Ferrari Purosangue vs Porsche Cayenne

What's the difference?

Write the Purosangue off as nothing more than another SUV-sized cash grab at your peril. It's not just the easiest-to-live-with Ferrari ever made, but also, and indisputably, an actual Ferrari, regardless of its body shape.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

Of all the super SUVs I've piloted, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is the best all-rounder in terms of performance, comfort, cabin technology and style.

As a family car it's roomy, practical and easy to use and drive daily.

As a performance car the Turbo GT is stupidly quick, with the agility of a sports car. Sure, a 911 would leave it behind on a twisty race track, but this SUV is close to having that sportscar experience and keeping your family, as well.

The word ‘SUV’ is a bit like Voldemort around Maranello — as in, he who shall not be named. And if I’m totally honest, I thought the brand’s refusal to acknowledge what they’ve so obviously made here was just marketing guff to protect its performance heritage.

But seeing the Purosangue in the metal has shifted that view a little. Sure, it will compete with models like the Lamborghini Urus, but it doesn’t exactly look like an SUV, does it?

In fact, and this would likely be another dirty word in Ferrari land, it almost looks more like a hot hatch, what with its short rear overhang, swollen body styling and the positioning of each wheel in the furthest possible corners.

But more than that, the Purosangue looks elegant. Aggressive, sure, but still somehow a little understated. And for mine, that’s a huge tick in the positive column.

Unlike some of its competitors, the Purosangue looks like it was designed by adults, for adults, and not by cordial-addled children.

There’s no active aero at work here, with the airflow instead built into the design. Like the openings at either side of the front end, which channel air past the front tyres, or the positioning of the rear spoiler, which pushes air down over the rear windscreen so effectively there's apparently no need for a rear windscreen wiper.

Traditionally, interiors have not been Ferrari’s strongest suit, but the Purosangue is a comfortable and premium space to spend time, and the seats and the steering wheel especially, look fantastic.

The tech, though, isn’t perfect. Some of it (like the haptic Engine Start button) is an awesome addition, but while the twin screens for driver and passenger look good, the technology is a little clunky, and simply not as smooth as using a single, centrally mounted screen.

This might be a personal thing but to me nearly all Porsches look better from the back than the front.

It's the wide stance and powerful haunches, the hunkered down suction-capped-to-the-road look that does it for me and the Cayenne Turbo GT, despite being an SUV, passes this important Porsche checklist item.

The GT aero kit only serves to make this SUV look more of a beast, and the gold-bronze looking satin Neodyne wheels are a Porsche theme that I've not always been a fan of, but I get the historic connection.

If only the Turbo GT could look a little less like other Cayennes from the front. This is the king of the SUV range and despite the apron and bumper already being exclusive to this model, there should be more.

Vents in the wheel arches, carbon bonnet with nostrils GT3-style perhaps? Or is that going too far? If you do want something more lairy then there's always the Urus.

The Cayenne Turbo GT's cabin is stunning in its plushness and modern surprises such as the passenger display, the hoodless instrument digital cluster, the lashings of Race-Tex upholstery everywhere. It's perfectly Porsche. High-performance meets high-end.

It's also highly practical. Let's talk about that.

Not the kind of thing you’d normally care about in a Ferrari review, I know, but then this isn’t a normal Ferrari.

So, let’s focus on the back seat for a moment. The Purosangue is a strict four seater. Asked why not just install a bench backseat for more family-friendly practicality, the brand had a quality answer locked and loaded.

The reason, it says, is because a car in this price bracket needs to instil a sense of dignity in every seat, and by installing three across the back row, you don’t just ruin the middle seat, but the two window seats as well, because then everyone is uncomfortable.

It make sense, right? Even if I still harbour suspicions that, by installing just the four seats in the Purosangue, it moves it just a little further from that dreaded SUV tag.

Either way, there is more space in the rear of the Purosangue than you might expect by looking at it. Each rear seat rider can stretch out, with more than enough head and legroom.

And while there, they can access their seat functions and climate control settings through a nifty pop-up rotary dial (front seat riders get one, too).

