Porsche Cayenne vs Tesla Model Y

What's the difference?

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.

If you like the five-seat Model Y, then you'll like the six-seat L version even more. I think this the best example of Tesla's electric SUV to date, and the cabin layout just makes a lot of sense, and would suit plenty of families who don't need to squeeze someone into a compromised middle seat.

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

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.

Spoiler alert - it looks a lot like a five-seat Model Y, doesn’t it, albeit a slightly bigger one. And you’d have to be a bigger Tesla head than me to immediately spot the differences at a glance.

The wheelbase is longer, the rear doors are bigger as are the rear 3/4 panels and the roof line is higher, helping with headroom in the third row.

Still, safe to say if you like the look of the five-seat Model Y, you’ll like this one. And if you hate it, well, good luck.

The alloys are 19-inch and shaded by the aerodynamic caps and there are light bars front and rear which debuted on the updated five-seat Model Y when it arrived mid-last year.

The bigger changes are inside, of course. I promise we’ll get to the second and third rows in the Practicality section, but let’s talk about the look and feel first.

There’s a love/hate relationship with Tesla’s stripped-back aesthetics, and I’m probably somewhere in the middle. I like the airiness of the space in the cabin, and I think it feels nicely put together, and I really dig the contrasting fabric used on the doors and dash which add a little visual interest to the cabin.

But I hate using the central screen to select a gear and I hate not being able to see how fast I’m going without turning my head. A head-up display would work wonders in the Model Y L cabin.

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.

Captain’s chairs are simply a more luxurious version of second-row seating. With that there is no argument and the heated and cooled chairs that occupy the second row of the Model Y L are pretty good examples of them.

Space, both knee and headroom, is ample, and you can adjust each seat individually if you want to grant a bit more space to any third row occupants. Armrests deploy at the push of a button — as do the two hidden cupholders — and it really is easy to settle in and get comfy.

The third row is a bit more hit and miss. I’m 175cm and found I had enough legroom and headroom, but the big plastic mouldings that emerge from each side of the Model Y (which house a cupholder) are a miss. They end up pushing you into the seat next to you, and I can foresee a lot of arm rubbing with anything like two adults back there.

Also confusing is how to actually get out of it. You can fold the seat in front of you flat, but then you have to climb over it. I found it easier to just walk out between the seats.

There are another two USB-C ports in the rear row and you get air vents but no temperature controls. 

The Model Y L stretches 4969mm in length, 1668mm in height and 2129mm in width, which is roughly 18cm longer and 4.5cm taller than the five-seat model. The extra space doesn’t sound like that much, but start dropping rows and you find a heap of storage space.

Both the second and third row stow electronically from the boot, but with them in place you’ll find 420 litres of storage in the double-layer boot. Drop the third row, and that number grows to 1076 litres. With the third row folded there is a massive 2423 litres of space. The frunk serves up another 116 litres.

There’s also room (and the ISOFIX attachment points) for four child seats.

The Model Y L sits smack bang between the $68,900 Long Range AWD and the $89,400 Performance, setting you back $74,900, before your on-road costs. It’s also the only three-row option in the Tesla family.

Aside from people movers, we’re not swimming with options in the three-row electric space, either. The Kia EV9 will get it done from $97,000, the Hyundai IONIQ 9 starts from around $120K and the Volvo EX90 is more expensive again (from $124,990).

Anyway, in Tesla land, the Model Y L rides on 19-inch alloy wheels, has a glass roof, automatic wipers and Tesla’s smartphone access key, as well as the little credit-card swipe.

Inside, there’s a 16.0-inch central screen that handles everything. And I mean everything. It's your gear selector, your speedometer, and everything else, too. There’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but you can access things like Spotify and podcasts through the in-built apps and the on-board navigation system is a good one, too.

All of that pairs with a 19-speaker sound system, and there are dual wireless charge pads. All three rows of seats are heated, while the first and second row get ventilation, too.

A second 8.0-inch touchscreen in the middle row then handles things like the seat heating or cooling, music and games to amuse the kids. And the Model Y L also debuts V2L, or Vehicle to Load, for Tesla in Australia, using a connector in the external charger.

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.

The Model Y L gets Tesla’s dual-motor AWD powertrain, with two electric motors producing a total 378kW and 590Nm. That’s enough, Tesla says, to knock off the sprint to 100km/h in five seconds flat.

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.

Tesla is always a little vague when it comes to the size of its batteries, but reports point to the Model Y L carrying a 84Wh (useable) NMC battery.

Whatever the specifics, the range is strong, with Tesla promising a 681km driving range on the WLTP combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

It’s also set up for 250kW DC fast charging, which should see you take on 288km in 15 minutes, according to Tesla.

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.

Honestly, it feels like the Tesla Model Y has grown up. I didn’t love earlier iterations of this car and I found the Performance to be fast but lacking any emotional fizz.

This one, though, feels solid and composed, and the power on tap (of which there is ample) is more about effortless progress than it is attempting to offer sports car excitement.

The steering is now nicely weighted and feels direct enough without being too sharp, and the cabin is well insulated, with often the slightly off-putting sort of rubbing noise the steering wheel makes when you turn it the only intrusive sound.

One drawback is a ride that definitely errs on the side of firm. This Model Y L gets electronic damping designed to iron out some of the more jagged stuff, but it still feels brittle in places, and you can definitely feel some sharpness in the cabin. Now, to be fair, it’s not too firm for me, but it might be for you.

Another is a bizarre turning circle which constantly reminds you you’re driving a big bus, especially when you try to complete a tight three-point turn.

But despite its stretched dimensions, I found the Model Y L easy to drive and park in the city, and once you're up to speed with Tesla's operating system (there's no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), then the screen is pretty easy to use, too.

The Model Y L gets the same maximum five-star ACNAP safety rating as the rest of the Model Y range, with nine airbags (up from seven in the five-seat model), and things like AEB (Auto Emergency Braking), lane-keeping assist, 'Forward Collision Warning' and blind-spot monitoring all along for the ride.

Interestingly, the curtain airbags from the five-seat version haven't been replaced, with coverage still only extending to the second row. New airbags have instead been added for third-row occupants.

One more analogue quirk of the Tesla Model Y L is the thick B-pillar, which does a good job of almost completely obscuring driver-side blind-spot checks (for those of us who still like to do those manually).

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).

Tesla warranty is a these-days-underwhelming five years and unlimited kilometres, while the high-voltage battery is covered for eight years or (a wildly specific) 192,000km.

There’s also five years' of roadside assistance, including puncture repair (a good thing, given the lack of a spare wheel). I also couldn’t find a puncture repair kit and later research suggests Tesla sells them, rather than provides them as standard.

Tesla servicing is condition-based, so there’s no fixed schedule, with a summary on the car’s touchscreen providing a record of when vehicle maintenance was last carried out and prompts for when they should be performed next.

In the absence of a combustion powertrain the emphasis is on things like wheel rotation, balancing and alignment, brake fluid testing, air-con servicing, camera precision, radiator cleaning and high-voltage battery maintenance.

Expecty a ‘Vehicle Health Check’ to come in under $300 with ‘General Diagnosis’ at around $270 per hour.