First drive: Porsche Cayenne Turbo S

Newswheel staff :: 17 February 2006 :: Filed under SUV, Porsche, Porsche Cayenne, Europe & UK, US,

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The quickest SUV just got quicker

Tricky car to rate, the Cayenne. It’s either proof that Porsche has sold out on its sports car heritage or the key to the company’s long term survival as an independent outfit. Still, with Porsche currently reckoned to be the most profitable car company on planet Earth, two things are for sure. The Cayenne clearly makes financial sense. And Wendelin Wiedeking and the boys at Porsche HQ probably know what they are doing.

With that in mind, who are we to question the sanity of the latest instalment in the Cayenne saga, the even more powerful Turbo S? Well, for starters we’re not sure the existing Turbo model is exactly short on pace. And you could also make a pretty good argument for the addition of a diesel model based on a tweaked version of VW’s monstrous V10 oil burner rather than another ballistic petrol model to go with the 250bhp V6 entry level offering and the two beefy V8 models. But we must ultimately bow to the greater intellects of Wiedeking and Co. Perhaps the world isn’t ready for a derv drinking Porker.

Whatever, the new Turbo S is more than just a notch more boost pressure and a few extra ponies. Yes, there’s an extra 0.2 bar of puff. But Porsche has also bolted on upgraded intercoolers and a new ECU. The result? A 71bhp bump over the Turbo and a grand total of 521bhp and 531lb/ft. More, in other words, than any other mass-made Porsche in history, except the Carrera GT. And enough to slice around half a second off the Turbo’s zero to 60 thrash, which is now dispatched in a 911 cabriolet-matching 5.2 seconds. As for top whack, it jumps up a couple of clicks to 167mph.

The Turbo S may be a niche model. But that didn’t prevent Porsche from forking out for a full-on press launch in the Gulf

Impressive enough on paper, then. But shockingly quick in the real world for such a large machine. Granted, it’s tough to imagine how and where Turbo S owners are going to exploit the epic performance on offer. But it’s equally hard not to be thoroughly intoxicated by the Turbo S’s ability to hammer forward at the merest twitch of a toe. The fact that the relentless shove just keeps on coming all the way to 150mph, at which point even 500bhp isn’t enough to overcome the Cayenne’s brick-wall aero profile, just adds to the freakish appeal. Bung in the classy growl of that pure-Porsche V8 and you have a thoroughly decadent, conspicuously consumptive machine. Classic Porsche?  Nope. But frighteningly effective all the same.

And if nothing else, the Turbo S proves there’s plenty of headroom in Porsche’s V8 mill. That’s good news for the upcoming Panamera four-door coupe and the rumoured 928-inspired two door GT.

As for chassis dynamics, the latest Cayenne is as difficult to fault as its predecessors. Bigger brakes, self levelling air suspension as standard, new wheels and tweaked suspension settings all make an appearance. But the overall effect is familiar enough: faintly ridiculous levels of road holding and body control for a two-tonne truck. So, if you drive a fast saloon, beware. The Turbo S won’t just wipe out your steed in a straight line. It will probably make it look a little silly at track days, too.

Mmmmmm, sand. We’d think twice before picking up an ex-press fleet Cayenne after our desert exploits

It’s even more remarkable, therefore, that the Turbo S somehow manages to remain a reasonably effective off-road tool. Despite wafer-thin tyres wrapped round the 20-inch rims, the press cars Porsche provided for desert venue press launch in the United Arab Emirates still managed to pull off some fancy Paris-Dakar rally raid moves.

So, there you have it. A 500bhp, £80-grand SUV capable of hammering the ‘Ring in the morning and decimating desert dunes in the afternoon. The Cayenne Turbo was already the quickest and most capable, on road, of its kind. And with the S, the gap to the rest just got bigger. Just don’t think too carefully about the very concept of a 170mph SUV. Your brain won’t like it.

The Turbo S enters the Cayenne range priced around £10k more than the Turbo at £81,565.