Porsche Cayenne Turbo S released

The Cayenne Turbo S is priced at $294,000 - up from the old model's price tag of $281,400 and a $46,500 impost over the current Turbo - and it will roll into local showrooms from February next year.

The new SUV flagship for the German car maker now packs a 405kW wallop from its twin-turbo direct injection 4.8-litre V8, up from the far-from-sedate Turbo's 368kW.

Torque has risen from 700Nm (between 2250 and 4500rpm) to 750Nm, while Porsche is claiming a European fuel use figure of 11.5l/100km.

The interior design department has conjured up a bi-colour leather trim package specifically for the Turbo S - in black and carrera red or black and luxor beige colour combinations with contrasting seam stitching, as well as the carbon fibre trim package.

It inherits the Turbo's air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive damping system and teams it with the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), which uses active anti-roll bars controlled by hydraulic motors front and rear to

The S will stand out from the rest of the Cayenne range thanks to gloss-black trim bits on the front grille and the side mirrors.

Porsche says the Turbo S retains the Cayenne's skillset - versatile off-road capabilities and towing power - have been preserved without exception.

The S gets as standard all the clever drivetrain and chassis systems that gives the big bertha of the Porsche range considerably more dynamic ability than any SUV (including the aforementioned) should rightly possess.

Just in case you were left feeling a little underwhelmed by Cayenne Turbo, Porsche has given it a dose of steroids and released the S.

The Cayenne Turbo S is priced at $294,000 - up from the old model's price tag of $281,400 and a $46,500 impost over the current Turbo - and it will roll into local showrooms from February next year. The new SUV flagship for the German car maker now packs a 405kW wallop from its twin-turbo direct injection 4.8-litre V8, up from the far-from-sedate Turbo's 368kW.

Torque has risen from 700Nm (between 2250 and 4500rpm) to 750Nm, while Porsche is claiming a European fuel use figure of 11.5l/100km. Those outputs are enough to get the two-tonne Teuton to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds (a 0.2 second drop) and onto a 283km/h top speed, up 5 km/h on the "standard" Turbo.

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That sort of performance from an SUV is not hen's teeth rare - a $177,400 ML63 AMG Mercedes-Benz has 386kW and 700Nm on offer for a 4.8 second claim to 100km/h. BMW'S $178,200 X5M and the $190,900 X6M both have the 408kW/680Nm turbo V8 and claim 4.7 seconds to 100km/h.

Audi's V12 turbodiesel Q7 asks for nearly $260,000 but 368kW and 1000Nm shifts the 2.6-tonne German to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds. Jeep's SRT8 344kW/624Nm Grand Cherokee claims a five-second sprint to 100km/h for the bargain-basement price of $76,000.

But it's the S on the rump means it gets as standard all the clever drivetrain and chassis systems that gives the big bertha of the Porsche range considerably more dynamic ability than any SUV (including the aforementioned) should rightly possess.

It inherits the Turbo's air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive damping system and teams it with the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), which uses active anti-roll bars controlled by hydraulic motors front and rear to counteract body roll.

The Sport Chrono package (which monitors and displays total driving time, lap distances and times) and Torque Vectoring - which lightly brakes the inside rear wheel appropriate to improved turn-in during cornering - and an electronic rear diff lock combine to get the maximum from the rear end on exiting a corner.

The S will stand out from the rest of the Cayenne range thanks to gloss-black trim bits on the front grille and the side mirrors, 21in 911 Turbo II wheels with gloss-black paint (exclusive the Cayenne Turbo S despite the name), as well as interior tweaks to further distinguish the S.

The interior design department has conjured up a bi-colour leather trim package specifically for the Turbo S - in black and carrera red or black and luxor beige colour combinations with contrasting seam stitching, as well as the carbon fibre trim package.

Porsche says the Turbo S retains the Cayenne's skillset - versatile off-road capabilities and towing power - have been preserved without exception.