The rear doors open automatically with a long pull on a lever at the base of the window. Ferrari says the rear-hinged doors serve two purposes, the first being that they allow easier access to the rear seats, and the second being that they look much cooler than regular, boring doors.

The engineers, though, concede making them a reality was a nightmare, with the brand replacing three fastening points with a single massive hinge that emerges from the rear of the body.

There’s more practicality on offer here, too, courtesy of a 473-litre boot space (and more if you flatten the back seats), with a flat load space, and hidden storage beneath it. 

The Purosangue measures in at 4973mm in length, 1589mm in height, and 2028mm in width, and it rides on a new spaceframe chassis bespoke to this model.

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT only makes one compromise on practicality and that's the removal of the middle seat in the back, which, with just two kids isn't used all the time but on average we might need it once a week for school mates and cousins.

Instead of a middle seat there is a shallow tray, which will fit a phone or in our case leaves and rocks found at the park.

So, yes, the Turbo GT is a four-seater only, but this is a spacious, large SUV with good head and legroom, wide-opening doors for easy entry and exit, and air suspension which can raise and lower the height for easy access.

Storage is excellent with enormous door pockets in the front and back and there are four cupholders.

There's a wireless phone charger in the front and two USB-C ports as well, plus two USB-C sockets in the back.

Four-zone climate control means the kids in the back can set their own temperatures. They also have heated seats.

I was disappointed to see there aren't sunshades for the rear windows - pretty vital in Australia where it feels like we're only about 50 metres away from the sun.

The Turbo GT's 576-litre boot just managed to fit our pram and a week's shopping, which is our minimum standard for living. Any more space is a bonus.

The Turbo GT is the king of Cayennes, so it shouldn't surprise anybody that it's also the most expensive with its list price of $364,700.

Lamborghini's Urus lists for $409,744  and is the Cayenne Turbo GT's not-so-subtle Italian cousin, sharing the same platform and engine.

Both are in my mind the best performance SUVs on the planet. It just depends how conspicuous you want to be.

Then there's Bentley's V8 Bentayga which isn't blessed with the Porsche's good looks but would still be all over the Cayenne if the two happened to meet at a race track.

So, why is the GT Turbo the king of the Cayennes? What makes it better? For all the reasons you'd think - it's the fastest, most powerful, most luxurious and most equipped Cayenne in the range.

We'll get into mind-bending engine and performance specs soon, but first let me take you through the standard features on a car that's anything but standard.

Coming standard and exclusively to the Turbo GT are 22-inch 'GT Design' wheels in satin 'Neodyne' with full-colour Porsche centre caps, an active rear spoiler, Turbo GT front apron, dual titanium exhaust, rear apron with diffuser, 'SportDesign' side skirts, wheel arch extensions, a lightweight carbon roof and tinted LED HD-matrix headlights.

Inside, and also exclusive to this grade, is the 'GT Interior Package' with 'Race-Tex' upholstery throughout with 'Deep Sea Blue' stitching on the front seats and centre console and the armrests and dashboard.

There's also the 'Carbon Interior Package' which includes dashboard and door trim elements.

Race-Tex trim is applied to the 'GT Sports' steering wheel, roof lining and gearshift, too.

The adaptive active air suspension, which can lower the car by 15mm, is standard and only available on the Turbo GT, too.

The soft-close doors are standard (a cost option on lower grades), as are the stainless steel pedal covers.

The rest of the features are also found on lower grades and include the 12.65-inch digital instrument cluster, head-up display, proximity unlocking, 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, a 10-speaker Bose sound system, heated front seats, rear privacy glass and an auto tailgate.

Four-zone climate control is standard on the GT Turbo, too, and so are heated rear seats.

Our car had several options fitted such as the front passenger display ($2860) and the Deep Sea Blue Accent Package.

The passenger display is a crowd pleaser, but as a family car my kids felt like they were missing screens in the back seats, too. Well, in my day...

