Porsche Cayenne Review & Prices

The Porsche Cayenne is that very rarest of things – it’s a large, luxurious SUV that can put as big a smile on your face as many sports cars. It competes directly with other large premium SUVs such as the Range Rover Velar, Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes GLE.

Porsche is famous for its iconic 911 sports car and there’s more than a hint of it in the Cayenne’s design. In fact, it looks a bit like a raised-up 911 with sleek headlights, a flowing bonnet and fairly steeply raked windscreen. At the back there’s a small roof spoiler above wide rear haunches, accentuated by a rear light bar that runs the width of the car.

Inside the sporty theme continues. The driving position is low slung, the Cayenne’s steering wheel is suitably sporty and there’s a large centre console that divides the front passengers. Everything looks and feels superb quality too, including the dash materials, well-damped switches and metal steering wheel paddles and door handles.

There’s plenty of wow-factor when it comes to the Cayenne’s infotainment, too. A huge 12.3-inch widescreen touchscreen sits in the centre of the dashboard, and offers razor-sharp graphics and brilliant response times to touch. There are also a couple of screens behind the steering wheel either side of a large rev counter – another of the Cayenne’s sporting touches.

The Cayenne isn’t a one-trick pony, though: it’s also surprisingly spacious and practical. Not only will a couple of tall adults be supremely comfortable in the front, but another two will be able to stretch out behind. Better still, a third adult won’t be too uncomfortable on a long journey sat in the rear middle seat. Behind that, the Cayenne’s boot is massive – bigger than most of its rivals. The only downside is that there’s no option for seven seats.

You can have your Cayenne with a 2.9-litre V6 petrol, a plug-in hybrid that pairs a 3.0-litre V6 petrol with an electric motor, or a 4.0-litre V8 petrol. You’ll notice there’s no diesel option, as Porsche has ditched this fuel entirely. Most people will be happy with the smooth entry-level V6’s 340hp, but those looking for better fuel economy should investigate the plug-in hybrid model, which will travel up to 83mph and about 25 miles on electricity alone, yet do 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds. Used correctly, it could be more economical than the old diesel model too.

For those who enjoy their driving, the V8 GTS and Turbo models are exceptionally quick, but if you want the 640hp Turbo GT, which can cover the 0-62mph dash in just 3.3 seconds, you'll need a Cayenne Coupe.

All Cayennes handle more sharply than most other large SUVs. The Cayenne’s steering is quite heavy, but it feels very well connected, while the huge amount of grip and impressive body control mean you can cover ground very swiftly. Indeed, the Turbo GT holds the Nürburgring lap record for SUVs with a time of 7 minutes and 38.9 seconds.

All told, then, the Porsche Cayenne is a well-made, spacious, fast and fun to drive large luxurious SUV. There are better SUVs if you need to carry seven people or if diesel is a must, but few others will put as big a smile on your face to drive.

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The Porsche Cayenne has a range of strong engines, all are comfortable to drive and most handle impeccably, but you feel the extra weight of the hybrid in corners

Most big SUVs have the comfortable, luxurious side of life down pat, but driving fun usually takes a bit of a back seat. That’s not the story with the Cayenne, however – it manages to tick all three of those boxes.

There are various suspension types to consider. Firstly, there’s the standard suspension which is firm but ultimately still comfy, and can be made better by optionally adding adaptive dampers with a softer ‘Comfort’ drive mode.

Then there’s adaptive air suspension, which serves up an impressively plush ride both in and out of town. To that you can then add Porsche’s Dynamic Chassis Control which will help conquer body roll in tight corners even more effectively. Still with us?

Essentially, you’ll be happy with the optional adaptive version of the Cayenne’s standard suspension, but if you can stretch to it, add the more expensive spongy air suspension for the plushest comfort when driving.

Adding to the sense of luxury is just how quiet the Cayenne is on the move. OK, so mash your right foot into the carpet and all Cayenne models take off like scalded rats, making wonderfully sporty noises as they go.

Switch them back to their most comfortable driving modes, though, and aside from a little road noise on the motorway, all is quiet and calm. Of course, the e-Hybrid is quietest when it’s whirring along on electricity alone in its ePower driving mode.

However, in order to do that the e-Hybrid needs batteries, and these batteries weigh some 300kg. With all that extra weight onboard, the e-Hybrid feels the least agile Cayenne of the range, while its regenerative brakes feel the least natural to use too.

That’s not to say it handles poorly, but you’ll notice how the V6 petrols, and particularly the V8 Turbo, feel more eager to change direction on a winding country road. All Cayennes at least have great steering that feels nicely connected for such a large SUV.

In town, adding four-wheel steering as an option helps the big Cayenne pivot more tightly and slip into parking spaces more easily, while Porsche’s InnoDrive safety package allows the Cayenne to accelerate, brake and steer to keep you in lane. It’ll even predict what the road will be like 3km ahead using sat-nav data and video cameras and adjust the car’s drive settings accordingly. Clever.

