Why Porsche's Contentious Cayenne Is Now Too Good To Hate On

Believe it or not, it’s now 14 years since the first Porsche Cayenne arrived. At the time, many wondered just what the hell Porsche was playing at when it ‘sullied’ its iconic sports car brand with a big - and frankly quite ugly - SUV. And yet, it turned out to be a master stroke. Porsche has since sold hundreds of thousands of the things, and it’s become the German company’s best-selling model.

It’s as good as saved the company, and continues to keep Porsche in rude financial health, ensuring the stuff that interests us more - like the Boxster, Cayman, and 911 - are better than ever. But that’s not been enough to endear me to this big SUV. But can a drive in that Turbo version of the latest Cayenne do anything to change that?

As the second-generation range has just received an overhaul with new styling, revised suspension and more power, now’s the perfect time to find out. So, what’s it like? Well, you’ll certainly struggle to notice the exterior changes. Despite the new version only sharing the roof and the doors with the old one, changes are amusingly minor.

The 4.8-litre twin-turbo V8 now offers up 512bhp and 553ft of torque, and it’s a terrific engine

We’ll leave it up to you to judge this one, but despite the nicely enlarged grilles and higher nose, it’s still no oil painting. It has a face only a mother could love, and from there backwards, it’s a little bland and bulbous. Porsche has done a much better job styling the Macan, but the unfortunate look and the plain (albeit stoutly-built) cabin means that the Cayenne really doesn’t make the best first impression.

However, once you start driving, all is forgiven. The 4.8-litre twin-turbo V8 now offers up 512bhp and 553ft of torque - an increase of 20bhp and 37lb ft from the old one - and it’s a terrific engine. It almost feels like it’s naturally aspirated - there’s little lag, and the masses of torque aren’t delivered in the big hefty lump you might expect. It’s also incredibly smooth for a V8, and launches this near-2.2 tonne hulk from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds. 4.5 seconds, in a big SUV. Daft, and utterly brilliant.

With the air suspension fully lowered and in the stiffer Sport Plus mode, the Cayenne is enormously capable when you show it a corner. Whether it was on the road or being hurled around Porsche’s Silverstone-based handling circuit, the grip was extraordinary, and the body control is exceptionally tidy for a high-riding SUV. It can’t entirely hide its size and weight, but it does a damn good job of feeling car-like when you start to push the limits.

The Cayenne’s abilities don’t end on the tarmac, either. Even though it’s doubtful many owners will take advantage, the big Porsche is very impressive over difficult terrain. Yes, the only place I was able to try this out was at the same Porsche off-road course CT Editor Alex tackled late last year (it’s designed for the Cayenne to traverse, so there’s little chance in finding the car’s off-roading limits), but you can’t help but doff your cap to the car’s acrobatic wheel articulation.

With the suspension fully raised, you get a lofty 268mm of ground clearance, and as it’s packing clever stuff like hill descent control and torque vectoring for the diff; this Porsche can take a lot of abuse on the rough stuff.

If all this is starting to sound familiar, that’s because the Cayenne Turbo isn’t the only luxo-SUV with blistering on-road pace and trail-bashing off-road ability. The Range Rover Sport is also good at everything you throw at it. It also feels more special and is arguably a tad classier, despite the almost-as-fast supercharged V8 version being over £10,000 less expensive.

Yep, the Cayenne Turbo isn’t cheap. It’s £93,763, in fact. However, Range Rover comparisons aside, you’re getting a hell of a lot of motor for your money, and for those that are feeling a tad more sensible, there’s always the 414bhp V6-powered S model for closer to £60k.

Most importantly, spending time in a Cayenne makes you appreciate what’s gone into creating it. Porsche could have just stuck its badge on an Audi Q7 (the Q7, Cayenne and VW Touareg share a platform) and sold them by the boat load. But it hasn’t; instead, it’s created something so impressive it’s almost irritating. Get behind the wheel of one, and any argument against the Cayenne you had will be invalid.