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The Porsche Cayenne is the rally car of big, heavy SUVs. It drives like a big sports car. Measured against other SUVs, it's hot. Measured against sports cars, it's quick and it's fast. Handling and stopping are impressive given its mass, but there's no denying that mass. And therefore, the Cayenne is not an alternative to a Carrera. For true sports car performance, there is no substitute for the Porsche 911. But among SUVs, the Cayenne hauls. It is a Porsche.
The Porsche of SUVs is what those familiar with the brand probably expect from the Cayenne. If you pay close attention, you can feel most of the mechanical components working, each doing its own job, yet it all blends together in a smooth, synchronous whole. The Cayenne is fast, satisfying and, even in the things it does least efficiently, utterly competent. It stops with more energy and precision than any SUV we can name.
The deep rumble of the exhaust is a reminder you're driving a Porsche. Even at idle, the burble of low-restriction mufflers, the cams, and the suck of intake air remind us of the late, great Porsche 928, a V8-powered GT that swallowed chunks of pavement at an alarming rate. This is not your typical SUV, though it can perform the duties of one.
Off-road capabilities are considerable. Though Porsche is best-known for Le Mans and other endurance sports car racing, Cayenne invokes images of the Paris-Dakar Porsche 959s, another area where Porsche triumphed.
We drove a 2008 Porsche Cayenne S hard on a gravel road, a 2.0-mile special stage at Continental Tire's Uvalde Proving Grounds west of San Antonio and were impressed with the predictable handling. Hurling the Cayenne deep into gravel corners well past grip limits was met by the system catching the car mid-corner, allowing us to accelerate hard out of the turn and shoot down another short straightaway before diving into the next turn. With so much technology helping us control the car we would have had to work at it to bite the ditch. In short, the Cayenne works phenomenally well on dirt and gravel roads and makes its driver look like a hero.
Cayenne's permanent all-wheel-drive system, with its variable-rate center differential managed by multiple clutch plates, is similar to that used on all-wheel-drive versions of the Porsche 911. The Cayenne enhances this setup with a low-range set of gears along with a locking center differential for creeping over rugged terrain. Porsche's latest stability and traction-control electronics have been modified for 2008 for improved off-road capability. The all-wheel-drive system can vary the amount of engine power distributed to the front and rear wheels, sending more or less power in one direction depending on available traction and other conditions. The Porsche Cayenne has a default power split of 38 percent front, 62 percent rear. It's biased much more to the rear than most SUVs, more closely replicating the rear-wheel-drive characteristics of a sports car.
On the road, the Cayenne handles crisply, but it's no Carrera. Though lighter than the BMW X5, the lightest Cayenne tips the scales at 4,762 pounds. The Cayenne S weighs 4,950 pounds while the Turbo weighs 5,191 pounds (and more than 5,700 pounds when fully optioned). All this weight rears its head in transient maneuvers. The Porsche Cayenne performs lane-change maneuvers better than other SUV, but there's no getting around the physics of all that mass when pushed hard in tight cornering situations. That said, it offers excellent grip in steady state corners, which can be taken quite quickly.
Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control features active anti-roll bars that almost eliminate body roll (lean) in corners. This system makes it easier to control the car when driving hard through corners, improving cornering stability. Porsche Stability Management has new functions for 2008 such as pre-loading of the brake system when needed. A new Trailer Stability Control is available for 2008 designed to improve stability when towing.
The V6 in the standard Porsche Cayenne is new for 2008. This 3.6-liter V6 is larger than last year's narrow-angle 3.2-liter V6. It also features a wider cylinder angle, 15 degrees instead of the previous 10.6 degrees. The cylinder head is made from a single piece of aluminum and uses Direct Fuel Injection. The exhaust system is new for 2008, featuring low restriction and tuned for maximum torque. The 3.6-liter V6 produces 290 horsepower at 6,200 rpm and 273 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm.
