Porsche Cayenne Turbo Test Drive Review

Performance – The Porsche Cayenne Turbo is powered by a 4.0-litre bi-turbo petrol engine which sees an increase in power and torque by 30 HP and 20 Nm respectively, the third-gen model belting out 550 HP and 770 Nm, resulting in a half a second quicker 0-100 km/hr sprint at just 3.9 seconds! The engine is very responsive, thoroughly refined at idle and once you get in the mid-range, it starts getting vocal (in a good way), redlining at 7000 RPM with a raucous note, although it isn’t very loud and should have been more audible inside the cabin.

The Cayenne takes off right from get-go as there is crazy thrust from the motor

Left foot on the brake, right foot on the accelerator engages launch control (Performance Start in Porsche speak) but you need to wait a bit for the turbo to build boost pressure, resulting in an ideal launch, it absolutely flies off the line and pins you back in the seat, gathering pace so quickly that the claimed 286 km/hr top speed seems like a cakewalk. The 8-speed torque converter gearbox is super fast with shifts and very aggressive with downshifts when you drive in Sport Plus mode, it also firms up the suspension, engine and steering. You can manually take control of cogs using the gear lever (push it left) or via the steering mounted paddles. The Cayenne Turbo returns a fuel economy of 4-7 km/l, depending on your driving style, there is a stop/start function too. The engine also shuts 4 of the cylinders when you go easy on the throttle to save fuel.

Driving Dynamics – The Porsche Cayenne uses an air suspension, it also gets electromechanical anti-roll bars, rear wheel steering and torque vectoring (some of this is optional though). This sports SUV is set up on the stiffer side so you can feel a lot of the road, especially in Sports Plus mode and on not so smooth roads, although on good roads, it does ride smoothly. A modest weight reduction of 10 kgs has happened from the previous generation but you can’t feel any of the 2175 kgs weight as the Cayenne does feel light to drive and the steering is an absolute joy to use, it offers terrific feel and feedback at all speeds.

You can adjust the ride height depending on where you’re driving this Porsche

The massive 21-inch tyres have a ton of grip on offer and the adjustable ride height means you can go all the way up to 245 mm when going off-road or drop it down to 162 mm for sporty driving. The body control is fantastic, the Cayenne drives more sports car like than SUV and is pinpoint accurate, inspiring confidence to push it hard. In spite of the sportiness, it still is very capable off-road, thanks to the use of electronics (it misses out on locking differentials which were there in the original model).