Porsche Cayenne vs Lexus LX

What's the difference?

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT needs a better name. This is the king of Cayennes and quite possibly the ruler of all super SUVs.

Well, the Cayenne Turbo GT is the fastest SUV around the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Not just that, it has such colossal power and torque it'll be side-by-side with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS in a sprint from 0-100km/h. No, a better name for this SUV would be the Cayenne GT3.

Which is perfect for me because I'm at the point in my life where although I love full-on and noisy cars I also have a full-on and noisy family.

We lived with the Cayenne Turbo GT for a week to find out if this super SUV was also a super family car - from practicality to safety.

We're also a family with ridiculously high expectations of luxury SUVs having lived with and tested each of the Cayenne Turbo GT's rivals - from the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga to the Aston Martin DBX and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

The march away from diesel power and towards a petrol-hybrid future in off-roaders continues. Okay, so it’s a full-sized Lexus we’re talking about, but the off-road credentials of the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series-based Lexus LX have never been in question, have they?

The full-sized, super-lux Lexus LX might never see the Simpson Desert or the Old Telegraph Track, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t tackle either with a fair degree of ease. So there’s no way Lexus would allow a new hybrid driveline to compromise any of that. Besides, this is the same driveline that will take the LandCruiser on its next step, so you better believe it’s the real deal.

Of course, the Lexus badge and somewhat frightening price tag also infer a high degree of plush and tech, and, let’s be honest, those elements are more likely to get a leading role in the LX’s day-to-day strut, as opposed to the walk-on part played by the off-road stuff.

So does all this make the LX one huge, high-tech mash up of conflicting priorities, then? That probably depends on how pragmatically you view motor vehicles generally, but one thing’s for sure, if the hybrid LX is paving the way for the next generation of LandCruiser powerplants and drivelines, then we’re all ears.