All-new Porsche Cayenne – quick test drive review

Porsche unveiled the second generation Cayenne SUV a couple of months ago in February and recently the Zuffenhausen company which currently resides under the Volkswagen umbrella held a Porsche World Roadshow event down south in Singapore. Among various sessions held through out the event, there was a quick test drive of the latest Cayenne which also includes a hybrid variant in it’s line-up as well.

Joining the hybrid is the diesel and the gasoline versions that we are used to as well. I was invited to the event and I managed to get behind the wheels of both the Cayenne Turbo and the Cayenne Diesel. I was also given a short ride in the Cayenne Hybrid.

Look after the jump for my full driving experience.

When Porsche first introduced the Cayenne in 2002, everyone were scratching their heads wondering if a company like Porsche, which has been making compact sports cars since it’s inception can successfully market and sell SUVs.

Sales figures after the first few years proved that Porsche can actually do it. Design wise the Cayenne did of course draw it’s looks from the rest of the Porsche line-up and in my honest opinion it could have looked better.

All-new Porsche Cayenne – quick test drive reviewHowever I had a broad smile on my face when they rolled out the facelift version. It was much more refined and looked aggressive and classy at the same time.

When the company unveiled the second generation Cayenne, I still felt that it looks good, with it’s menacing front fascia.

Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same about the rear. The taillights on the new Cayenne look as though they were inspired by the Panamera and they don’t blend into the rear properly. It looks a little mis-proportioned if you ask me.

The negativity of the design ends there fortunately, as the interior is one nice and comfortable place to be in. Design wise its miles apart when compared to the interior of the first generation Cayenne.

When thinking about the interior of the older Cayenne, words such as ‘dull’, ‘boring’ and ‘dated’ come to mind. The interior of the new Cayenne is heavily inspired by the Panamera, which is a good thing in this case. The cabin is definitely roomy with more than enough head as well as leg room.

Driving the Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

The immense size of the Cayenne may fool you into thinking that it drives like a boat with very noticeably body roll. But you will be proven wrong after spending a few seconds behind the wheel. The Turbo is motivated by a 4.8 litre V8 fitted with twin turbochargers and it makes 500hp and 699Nm of torque.

Power delivery is good and very smooth but somehow I felt like I should have experienced more power. I felt like it offered 500Nm instead of 699Nm, but this could well be due to the 1,995-2,245 kilograms weight figure of the vehicle. Nevertheless the engine offers good response and power surged in almost instantaneously.

The engine, just like the rest of the available options for the Cayenne range is paired with an 8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission. Gear changes were silky smooth, whether its shifting up or down. At cruising speeds of about 90km/h (that was the fastest we were able to do in Singapore) the engine and gearbox were working almost effortlessly and the Cayenne felt very composed on the highway.

The Cayenne also featured adaptive damping with three modes to choose from, ranging between comfort, normal and sport. Different modes offer different damping levels and on paper comfort mode should give you a more supple ride, with excellent bump absorption. Sport should give a sportier ride as everything should feel more rigid and every single irregularity should be noticed.

Normal in essence should be a balance between the two. The thing is, in reality all three modes offered a rather stiff ride quality. Its even the case with smoother Singaporean roads. Bumps and imperfections on the road didn’t really go unnoticed in comfort mode and things got stiffer in normal mode. The only mode that offered what it promised was Sport. I felt more connected to the tarmac.

Handling was pretty good for an SUV of it’s size and weight too. Weight transfer or body roll was noticeable only when I pushed it harder. Sport mode helped reduce roll and the car felt very planted around corners.

We of course drove around with the electronic stability program turned on hence we never felt a single amount of oversteer and understeer was also not present, however just like any other vehicle, flooring the accelerator pedal mid-corner induces it, but it was very manageable.

Driving the Porsche Cayenne Diesel.

The diesel version of the Cayenne features a 240hp 3.0 litre turbocharged V6 which makes 550Nm of torque. I only spent moments behind the wheel but it was long enough for me to draw out that the engine feels torquey, just like most modern turbo diesel engines.

Another interesting thing I have noticed is that I couldn’t really hear the rattling diesel sound while driving. I felt like I was driving a gasoline model. However when you listen to the engine idling while standing outside of the vehicle, you can hear the typical diesel engine sound. There rest of the driving dynamics were similar to the Cayenne Turbo.

Taking a ride in the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid.

I was also lucky enough to hitch a ride in the Cayenne S Hybrid. The hybrid has a 3.0 litre supercharged V6 which produces 333hp and the combustion engine is mated to a 47hp electric motor. Total horsepower is figured at 380hp while offering 580Nm of torque which you can enjoy when you floor the pedal.

To complement the hybrid drivetrain, the Cayenne S Hybrid also has an in-cabin monitoring system which displays what the drivetrain is actually doing. This is something like what the Toyota Prius has but more tastefully done with full colour and high-res display.

The vehicle will use either the combustion engine or the electric motor or even both depending on the situation. During the short drive the Cayenne did go into pure electric mode and everything went quiet. Porsche claims that it can run at speeds of up to 60km/h until power runs out but I was unable to test it out.

Power transfer between both the engine and the electric motor was very smooth and went unnoticed. The hybrid also featured Auto Start Stop and I hardly noticed each shut-down and restart.

Conclusion.

