Porsche Cayenne GTS 2012 review: road test

These hills are alive with the sound of Porsche music.

VALUE

The GTS will come to Australia this September for $164,900, which is $13,600 more than the Cayenne S. For the extra cash you get a bunch of extra equipment, a more exciting drive, a pinch more power and torque and some enhanced motor music.

TECHNOLOGY

Porsche engineers developed a system that enables the GTS Cayenne to operate in a relatively serene manner until the driver presses the Sport button and effectively switches on an amplifier.

Flaps in the exhaust open wide and two sound chambers in the engine bay draw ear-pleasing notes into the otherwise well-insulated cabin. The 4.8-litre V8 in the GTS has been tweaked with two new camshafts which bumps power up by 15kW over the S to kW and increases torque by 15Nm to 515Nm.

Even with a hefty weight tally of 2085kg, this is enough firepower to sling the GTS from 0-100km/h in 5.7 seconds. It certainly feels that fast when you mash the accelerator, especially with the added soundtrack of Sport mode.

The responsiveness of this engine is just brilliant and the power delivery comes on strong through to the 6700 rev cut-out without any lumps or gaps. The official fuel consumption figure is 10.7L/100km, but give it a hard time and you could uses as much a 18L/100km.

Porsche says it is the most emotional largely because it has a sweet-revving naturally aspirated V8 engine that responds instantly to driver instruction instead pausing slightly for a turbocharger to spool up.

The only transmission is a ZF eight-speed torque convertor automatic (not to be confused with the faster shifting dual-clutch auto from sports models) which is standard across the Cayenne range.

DESIGN

Silver is the standard wheel colour, but customers can have them painted all kinds of colours. One red GTS at the launch had red wheels, which looked hideous and clashed with the callipers (a different shade of red). A wide spectrum of body colours is available including an exclusive eye-ball assaulting green (with matching interior stitching).   

All GTS Cayennes get a full body kit including a dual-layer rear wing, side skirts and a meaner front bumper with bigger air inlets and Cayenne Turbo headlights. Alcantara is used for the seats, doors, centre column and even the headlining.

Like other Cayennes, the GTS has two easily accessible grab bars for the passenger which can come in handy if the driver is having a crack. Porsche dropped the suspension by 20mm, further reducing any chance this 4WD will ever make it off road, which helps it to sit as flat as can be expected in the turns. 

All Australian Cayennes get air suspension, so the driver can choose between the firm Sport mode, benign Normal mode and marshmallow Comfort mode.

DRIVING

The Cayenne sounds incredibly loud outside the car and the gravity-defying mountain cows at the highest point of our climb look at me with a form of bovine contempt. If they had opposable thumbs, they’d call the cops.

Inside, the GTS sounds awesome whenever you have the throttle wide open, but is too quiet when you back off the throttle. All the cabin sound insulation that makes the Cayenne a quiet cruiser blocks out the fury of the exhaust unless you drive with the windows down.

The transmission was chosen for comfort and even though it has been tuned for the GTS, the gearshifts are too slow for such a sporty car. The transmission is linked to all four wheels using a system that automatically shifts power between the front and rear wheels on the run. 

There’s no doubting the GTS is fast in a straight line, but what about when it arrives at corners? Thanks to a raft of changes to the suspension, the GTS corners remarkably well, for what it is. There’s no escaping the fact that this is a great big, heavy crossover wagon that seats four people comfortably (the fifth seat is near-useless) and has a big boot.  

The ride is surprisingly comfortable even running in Sport mode on optional 21-inch rims (20 inch wheels are standard). After conquering the mountains, we are allowed to flog the Cayennes around a tight and twisty track, following a Boxster S.

This activity does showcase the relative agility of the GTS, but also highlights the fact that while the steering is accurate, it is overly light and passes on very little feeling. The brakes also have to work extremely hard to pull it up in a timely fashion.

VERDICT

The GTS is sportiest model in the Cayenne range. It isn’t the fastest, as the Cayenne Turbo out-guns it in a straight line, but the GTS is the most agile and driver-focused. I can’t help but want to be sitting nice and low in the Boxster, enjoying a real Porsche sportscar.

That’s only natural, because Porsche sportscars are really something special, but the kind of person looking at a Cayenne wants an SUV and all the space and comfort that comes with it. In that case, the GTS is about as good as its going to get.