Porsche's gone and made its already brilliant Cayenne even better; we take it for a spin.
Later on, I make it a point to sample some of the other engines in the lineup, all of which are now slightly more powerful. The base diesel now feels much more eager as it has a healthier 262bhp rather than 245bhp, and the insanely quick V8 diesel has a bit more power too. But it’s the full-fat V8 turbo, now with 520bhp and its aggressive throttle responses, that makes an impact. There’s so much grunt under your right foot, it feels ever so slightly unhinged as it rockets past 220kph on even the shortest of stretches. Later I see the claimed performance figures: 0-100kph in 4.1sec and 0-160 in 10.3; now tell me that’s not crazy for a car that weighs 2185kg!
What Porsche has done with the new Cayenne is, taken an already brilliant car and made it even better. Offroad driving is not its forte and it isn’t quite as plush on the inside as the Range Rover, but for everything else, there’s simply no touching it. This just could be the best luxury SUV in the real world. With prices expected to start at around a crore, the Cayenne is more than the competition. But if you like to drive and can stretch your budget, there really is nothing quite like it.