Nothing but Ferrari’s best here, with a mid-front mounted V12 engine providing the power, and plenty of rapid forward momentum. 

This naturally aspirated 6.5-litre monster produces a total 533kW at 7750rpm and 716Nm at 6250rpm – and climbs to a screaming 8250rpm.

It channels that power to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, and a compact and front-mounted power transfer unit that calls the front tyres into action.

It’s a clever solution that allows the Purosangue the grip of all-wheel drive when you’re in fourth gear or below, reverting to rear-wheel-drive at higher speeds.

The reasoning is that you get the lower-speed grip without requiring a heaver permanent AWD solution.

There are more clever things at play here, too. Like a new 'Active Suspension' system that replaces the need for anti-roll bars with motorised adaptive dampers.

Each corner has an electric actuator that can then individually stiffen or soften the suspension as required to keep the Purosangue flat when cornering, or supple on bad road surfaces.

You can also lift or lower the ride height slightly, including for launch control which flatness the Purosangue for maximum aero slipperiness. 

As a middle-aged parent with two children, a Porsche that I don't have to crawl into and out of like a cubby house is a great thing.

What's even better is that this ‘easy access' Porsche is every bit as brutally powerful and fast as the quintessentially ‘pure' Porsche, the 911. Actually, it's more powerful and faster.

The Turbo GT's twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine makes 485kW and 850Nm with drive going through an eight-speed transmission to all four wheels.

In comparison, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, arguably the most brutal and anti-social 911, has 386kW/485Nm.

I haven't made a mistake. Those are the real numbers. And it's only when you step on the accelerator in the Cayenne Turbo GT, and it feels like somebody's sat down on your chest, that you realise what a big deal this is.

That is such a colossal amount of oomph that this 2.2-tonne family SUV can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds.

The 911 GT3 RS can do it in 3.2 and it has a roll cage and a fixed rear wing the size of a bedroom door.

And yes, we're now coming into a digital age where Teslas and other electric SUVs are quick, too, but can they go around corners like a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT?

Do they have the same rumble and roar as a twin-turbo V8 that's terrifying and enticing at the same time.

The correct answer is, absolutely not.

If there’s a fly in this Ferrari’s ointment, we’ve found it. Big V12 engines mean big fuel use, and the Purosangue will require a claimed 17.3L/100km on the combined cycle.

Be warned, though, the Ferrari’s accelerator calls to your right foot like a siren song luring sailors to the rocks, and should you get aggressive with it, I’d suspect your fuel figures to be even higher.

The C02 emissions are pegged at 393g/km.

You might expect a lower score than seven for this section, and I take your point. But for mine, you're buying a vehicle with a huge V12 engine, so you probably know what you're in for, right?

Seriously? This is a 2.0-tonne twin-turbo petrol V8 with a 90-litre fuel tank. Even the Porsche specs sheet doesn't understand the question because in the column for fuel efficiency there are three letters - tbc.

My own testing saw me record 22.5 L/100km at the fuel pump, which means I enjoyed driving the car very much.

A little digging around reveals Porsche globally claims the Turbo GT will use 12.6L/100km, over a combination of open and urban roads.

You might not have as much fun as I did but easing back a little might get you closer to the 700km of range this more frugal consumption figure appears to offer.

While efficient it isn't, I'm not going to mark the Turbo GT too much here because compared to its petrol rivals the fuel consumption is what I'd expect from such a high-output heavy SUV.

There’s a reason most supercars aren’t daily drivers, and it’s not always just a financial one.

It’s because they’re the most specialist tools in the automotive toolbox, usually engineered to attack race tracks and alpine roads, but not the school run or bumper-to-bumper traffic.

But you put up with it — the too-firm ride, the questionable ergonomics — because when you do land upon the kind of road your car was built for, any other inconvenience vanishes like traces of smoke from a chimney.

Which is exactly what makes the Purosangue such an interesting proposition, because here is a Ferrari that will likely be driven more, and for longer spells, than any Ferrari to have come before it, but it still needs to excite the senses on the right road.

So has Ferrari pulled it off? In a word, yes.