We found the 2008 Porsche Cayenne with the V6 enjoyable to drive. It's available with a six-speed manual transmission, which is equipped with a feature called Porsche Drive-Off Assistant that allows a driver to easily set the Cayenne in motion on steep grades; the system automatically maintains brake pressure when the brake pedal is released, then releases the brakes once the driver begins to let out the clutch pedal. For 2008, the manual has been beefed up to manage the increased power of the V6. The manual's shift action is sweet, and the Porsche Cayenne V6 delivers adequate acceleration performance. Porsche reports 0-60 mph times of 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 141 mph. The V6 is pleasant to operate, if not as exhilarating as the V8s. Its wide power band gets the Cayenne up to speed in convincing fashion, and the Cayenne V6 actually feels lighter, perhaps better than the V8s, for mundane chores like commuting or shopping. And the V6 model is lighter, by 166 pounds with the Tiptronic, and another 20 pounds less with the manual.
The 4.8-liter V8 that comes in the 2008 Porsche Cayenne S generates 385 hp at 6,200 rpm and 369 pound-feet of torque at 3,500. The V8s are pure Porsche with the latest technology and materials, including a dry-sump lubrication system that allows uninterrupted oiling at extreme angles of operation, either off road or at high lateral loads when cornering at speed on pavement.
We found the Porsche Cayenne S offers responsive performance. Porsche says it can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.4 seconds. At any speed, the six-speed Tiptronic S automatic kicks down quickly with a jab at the gas pedal and the Cayenne S accelerates like a jumbo jet approaching rotation speed. We're not sure why anyone needs more get-up in a big SUV than the Cayenne S offers, but we're well beyond needs here.
The Cayenne Turbo generates 500 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 516 pound-feet of torque between 2,250 and 4,500 rpm. The Turbo can accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 4.9 seconds and from 0-100 mph in just over 12 seconds, which we experienced at the Uvalde Proving Grounds. The Turbo hit its top speed of 171 mph there.
Brakes, traditionally a Porsche strong point, are even more powerful for 2008. The Cayenne brakes feature six-piston fixed calipers on the front wheels and four-piston calipers at the rear. Brake discs measure 13.0 inches on all V6 Cayennes with calipers finished in black. The Cayenne S gets even larger 13.78-inch front discs and silver-painted calipers. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo gets even larger discs, 14.5 inches in front and 14.1 inches at the rear with red calipers. Porsche designed the Cayenne's brakes for minimal fade on long downhill mountain grades and help it shed speed like a sports sedan. New for 2008 is an off-road ABS feature that should shorten stopping distances on dirt and gravel roads.
On pavement, the Porsche Cayenne is smooth, fast, and big. It's not just acceleration or the 171-mph top speed that impressed us, but the high speeds the Cayenne comfortably carries in most circumstances. The steering isn't as quick as that in 911, but its weight and response have a familiar feel. The air suspension keeps it on the stiff side, though it can be manually softened if the driver chooses. It's impressively precise and responsive, and its 2.5-ton mass is masked by impressive stability and agility. The Porsche Cayenne drives lighter than other big SUVs, including the X5 or M-Class, and speed creep is a constant issue. Almost without realizing it, you can be traveling 120 mph on roads posted 65. Speeds we wouldn't consider in a Chevy Tahoe feel mundane in the Cayenne.
The towing capacity of the Cayenne is impressive. All models are rated to tow just over 7,700 pounds.
Fuel economy is not the strongest asset of the Porsche Cayenne due to its considerable weight and performance orientation. Stepping up or down in horsepower does not drastically affect fuel economy nor does switching transmissions. The 2008 Cayenne is rated 14/20 mpg (manual or Tiptronic); Cayenne S rates 13/19 mpg, Cayenne Turbo gets 12/19 mpg. Those figures are EPA-estimated City/Highway miles per gallon under the new, stricter test methods that involve more aggressive driving and use of air conditioning, among other things. None of the Porsche Cayenne models is subject to the Gas Guzzler tax. Premium unleaded fuel, 91 octane or better, is required on all Cayennes. So while you might save $400 a year, or $30 a month, in fuel costs by choosing a V6 over a Turbo, we view choosing among the different engines to be primarily a purchase price consideration. By comparison, the 2008 Volkswagen Touareg with the 10-cylinder diesel is rated 15/20 mpg, while the 2008 Mercedes-Benz GL320 CDI diesel rates 18/24 mpg. The 2007 BMW X5 4.8i was rated 15/21 mpg.
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