Porsche Cayenne GTS
Most people who buy a Porsche Cayenne luxury 4x4 buy the V8 S model. And most of them would really rather be spending £30,000 more and buying the 500bhp Turbo model. Now arguably, they dont have to. The Cayenne GTS takes the 4.
8-litre engines output to over 400bhp and offers the manual gearbox and sporty styling cues that will enable the car to really take the fight to German rivals.
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8i M Sport, Stuttgart had to take action. Hence the Cayenne GTS. With 405bhp, it has 20bhp more than the standard Cayenne V8 plus a 6-speed manual box, active suspension management and some seriously sporting trim. This is the first Cayenne to offer the electronically-controlled damping system, Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), with steel springs.
This combination, which also lowers the Cayenne by 24mm, was previously reserved exclusively for Porsche sports cars. In order to further exploit its horsepower increase, the GTS comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox and a shorter axle final drive ratio than the Cayenne S (4.1:1 as opposed to 3.55:1). The Cayenne GTS can thus accelerate from 0-62mph in just 6.1 seconds, precisely 0.5 seconds quicker than the Cayenne S and a figure also identical to BMWs 4.
8i M Sport (which costs around the same). Mindful that luxury 4x4 buyers dont normally tend to want manual gearboxes, however sporty they feel they are, Porsche is also offering the option of a Tiptronic S six-speed automatic transmission on this car, in which guise it offers an average fuel consumption of 20.3mpg. The Cayenne GTS is fitted with Porsche Traction Management (PTM) permanent all-wheel drive and the adaptive PASM chassis as standard.
Air suspension is available as an option, as is the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) active anti-roll system which enhances the handling and ride comfort further still.
"The Cayenne GTS makes much more sense than the flagship Turbo model and you can donate the £20,000 you save to Oxfam. Everybody wins"
The latest revised Cayenne has plenty of space inside, although if you really want a 4x4 capable of carrying a big family, youd probably be better off looking at the kind of seven-seater option that a BMW X5 4.8i M Sport offers. The build quality of much of the switchgear has been improved and Porsche has also revised the materials used for the seating. Styling is of course a subjective thing but everyone universally seems to agree that the changes wrought on the latest Cayenne have represented a big improvement, the latest model giving the car a front end look all of its own.
Where the 997 series 911 has gone back to round headlamps, the Cayenne now gets more feline looking projector beam lights and a grille thats less frog-like than before. This not only looks the part but also significantly improves cooling. The wheel arches are more clearly defined than before and every Cayenne model is fitted with a rear diffuser and a roof-mounted spoiler. Build quality is of course faultless and pricey though this car is, you still feel like you could be in something more expensive.
Some of this is due to the fact that the quality of much of the switchgear has been improved in recent times, as well as the fact that Porsche has also revised the materials used for the seating. Value is of course a relative word when youre spending around £55,000 on a luxury 4x4. This car costs around £8,000 more than a standard Cayenne S and at £54,350, is £1,000 more than its closest BMW X4 4.8i M Sport rival, which seems pretty good value when you consider that youre getting another 50bhp.
The price includes a Porsche Vehicle Tracking System (VTS), a sophisticated vehicle security package approved to Thatcham Category 5 standard, and a Porsche Driving Experience programme. The car should be instantly recognisable to Porsche enthusiasts: the front and rear share styling cues with the Cayenne Turbo, and the striking 14mm wheel-arch extensions offer plenty of space for the 21-inch alloy rims with 295/35 R21 tyres fitted as standard. Two extra colours have also been reserved exclusively for the GTS: GTS Red and Nordic Gold Metallic. Newly-developed 12-way adjustable sports seats and a mix of leather and Alcantara upholstery creates a sporty interior ambience. While this Porsche may seem comparatively good value to put on your drive, youre going to need to throw some serious money at it when it comes to running costs. Just filling that 100-litre fuel tank is a sobering business, especially as its fairly easy to deplete it in just 220 miles of throttle heavy driving.
Drive with a little more care and Porsche claims that you should be able to average 19mpg, with urban use dropping that figure to around 13mpg and around 25mpg attainable on more open roads. This is only about 2-3mpg worse than youd get in a comparable X5 4.8i but youll still attract sniffy looks from urbanites in their Priuses. Youll more than make the slight economy detriment back however, in improved residuals when the time comes to sell.
Unlike a top X5 or M-class AMG, this isnt a £35,000 car with extra kit but a £75,000 car with a slightly smaller engine and the used car market treats it as such. Of course, insurance is pricey, consumables arent cheap (try getting a quote for one of the 295/35 R21 tyres!) and taxation costs are rather in the lap of the gods given the eagerness of knee-jerk politicians looking to make an example of cars such as this. The Cayenne already attracts the top rate of vehicle excise duty taxation so thats worth accounting for in the domestic budgeting. Porsche doesnt usually leave too many gaps in its model ranges but the huge price and performance gulf between the Cayenne S and Turbo models was one of them.
With rivals exploiting this, the GTS variant is a timely riposte from Stuttgart and one that will encourage many of those whod put their names down for an X5 4.8i M Sport, a supercharged Range Rover Sport or even an M-Class M63 AMG to think again. The politicians may hate cars like this but, like the rest of us, theyd all secretly rather like to have one on their driveway. With the right engine and a harder-edged sportier look and feel, the Cayenne GTS makes much more sense than the flagship Turbo model and you can donate the £20,000 you save to Oxfam or Greenpeace.
No politician can argue with that. Everybody wins.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Porsche Cayenne GTS
PRICE: £54,350 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 360g/km [est]
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 6.1s / Max Speed 160mph [est]
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 18mpg [est]
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, window and side airbags, PTM, PASM, PDCC, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4786/1928/1699mm