Honestly, when you’re just tootling around it’s easy to forget you’re driving a supercar.

That V12 engine falls silent, the exhaust is almost non-existent (owing largely to the sound deadening of the cabin – to really hear this beast at full roar you want to crack a window, or find a tunnel), and the suspension (each driving mode has two suspension settings, medium and soft, allowing for some serious fine-tuning of the ride comfort) floats across most road surfaces.

It feels much like any other premium SUV, and not one with a nuclear power plant lurking just ahead of the dashboard.

Because there is a Hyde to this Jekyll, and it arrives when you dial up the sportiness, or get a little too heavy with the accelerator. Then that big V12 roars into life, along with the exhaust, and suddenly you’re very much behind the wheel of Ferrari once again.

Engage launch control and you can feel the Purosangue hunker down, dropping lower onto the wheels and readying for action. Flatten your right foot, and 100km/h arrives in a claimed 3.3 seconds, with 200km/h flashing by in 10.6 seconds.

But there is a quirk here, and that is that the Purosangue doesn’t always feel blisteringly fast. It's powerful, sure, and plenty quick, too, it's just that somehow it doesn't always feel quite as fast as the spec sheet suggests.

Maybe it’s the theatre, or all in my mind, but I reckon the best way to experience the all-out performance is by taking over the gearing yourself, and listening to the machine-gun-popping of the rev limiter before squeezing the paddle shifter, to truly feel like you're unlocking every ounce of performance on offer.

Is it the sharpest Ferrari ever built? Obviously not, and even a carbon-fibre roof can’t compensate for the over 2.0-tonne weight here.

But I promise, should you find yourself on a twisting road, the Purosangue can paint a supercar-sized smile on your face just the same.

The steering isn't quite as sharp as it might be in a true supercar (I suspect its been softened to make the Purosangue more comfortable on freeways and over longer distances), but it still inspires plenty of confidence, while the the rear-wheel-steering helps tuck you nearly into corners before that big engine drags you out the other side, that operatic exhaust bellowing along with you.

A real Ferrari? You bet.

Never have I met a car this powerful and superbly athletic that is as pleasurable to drive alone on great, fast roads as it is to pilot at 50km/h in the suburbs with a family on board.

It exceeds my understanding of engineering that something this large can move so quickly. That in an instant can turn and tip into a corner with such precision and effortlessness.

Yet it can switch seamlessly and happily to coping with speed bumps and potholes, delivering a ride so comfortable it'll send babies off to sleep. And it did.

The only issue, and this is such a tiny thing, is the dash-mounted gearshift, which means having to reach up and select Drive or Reverse or Park, which, when executing a three-point turn, is necessarily frustrating.

Still, I'm giving the Turbo GT a 10 out of 10 for driving under all conditions, and we didn't even go off-road, which of course you can do, as long as it's not too wild.

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT hasn't been locally crash tested and so doesn't have an ANCAP rating.

That's quite normal for super high-end cars. But, when this third-generation model first arrived in 2017 it was tested by ANCAP's European equivalent, Euro NCAP, and was awarded the maximum five stars.

There's AEB which operates at city, urban and highway speeds, and lane keeping assistance, and lane change assistance which is a form of blind-spot warning, and adaptive cruise control. You can option rear cross-traffic alert, as well.

A space saver spare wheel is under the boot floor.

Every Ferrari arrives with a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, with the option of extending coverage for up to seven years at the point of purchase.

Also available is Ferrari's 'Power20' coverage, which covers the engine, gearbox, transmission and all other major mechanical and electronic components for 20 years from the point of purchase.

The recommended service interval is 12 months/20,000km, and there's also a seven-year capped-price servicing program, called '7-Year Genuine Maintenance', which allows you to prepay for all your servicing needs.

The Cayenne Turbo GT is covered by Porsche's three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which is lagging behind in terms of duration even compared to other luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, which offers five years.

Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000km, although there isn't a capped price maintenance plan with final costs determined at the dealer level (in line with variable labour rates by state or territory).