Overall the new Porsche Cayenne hit the right buttons if you ask me, except for the rear end design and the adaptive dampers which should have offered a softer ride in comfort and standard modes. However to give you a conclusive answer, I will have to wait for a longer test drive on our Malaysian roads. For now the new Cayenne seems to be an improvement over the model it replaces.

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Harvinder Sidhu

Harvinder Singh Sidhu thinks there's nothing better than Formula 1, not even sliced bread. Having written about cars since 2006, he plunged head first into the industry out of a passion for all things four-wheeled and everything in between. The F1 enthusiast has been following the sport since 1999 and has been keeping up with it since. In between races he keeps himself busy as the host of the Driven motoring show and as our version of the Joker.

 

Comments

  • Anti Proton on Jul 08, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    nice but i rather have a rangie rover

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  • wah! so lucky that you get to drive all models. Anyway this car look best in white and i bet it caught many admiring glances on the road. Pointless in Malaysia because of the stupidly expensive price! Btw, Awesome air-con vents!!!

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  • Hey paul, why does it have European numberplates???

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    • Cosmos on Jul 09, 2010 at 8:03 am

      Porsche World Roadshow cars all come from Germaly directly. They are shipped back after the roadshow.

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  • the rear look something like hyundai or kia..
    in other word,looks cheap

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  • mfahd on Jul 08, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    no much differ with previous cayenne

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  • zafedz on Jul 08, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    Why so many button on the dashboard….??

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    • subhero on Jul 08, 2010 at 11:10 pm

      to attract buyer. more button more buyers.

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    • Seriously on Jul 09, 2010 at 8:57 am

      because they serve a function. Same reason why there are so many keys on a keyboard :/

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  • hhassan on Jul 08, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    typo on horsepower rating for the diesel? should be 236hp instead of 400hp, churns out 400lbft torque though

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  • Alpha on Jul 08, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    for me the rear is kinda japanese…might mistake it for a jap models from behind.or even an audi.and the front is similar to the 957.and is it smaller than 955/957??coz it looks like it.when the 957 was out,i was like,WOW!!now that’s a porsche!!but when this one was announced, felt like,yeah it’s nice.no surprise watsoever actuall.meh,jz my two cents,though~

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  • Porsche on Jul 08, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    i’m placing my booking tomorrow 10am :) a Cayenne Turbo S

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Uhh I believe you are booking a Cayenne model that does not exist. It is either Turbo or S

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      • raybrig on Jul 09, 2010 at 12:08 am

        ure wrong..pls do homework before commenting other..got turbo s…

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      • anti-Porsche on Jul 09, 2010 at 12:17 am

        m pretty sure a Turbo S is in the pipeline… for sure it will be available…

        beautiful machine this…

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        • Porsche on Jul 09, 2010 at 3:48 pm

          You can find Cayenne Turbo S in google, or 1 month later, my car porch :)

          now should i change to magnum bodykit…….and make it matt black…..hem……

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  • 1kereta on Jul 08, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    odd looking…. forgive me, i always think of ninja turtle when i see this suv, i think vw tourag is a better buy

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Seriously on Jul 09, 2010 at 9:01 am

      vw tourag a better buy? I highly doubt so… one of the most uninteresting and uninspiring SUV I’ve been in.

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  • I also got very very lucky opportunity to test drive this Porsche.. in my dream la…

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  • chuakz on Jul 09, 2010 at 12:33 am

    5 more yrs and these will flood malaysian streets….

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  • AverEng on Jul 09, 2010 at 7:18 am

    Porsche Cayenne is best selling Porsche in China. Small town like Ipoh also got 10-20 Cayenne. China chinese just like Cayenne more than any car. I wonder how many Cayenne we have in Malaysia?

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    • Motorist on Jul 09, 2010 at 12:32 pm

      China getting richer.

      We, in BodohLand getting poorer.

      Porsche Cayenne is but a fantasy to us ordinary rakyat.

      Look but dont touch.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • rayzel on Jul 09, 2010 at 2:48 pm

        Stop complaining and just outdo yourself to get a better living…

        If Malaysia is BodohLand.. just migrate..

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        • durability on Sep 01, 2010 at 11:14 pm

          Well, there’s something wrong here. One is telling the truth, got Downs 8 times. One is pushing the fantasy, got Ups 7 times… Hm…. reality vs fantasy, blue pill vs red pill, which one do you choose, Neo?

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  • The Black Stig on Jul 09, 2010 at 7:31 am

    Harvinder you lucky basket!!
    It does look more sense than the previous one, I mean the previous one looked like it stuck between a sports car and 4×4. Cool cockpit though, somehow the plastics looks el-cheapo.

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  • Seriously on Jul 09, 2010 at 9:06 am

    no shots of what appears on the console display?

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  • coolguru on Jul 09, 2010 at 10:13 am

    This is like an engineer’s car – the buttons are menacing!

    But hey it looks good :)

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  • Steering wheel audio button?

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  • ktas09 on Jul 19, 2010 at 11:18 am

    This car is just for real millionaire but not “fake millionaire”.
    In Malaysia, so many down there ” pretend like millionaire”. Beware from this kind of CONMAN especially in KL.

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  • Maserati on Jul 19, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    Brilliantly fantastic car!! Drove a Cayenne turbo a few months back.The power is so great that i felt dizzy once i came out of the car.It got from 0-200kmh in like less than 10 seconds

    So this new Cayenne Turbo shud be as brilliant and stunning as the old one!!!

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  • Super car!

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  • ashraff on Jan 29, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    my dream car..wait for recond porsche cayyene.

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