Though motoring writers have been attending launches of “new” Porsche Cayennes for more than 12 years, the car is actually only in its second generation – although one would be hard-pressed to tell the various year models apart, unless they were all sitting next to one another.
Like yet another variation on the 911 theme, my reaction to the latest Cayenne, when we are deposited at the Gran Hotel La Florida, high on a hillside with a spectacular view across Barcelona, is a bit “so what?” On first viewing the nicely staged show car at the door of the hotel, I almost walk past it before realising that it’s one of the cars I’m in Spain to drive.
Such, to some extent, is the Porsche way – a more disciplined and Teutonic approach to “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. And, if truth be told, there was nothing much wrong with the old Cayenne – any of them really, if you want to go back all of those 12 years.
What stands out now is mainly what you can’t see. That boils down to 25 per cent more power and a whopping 36 per cent improvement in economy, if you pick and choose the models carefully, since the inception of the car. Of the five latest models being launched, we have access to two petrol engines (a V6 bi-turbo of 420hp and the halo-car V8 bi-turbo of 520hp), as well as the best toy in the box: a V8 turbo-diesel with 385hp and enough torque to rip the white lines off the middle of the road – and strip tree bark when off-road.
Since the Cayenne S E-Hybrid was coyly being held back for its debut at the Paris Motor Show, it’s not available, and if the entry-level diesel car is anywhere here, I can’t see it.
Barcelona proves to be a great choice for the launch – twisty roads on the outskirts of the city followed by steep yet fast climbs out of the suburbs and into the Catalan countryside. While a bit keen to get into the overdrive gears at the top of the eight-speed box, to support the massive economy improvements, I find both petrol cars respond better to early manual shifts in the now industry-leading Tiptronic gearbox. Keeping the cars “on the cam” and at the peak of their torque stops the rush through the rest of the gears.
A couple of hours of spirited driving takes us to Les Comes, one of Catalonia’s most spectacular off-road facilities, where a sensitively converted farmhouse and outbuildings, dating back 300 years, doubles as a conference centre, and is the base for the rest of the day.
It’s here that I really notice the improvement in the latest and newest of the new Cayennes. With the eight-speed gearbox and three differential locks on the full off-road models, there’s no longer any need for an expensive, heavy and bulky transfer case. With the exception of perhaps a little modification to the bumpers, the Cayenne, for the first time in my view, is worth considering as a fair off-road competitor to the Range Rover Sport or the archaic Mercedes Benz G Class.
The reality is that no one makes speed bumps in shopping malls or outside schools that are at 35 degrees to the rest of the world or made of rock, gravel and tree roots, but it’s a comfort to know that, come the day, your new Cayenne will actually be able to cut it where no Cayenne has gone before. It will be blisteringly expensive if you get it wrong, but the new car is very impressive, in the right hands.
As an overview, it seems likely that those going into a new Cayenne will be coming out of an old one. It will be a familiar if slightly busier office from which to work, but it will be quieter and a bit cheaper to run.
Sharper eyes will notice the change in tail-light structure, the different bonnet line, a wider rear seat and a more complex multifunction steering wheel. Apart from those few observations, the new Cayenne is cleverly not so new, and Porsche has wisely resisted the temptation to overdo a facelift when a completely new car must be due soon. These cars will appeal to existing Porsche buyers or those with aspirations to upgrade from an older model, but there’s not quite enough on the surface to convert from other brands, I fear.
And perhaps that is a good thing: at 12, the Cayenne has done a great job in saving Porsche from certain doom not that long ago, but it’s the new Macan range that points to the future.
If the Cayenne nameplate is to continue beyond its current life cycle, and be a big sister to the Macan, it’s going to need seven seats next time around – then it really could be viewed as all things to all people.
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