Porsche Cayenne vs Rolls-Royce Spectre (bev)

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.

Ask any opinionated car enthusiast why it is that they hate electric cars, and you’re going to hear the same word revving them up - “noise”.

Sure, EVs might be fast, and even the most old-world-loving petrol head (are we going to have to come up with a new term, soon? Power crazed? Amp-head? Copper top?) will grant you that they can be fun to drive, but the argument is that you just can’t love a car as much if it doesn’t make shouty sounds.

But there is one bunch of well-heeled car lovers who will demur on this topic, and for whom the idea of switching a big, stupidly powerful V12 engine for whispering electric motors seems to be no issue at all - Rolls-Royce fans.

They have, allegedly, been knocking down the doors at Goodwood, demanding that Rolls build them an EV, and finally it has arrived, in the stunning shape of the Spectre, and the orders are pouring in. 

We flew to the Napa Valley in California to try it out.