2021 Maserati Levante vs Porsche Cayenne

What's the difference?

Driving a whopping great SUV down the straight on a race track at more than 200km/h sounds like fun, but it actually feels a bit wrong, like entering a baby elephant in a dog show.

These are strange times, of course, and the Maserati Trofeo Levante is a suitably strange vehicle - stylish, classy, expensively appointed family hauler that also has the heart and soul of a race car.

Indeed, while performance SUVs are an increasingly commonplace vehicle, the Levante - which was actually getting along in the tooth as a model before this significant upgrade - has higher performance credibility than most.

That's because it has a big Ferrari V8 driving all four of its wheels and delivering a properly supercar-like 433kW and 730Nm.

It's not what you might call a typical Maserati buyer's car, but then only those who know what the Trofeo badge stands for - shouty insanity, basically - will be interested in this end of town. It is a lot of car, but is it worth the large load of money on the sticker ($330,000)?

Porsche turned the automotive world upside down and inside out in the early noughties when it took the wraps of its Cayenne, a - gasp - five-seat, family-focused SUV.

Although it’s arrival shocked the brand’s diehard devotees, the new model proved to be a genius business decision, drawing immediate interest from a fresh batch of eager buyers.

Porsche has since doubled down with the smaller Macan, and with close to two decades of SUV development now under its belt, continues to fine-tune the formula.

The GTS started life as a growling, naturally aspirated, V8 bruiser, but veered off that path towards the end of the previous (second-generation) model’s life, dabbling with more highly-strung, twin-turbo V6 power.

But things are back on track with the best of those two worlds combined in the shape of the 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 now slotted into the GTS’s engine bay.  

So, how well does the third-gen Porsche Cayenne GTS combine practical function with dynamic form?