bumpers and wheel arches and guards.
It also didn’t help that, apart from the lead car, they were all shod with the optional 21-inch wheels and ultra-low profile rubber. These were clearly a handicap in the soft sand and the more tarmac-orientated rubber did have some difficulty in gaining purchasing on the soft stuff.
Having said that, a dune-bashing passenger ride in the 18-inch car demonstrated precisely what the Cayenne is capable of and it’s up there with the best of the dune bashers if you don’t find forking out for new bumpers and stuff after each excursion. It’s no Range Rover, but it’ll get you where you need to go off-road should you ever need too.
But for any customers that seriously want to use it this way – and it does come with the ability to lock the centre and rear differentials through a three-mode toggle switch, plus hill-descent control, and adjustable ride height – so you’d be tempted, Porsche might consider offering an off-road bodykit with more robust bumpers and underside.
So the answer to your question is that yes it can, but you wouldn’t.
Verdict
Dynamically the old Cayenne was always an impressive car, capable of far more than most critics, myself included, would give it any credit for, certainly on the road and to some extent off it. But it struggle with acceptance unaided, really, buy it’s rather stodgy looks and fake 911 rip-off front end.
The new car also has a 911 rip-off front end, but it’s just so much better composed and executed that you forgive it. It’s also easier to come to terms with a Porsche SUV when the interior is such a nice inviting place to be, in contrast to the previous car.
Best of all though is that as good as the old Cayenne was on the road, doing a decent impression of a high-riding sports saloon, the new car takes that even further and appears to move close to a fearsomely fast hot hatch in its nimbleness. It’s actually rather fun, despite being frighteningly fast.
If anything, to keep your licence safe, you might just opt for a ‘regular’ Cayenne S – same 4.8 V8 with 400bhp, a 0-100 time of 5.9secs and 258kph – you’ll also save yourself nearly $50k and be ‘greener’ with 10.5L/100 fuel economy. Leave the standard wheels on it and you could occasionally head off road too.
If you like the current Cayenne you’ll love the new car, and if you hated it, you’ll be forced to revisit your opinions and could well find yourself warming to this generation Cayenne, especially if you take it for a cheeky run.
2010 Porsche Cayenne tested - CAR Middle East - Online | Dubai - Abu Dhabi - UAE - Saudi Arabia - Kuwait - Bahrain - Oman - GCC
and a great set of photos…
Better on tarmac than the X ///M's...I don't think so. The battle will commence soon
