2024 Porsche Cayenne First Drive: Turbo GT And V8 S Headline A Huge Update

Porsche — were it not resolutely German and thus inclined to demonstrate strict self-control — would be perfectly within its rights to say "We told you so" about its expansion into SUVs. Instead of crowing, though, the 2024 Cayenne simply doubles down on what it has always done best: deliver more power than most people really need, in an unmistakable style, with lashings of practicality and a similarly-scaled price tag along with it.

The Cayenne's graceful aging may disguise it, but Porsche claims this is actually the most significant refresh it has undertaken of any car. In fact, the automaker argues that it could almost be considered a new Cayenne — the crash structure is the same, but pretty much everything else has been changed or tweaked — though it's saving that fanfare for the upcoming BEV. The fully-electric Cayenne is expected to arrive around the middle of the decade, with this refreshed SUV overlapping for several years just as the internal combustion Macan will overlap its EV version.

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It's hard to overstate just how important the Cayenne is to Porsche. Over 1.25 million have been sold since it launched in 2002, and it accounted for almost a third of global sales for the automaker in 2022. Initial skepticism — some of it still lingering today — about the 911-maker building an SUV has been thoroughly trounced: far from replacing Porsche's sports cars, the Cayenne has kept the company buoyant and allowed it to invest in them.

That's not to say the Cayenne can't be a sports car in its own right, it's just of a different sort to the two-doors Porsche built its heritage on. What was once a strange idea — big, family-friendly vehicles also being ridiculously powerful — has now become commonplace, and the Cayenne faces hefty competition from Mercedes-AMG, BMW M, and plenty of others. Even the more rarified brands are in on the game these days: Porsche's tippy-top trims are lining up against luxe-truck fare like Aston Martin's DBX and Bentley's Bentayga.

Porsche's strategy, then, is a broad spread. Membership in the Cayenne E3 II club starts at $79,200 (plus $1,650 destination) for the base V6. That's almost a 10% increase over the outgoing SUV, but Porsche adds power, more tech and driver assistance, and nicer wheels — options, the automaker says, most Cayenne buyers were already checking off on the order form — as standard, meaning in fact it's actually better value overall if you wanted those particular niceties.

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While the fully-electric model is still some years out, Porsche's Cayenne E-Hybrid combines some of the best of both worlds. Its pairing of a V6 turbo engine and electric motor help make it faster and more than 100 horses more potent than the base Cayenne, though you'll pay from $91,700 (plus destination) for the privilege.

The Cayenne S — with its revised 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbo engine — now starts at $95,700, again with more standard equipment and 35 horsepower extra to help offset a roughly 5% price increase. Finally, the flagship 2024 Cayenne Turbo GT nudges shockingly close to the $200k mark: shoppers will need to show great customization restraint in order to keep its $196,300 sticker from spiraling past that point.

The reality is, of course, that Cayenne buyers — heck, Porsche buyers in general — tend not to be so swayed by what they're paying. The payoff here is an SUV that the automaker promises will be even more capable at either extreme. Softer and more comfortable in Normal mode; sharper and more agile in Sport. Better off-road, too, even if Porsche concedes that first owners don't tend to do that with their Cayenne (though it's apparently much more popular with second owners).

On the outside, there'll be the same SUV and SUV Coupe body styles, the latter trading a little practicality for a swooping roofline. Coupe ownership carries a roughly $4-6k premium, apart from the Cayenne Turbo GT, which doesn't get an SUV version. Eight new wheel designs are on the order sheet, some with multiple color options.

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A new front fascia gets larger air intakes and higher, more sculpted fenders. The hood has a new power dome, while the headlights are reworked to fit the latest family style. Porsche has updated the rear lights, too, with new 3D elements in the clusters, while the tailgate has been massaged to emphasize its width. The license plate has been lowered, from the hatch to the bumper, to help there too. The result is clearly a Cayenne, but a tauter and more refined one.

Inside, though, is where the most noticeable changes are to be found. Cars like the Taycan have donated some of their tech and style, bringing the 2024 Cayenne in line with the latest Porsche Driver Experience (think: what it's like behind the wheel). There's a new sport steering wheel with dedicated drive mode switch, a 12.6-inch curved driver display, and a 12.3-inch center touchscreen running the newest PCM 6.0 infotainment software. That has native apps for Spotify and other services.

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Below it is a new climate control panel, with a mix of physical and analog buttons and toggles. Porsche has ousted the old twist-to-start knob in favor of a button, and the drive selector is the Taycan's stubby little lever. An optional 10.9-inch passenger touchscreen — heavily polarized, so that the driver just sees a gloss-black panel if they glance across — gives access to navigation, multimedia, and more, while a head-up display is also available.

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It's all in a reworked dashboard with a more horizontal design, new colors, and fresh ambient lighting. Some of the most welcome changes, you don't really see: more effective vents, a more potent 15W wireless phone charger, and 61W USB-C ports. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard, while the panoramic glass roof is optional on the SUV and standard on the Coupe.

Though not the cheapest version, the 2024 Cayenne S arguably has the most pleasant surprise for this generation: the return of a V8 engine. Porsche — like most of the industry — may be sashaying toward EVs, but this newest S ditches the old V6 in favor of a 4.0liter V8 twin turbo that nudges power up to 468 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 mph arrives in 4.4 seconds, and the top speed is 169 mph.

