Porsche's gone and made its already brilliant Cayenne even better; we take it for a spin.
There are changes on the inside as well. The 918-type steering wheel is the most obvious addition. Look down towards the Drive Select menu and you also see the addition of Sport Plus, not present on earlier versions of this SUV. Porsche has also improved comfort levels at the rear. There is a bit more space eked out by the newly positioned rear seat. You get a full-sized seat, there’s plenty of legroom, thigh support is very good and you are sat at an almost perfect height. Visibility out isn’t great, however, and sometimes you need to look past those tall headrests to get a better view. What really lifts the experience is the fact that this remains one of the nicest SUV cabins there is. Yes, the insides of the Range Rover are more plush and better trimmed, but the Cayenne isn’t too far behind. With the updated car also comes an updated engine range: the now more powerful V6 turbo diesel, a V8 twin-turbo diesel, a new V6 turbo petrol (that replaces the naturally aspirated V8), a V8 twin-turbo petrol and a plug-in V6 petrol hybrid too. That’s five distinctly different engines. Porsche claims that the latest Cayenne is more powerful and faster, yet more economical.
The S diesel, for example, with its stonking 4.2-litre twin-turbo V8 380bhp, is insanely quick for a two-tonne diesel SUV. It can hit 100kph from rest in a mere 5.3 seconds. Even more incredibly, it can growl its way up to 160kph in just 12.9sec. And that makes it faster than even the original petrol Cayenne Turbo that so completely rewrote the SUV performance rule book back in 2002.
But is it nicer to drive? I’m out on a mountain road, finally. The road ahead is anything but conducive to fast motoring. Barely wider than the width of the Porsche, it twists, turns and ◊∆ bobs like a rivulet running down a steep mountainside. There are blind drops, some corners double up on themselves and at times the road narrows down even further. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to exploit the new Cayenne fully here,” I tell myself, “I’ll have to
wait for another road.”
What I haven’t factored in is the overall precision that’s built into the new Cayenne’s chassis. Yes, it’s as big as a bus, and as square as a block, but it’s incredibly precise. What also helps massively is that you don’t need to lead it around by the nose, or yank it into a corner. Turn-in is sharp and that means it goes exactly where I point it with only a suggestion of the steering wheel. Now this is understandable at low speeds, but this precision remains even as I up the pace, impressive when you consider that two tonnes are being transferred from one side of the car to the other. What’s keeping it all manageable, of course, is the active antiroll bar at the rear. And Porsche says it has specifically improved suspension mounts to deliver even more agility. Soon I’m flying along said narrow mountain road faster than I would have dared, and it’s all down to the Cayenne which, once on the move, feels as accomplished as some of the finest handling sedans around; albeit with a touch more body roll.