The Porsche Cayenne is more practical than its rivals, but the hybrid loses quite a bit of boot space to make room for the batteries

The Porsche Cayenne’s cabin is more than roomy enough for you to get comfortable if you’re very tall. The front seats come with eight-way electric adjustment as standard to help you find your ideal driving position and you can even get them with 18 different means of adjustment – perfect for practising a few yoga positions on the move. Thankfully, you don’t have to pay extra for adjustable lumbar support to help reduce backache on long journeys – it’s standard across the range.

The Porsche Cayenne’s door bins are absolutely huge so you’ll have no trouble tucking a one-litre bottle into each of the front doors. There’s a decent amount of space under the front armrest for a few drinks cans and space for two large coffee cups in centre-console cup holders. You get a pair of extra cup holders in the folding rear armrest and there’s space for a couple of extra half-litre bottles in the rear door bins.

Space in the back seats

The back seats have a supportive shape and plenty of padding so your passengers won’t have anything to complain about, either. There’s ample head and leg room for six-foot-tall passengers to sit behind an equally tall driver too, and they can even recline their seats slightly if they fancy dozing off.

The Porsche Cayenne’s cabin is wide enough to carry three adults side-by-side and there’s enough space under the front seats for everyone’s feet – even in their lowest setting. The middle seat is a little higher and a smidge harder than the outer two, but not to the extent that your middle passenger will have anything to complain about.

The back doors don’t open particularly wide, but there’s still enough room to lift in a bulky child seat. The seat locks easily into place but you do have to remove a pair of ISOFIX anchor point covers first.

Boot space

With all five seats in place, the Porsche Cayenne’s 770-litre boot is larger than you get in the Audi Q8 (605 litres) or Range Rover Velar (568 litres). There’s no annoying lip by the boot opening and its square shape makes it dead easy to load bulky luggage, but space does drop to 645 litres if you get the hybrid.

There’s space for a few sets of golf clubs or a couple of large suitcases, but tall boxes won’t quite fit under the Cayenne’s sloping rear windscreen. There’s nowhere to store the load cover if you need to remove it to carry tall items, either, but you get an electric closing bootlid as standard.

If you need to carry very long luggage, you’ll find flipping the back seats down is more difficult than in the Audi Q8. Rather than a set of levers in the boot, you have to pull a handle beside each seat base – not ideal in a wet Ikea car park. With all three back seats folded away, the Cayenne’s boot is easily big enough to carry a bike with both its wheels attached and a big TV box fits sideways across the back seats.

There’s a smattering of tether points dotted around the Porsche Cayenne’s boot to help you tie down fragile luggage and there’s a handy elasticated net to stop smaller bags sliding around, too.

The Cayenne's interior is spacious and luxurious, but its instrument displays aren't as modern as those in an Audi or Range Rover

The Porsche Cayenne’s interior feels more like it belongs in a low-slung sports car than a high-riding SUV. There’s a broad, sweeping dashboard and a very tall centre console which make you feel quite cocooned in the front seats.

Its huge central infotainment system is one of the sharpest in the business and looks absolutely fantastic. In front of the slick leather-trimmed steering wheel you’ll find two extra screens and, rather unusually, a conventional rev-counter – something of a Porsche signature these days.

All the switches you’ll regularly use are either made from cool brushed metal or come with a glossy glass-like finish. There isn’t a single cheap-feeling or scratchy plastic to be found in the Cayenne’s cabin and even the mirror cover on the sun visor comes with a soft-close action like a posh kitchen cabinet. The solid metal shift paddles on the steering wheel are a particular highlight, and the optional extended leather pack for the dashboard is another very nice touch.

Every Porsche Cayenne comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display nestled neatly in the dashboard. Through this you’ll control most of the car’s onboard functions – from tuning the stereo to tweaking the adaptive suspension settings.

The screen responds pretty much instantly to your inputs but it doesn’t buzz or click like the screens in an Audi Q8 to let you know you’ve pressed the correct icon. This doesn’t make any difference when you’re parked, but it means the screen isn’t particularly intuitive to use when you’re driving.

Thankfully, the menus are logically laid out and you get two rows of physical shortcut buttons down on the centre console to help you quickly access most of the system’s main features. There’s a scroll wheel too – just like you get in a Mercedes GLE – but it’s absolutely tiny so isn’t all that easy to find without taking your eyes off the road.

The climate control switches are much easier to locate, however, and they’re a doddle to use compared with the Audi Q8’s rather awkward touchscreen heating and ventilation controls.

Not quite as slick as in the Audi, however, are the Porsche’s two digital driver’s displays. Sitting either side of a conventional rev counter, these two screens are pin-sharp but their two-piece layout means they can’t display sat-nav directions quite as clearly as the larger one-piece displays you get in the Audi Q8 and Range Rover Velar.

That said, the Porsche Cayenne’s central display is so big you won’t have any trouble checking for upcoming directions. The maps themselves come with gorgeous high-resolution satellite imagery and they respond almost instantly when you swipe and pinch to pan and zoom.

Programming an address is a doddle too, and you can even write in whole postcodes using your finger on the touchscreen rather than using an on-screen keyboard. This works brilliantly if you’re left-handed but feels a little strange if you’re not.

If you’re not a fan of the Porsche Cayenne’s built-in sat nav you can use the standard Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone mirroring feature to use a selection of your phone’s apps through the Cayenne’s screen instead.