Porsche's PASM system now gets two-valve tech to play with, controlling both rebound and compression. Steel springs will be standard, with air suspension — as on the car I drove — optional. Bigger brake rotors along with optimized rear-axle steering (that pivots more, and sooner) promise to aid stopping and turning.

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It is, frankly, a lovely place to spend a road trip. Most Cayenne owners rely on their SUV for running errands, according to Porsche's research, but the Cayenne S strikes a grand balance between long-distance cruising and eagerness when the roads call for it. The ride is controlled and compliant in the normal drive mode, still firmer than some rivals dial in, but still erring on the side of comfort. Even at its most languid, the revamped V8 still has plenty of punch for seamless overtaking.

Click over to Sport mode, meanwhile, and things get more enthusiastic. It's not a small SUV, nor a lightweight one, but 468 horses are nothing to be sniffed at. The uprated brakes handle shedding pace just swell, and while Porsche's new suspension hasn't quite ousted body roll, everything is so predictable and manageable that setting up a speed-slow-speed cadence through corners goes beyond "easy" and right into "fun" territory.

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It's a familiar place behind the wheel, for Porsche fans. No surprise that the automaker knows how to dial in steering weight and brake feel, and the new V8 adds some welcome punch. There was no base Cayenne on-hand to do side-by-side comparisons with that SUV's V6, but the soundtrack and extra grunt undoubtedly make a difference (and will likely be more than enough to lure upsells).

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Despite the new dashboard, Porsche insists that there's actually more direct access to controls than was the case before. That may be true, but there's still a learning curve: the new ADAS control lever takes you through a driver display menu, as well as toggling in all directions, and I couldn't help but think that more commonplace buttons and dials for things like cruise control and lane-keeping would be better situated on the wheel itself.

With the 2024 Cayenne Turbo GT, things get properly silly. Your let's-just-call-it-$200k not only gets you a 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbo good for a wild 650 horsepower and 626 lb-ft of torque, but stiffer, sport calibrated adaptive air suspension, a wider front track with increased camber, recalibrated front and rear steering, and higher locking levels for Porsche's Torque Vectoring Plus system. It's also 17mm lower than the other Cayenne models, while the 22-inch GT Design wheels sport high-performance rubber with an inch more contact patch.

The result is 0-60 mph in a quoted 3.1 seconds and a 189 mph top speed. It looks the part, too, with GT-specific exterior and interior details, a sport exhaust system with titanium central tailpipes, a lightweight carbon roof, and a pop-out spoiler. The gold wheels on this particular example are especially glorious, as are the carbon fiber aileron-like doohickeys above the rear glass. Sure, your cargo capacity dips from 27.2 cu-ft (or 60.3 cu-ft with the rear seats down) to 20.3 cu-ft (or 52.4 cu-ft maximum) thanks to the slinkier roofline, but it's tough to begrudge that.

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On the road, while Lamborghini might've snagged the raging bull reputation, the Turbo GT's approach to speed would certainly fit the description. Notch over to Sport mode, stab your right foot all the way, and after a very brief moment's consideration — not so much turbo lag as the Cayenne equivalent of a rhino's warning snort — the SUV lunges forward in a way both impressive and entertaining.

The fun doesn't end when the first bend arrives, either. You can happily hurl the Cayenne Turbo GT around the corners, with a huge dollop of grip to reassure you (and any passengers) that they're unlikely to go sliding off the side. It never feels small — quite frankly, it isn't small — but as an example of brute-forcing your way through the scenery, it does everything demanded of it, and more.

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Where that leaves Porsche's SUV in terms of rivals is an excellent question. Aston's DBX starts around the same price as the Cayenne Turbo GT, but is down on power; you need the DBX 707 to match more closely there, at which point you're spending $236k+ and living with what, to be blunt, already feels like fairly dated tech. A Bentley Bentayga Speed has the performance — even if it feels more inclined to replace a private jet for a cross-country jaunt — but commands around $65k more; a Bentayga S is more attainable but dips in velocity.

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Closer in price to the Turbo GT is the Range Rover SV (from $201,500 in standard wheelbase form). It's a little slower than the Porsche, its V8 doing 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, but certainly not lacking in prestige, and arguably nothing does the SUV waft better this side of a $350k+ Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Forgive me, though, if I express doubts that Cayenne buyers are doing any such cross-shopping. Much like the allure of owning a 911, the appeal of Porsche's SUV (or its SUV Coupe) is inherently tied to the gold crest on its freshly-resculpted hood. A good thing, then, that the truck they're buying is its best iteration yet.

The main excitement, undoubtedly, is around the upcoming Cayenne EV. Electrification suits big, lavish SUVs so well, both in terms of performance but also refinement. And as models like the Taycan GTS have amply demonstrated, Porsche certainly knows how to coax plenty of driver excitement out of batteries and e-motors.

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Eagerly looking ahead, though, shouldn't also mean ignoring what's on offer today. $200k may be a tall order for the Cayenne Turbo GT, but the 2024 Cayenne S is an altogether more attainable taste of Porsche's SUV talents. Combining practicality with pace and prestige, it's a reminder that the Cayenne isn't just Porsche's white knight in sales, but a force to be reckoned with in its own right.