Porsche Cayenne 2008 Review

The Porsche Cayenne GTS is the closest thing yet to a Porsche sports car in a full-sized family wagon, thanks to all sorts of tweaking in the body, engine and suspension.

It could also be the vehicle that finally justifies the overused Sports Utility Vehicle tag spawned in the US for heavyweight four-wheel drives to make them more acceptable as suburban runabouts.

The Cayenne still asserts itself as a luxury soft-roader, from its 2225kg heft to a respectable 194mm of ground clearance, fuel consumption of 13.9 litres/100km and the impressive 3500kg towing capacity.

But it's all front.

The only soft aspect of this beast is the Alcantara-and-leather upholstery, and a glance at the 295/35 rubber mounted on 21-inch alloys is proof the GTS is intended to leave the tarmac only on forays to the beach.

Not for use on the sand.

The GTS has inherited the front and rear spoilers from the Cayenne Turbo, but the wheel arches have been flared 14mm and it rides 24mm lower than the base Cayenne S to give it a more muscular stance.

The 4.8-litre V8 has been sourced from the S with modifications to the intake and throttle-mapping freeing up another 15kW.

That translates into a mid-range surge that propels the GTS from 80-120km/h in 7.8 seconds — a full second quicker than the S.

Porsche expects the $153,500 GTS to lure some Cayenne S buyers upmarket, but doesn't believe it will steal sales from the range-topping Turbo.

It also sees the GTS muscling its way onto the short list of prospective performance-wagon buyers — think Audi RS4 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

Self-levelling air suspension will be standard on all Australian-specification GTSs.

So will the Tiptronic S automatic transmission, though Porsche Cars Australia spokesman Paul Ellis predicts 10 per cent of GTS owners will specify the manual six-speed gearbox.

The interior features sports front seats with 12-way adjustment.

You don't sit on them so much as contour them around your body — and you'll need all that bolstering when you give the GTS its head.

On the road

The Turbo still rules straight-line fight in the Cayenne hierarchy — 368kW against 298kW is a one-sided fight — but will lose ground to the GTS in the twisty bits.

Which is where a Turbo S model is a distinct probability in the not-too-distant future.

The GTS suspension is teamed with an array of electronic aids for a flat, fast ride. Flick the centre-console switch into Comfort mode and the GTS will cruise over corrugations as the Porsche Active Suspension Management softens the damping.

A flick back into Sport mode activates the full arsenal, with the engine, exhaust and throttle settings remapped for (even more) performance, as the ride height drops automatically and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control loads up the anti-roll bars to keep the body level through turns

Throttle lag is non-existent, and — as the Porsche hurtles from hairpin to hairpin on the Portugese back roads used for the world press previews, you are grateful the six-piston 350mm brakes don't fade under repeated punishment.

There is some tyre noise on coarse bitumen, but that's easily addressed by flicking the Tiptronic shifter down a cog to coax more bark from the V8.

It's easy to forget you are sitting in a soft-roader — in fact, it's hard to believe anything other than a dedicated sports car can corner as well as the GTS. And that, ultimately, is the newest Cayenne's true appeal.

Paul Ellis says many buyers use their Cayennes as a quick and comfortable means of towing their boat, car or horse float and — with its 540-litre luggage capacity — it's practical transport for the affluent and ambitious.

Unhitch the trailer and the GTS will scare other drivers (and you) with brakes, power and poise that few cars and few other soft-roaders can match.

BMW does a strong job with its X5 V8, and its forthcoming X6 will provide the closest competition, but for now the Cayenne is the one to beat in the sports utility market.