Porsche is currently silent on the exact name of the new Cayenne top model. But if the lettering “Cayenne Turbo” lights up in the digital cockpit when the engine is started and a charging plug was still sticking out of the C-pillar at the rear until a minute ago, the possibilities of the Zuffenhausen nomenclature are quite manageable. According to the current Porsche specifications, the most powerful Cayenne of all time will probably be called Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid or Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. But names are not smoke and mirrors this time, because when you start up the darkly wrapped prototype you don’t hear anything, because the plug-in hybrid makes a crawl from the yard.
After the first few hundred meters, it becomes clear that the new top model, which is due to premiere in the fall, is set up tightly. This is ensured not only by the additional weight of the battery pack, but also by the variably adjustable air suspension and the 22-inch wheels from Pirelli, which happily interlock with the asphalt in the first corner combinations. When you leave the built-up areas, the 130 kW / 176 hp electric motor jumps to the side with the four-liter V8 twin turbo. Thanks to the 25.9 kWh battery pack, the power hybrid should be able to drive purely electrically for more than 70 kilometers and therefore be locally emission-free. The charging capacity is eleven kilowatts.
If the electric motor and V8 turbo actively pull together, significantly more than 700 hp and 900 Nm of maximum torque should be available. Last but not least, Porsche wants to counter the attack of the extremely potent BMW XM, which is available in two versions between 653 and 748 hp, with the additional performance provided by the electric motor. Porsche promises that you don’t have to hide behind the driving performance of the impressive BMW XM Label Red, which, despite its 2.5 tons, accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and is locked at 290 km/h. The new Cayenne top model – available as an SUV and SUV coupé – promises similar performance, but it should try to break the 300 km/h mark for image reasons alone.
The test car is equipped with the GT package, which breathes even more dynamism into the sporty colossus. However, it is only offered where the 640 hp Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is no longer available due to legal conditions, which applies to most EU countries, but also to Asian regions such as Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore. One thing is clear – the sportiest Cayenne of all time is a driving machine that also pleases over long distances and at high speeds. But the hybrid all-wheel drive vehicle is in its element on country roads in particular. Despite its impressive weight of probably up to 2.5 tons, it shines here with fast alternating curves, braking or sporty acceleration, even if the titanium exhaust system of the V8 becomes a melodious orchestra pit. Here, the athlete offers not only a decent lowering by one centimeter, but also a slightly increased camber on the front axle and the ceramic brake system as standard. The lightweight carbon roof and the Matrix LED main headlights complete the GT package. One of the biggest advantages of the new top-of-the-line Porsche Cayenne model, however, is not the noticeable increase in performance, but the adaptive air suspension, which with its two-chamber technology and independently controllable rebound and compression stages offers extra comfort, especially on poor road surfaces, while sportiness remains at the well-known high level.
