2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe review

Sometimes I disappoint myself. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe ought to be the sort of car that should earn a whole heap of disapproval.

We've railed in the past about the nonsense of coupe-SUVs. Well this is a $366,200 (plus on-roads) example of that ilk that emits 319g/km on a good day, weighs more than 2.2 tonnes, has one heck of a thirst for 98RON when you're on it and, sitting on its huge gold alloy wheels, appears a wholly obnoxious statement of excess in these straitened times. And I love it.

I love its chutzpah, its ridiculous pace, its otherworldly dynamics, its depth of engineering and its ability to never appear fazed by any sort of road conditions.

Those who don't have particularly long memories may well recall we drove the pre-facelift Turbo GT Coupe on an extended drive feature last year so what we're doing here is assessing quite how effective the updates are and maybe once again attempt to figure out how this patently excessive SUV has managed to worm its way quite so frustratingly into my affections.

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• What's the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe like inside?
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• How long is the warranty and what are the running costs like?
• Would you recommend it?
• Specifications

How much is it and what do you get?

With the 2024 update, Porsche has rejigged the Cayenne Coupe range slightly.

The GTS and Turbo models that were a fixture have quietly disappeared, with the range walk-up going from base model to E-Hybrid, S and then Turbo GT positioned as the apex predator.

This has now addressed the somewhat awkward anomaly in the old Cayenne line up where the flagship turbo GT model wasn't the most powerful: that honour went to the less focused and now deleted 500kW/900Nm Turbo S-E Hybrid Coupe.

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That $336,200 list price looks a bit of an outlier given that the next most powerful version, the 349kW S Coupe is priced at $190,000.

This would appear to suggest that that vast gulf will eventually be backfilled with other models (a GTS is an obvious fit) but for the time being, the Turbo GT finds its sticker price maybe looking a little conspicuous.

Although most would finger this as a mid-life refresh for a body first seen in 2019, Zuffenhausen is at pains to underscore the extensive nature of the update, calling it “one of the most extensive product upgrades in the history of Porsche”.

That upgrade isn't applied completely uniformly across the line up. The S, for example, gets a whole new powerplant, ditching its V6 for a biturbo V8, while the e-Hybrid features a whole new electric motor. In fact, the Turbo GT may well have changed the least. Not that a whole lot needed fixing.

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How do rivals compare on value?

How broad's the remit? Were we considering big, fast, raked-rear SUVs, then it would stretch anywhere from the $243K/450kW Mercedes-Benz GLE 63S, to the $409K/478kW Lamborghini Urus.

Audi's $220K/441kW RS Q8 represents a convincing cut-price alternative, while BMW's $248K/460kW X6 M Competition also has the muscle to force its way into the conversation.

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Other vehicles you might pitch into that fray? Possibly the angriest of the lot is the $428K/520kW Aston Martin DBX707 and how about loosening the purse strings for a $728K/533kW Ferrari Purosangue?

In other words, Porsche certainly doesn't have this part of the market to itself. In order to eke a niche for itself, the Turbo GT needs to deliver a combination of qualities that the rest will find impossible to equal.

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What's the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe like inside?

The first thing most would notice inside the car is that the dash architecture now looks as if it's been purloined from the Taycan EV.

The 'Porsche Driver Experience' features a curved digital instrument cluster, a redesigned centre console and a 911-style gear selector that's now mounted on the dash just behind your left knuckle. The engine start button sits to the right of the steering wheel.

Three screens stretch across the width of the dash. There's a set of digital clocks housed in the main instrument binnacle, a 12.3-inch centre touchscreen and the option of a 10.9-inch passenger display at $2860. A special coating ensures that this isn't visible from the driver's seat and front-seat passengers can stream content to this display.

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There's a sea of piano black on the centre console, which houses features such as the heated seats and, when these haptic feedback controls are pressed, the whole panel flexes in a way that's not immediately reassuring.

You get used to it, but the first time it happens you wonder if something's come unclipped in the dash. No, they all do that. Likewise, on our test car, the footrest would slide up and down by a few millimetres which was moderately irritating.

Otherwise interior quality seems extremely good. Carbon fibre trim pieces mix with Race Tex artificial suede for a resolutely racy vibe, although your mileage may well vary on the authenticity of this combo in a 2.2-tonne SUV.

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The main display is multi-configurable, with a wall-to-wall map if required

The multifunction sports steering wheel looks very 911 and features a manettino dial hanging from the right-hand spoke with not only a suite of Normal, Off-road, Sport and Sport Plus driving modes but also a Sport Response function, a red button that allows you to instantly 'push-to-pass' even if the Cayenne is set into its most relaxed mode. It puts the suspension straight into Sport mode and preps the engine and transmission for instant response.

The main display is multi-configurable, with a wall-to-wall map if required and there's also a considerable amount of customisation that can be applied to the bright and clear head-up display.

There are physical buttons for the air-con which means you won't have to go digging in the main screen to change the temperature. The air-con system has become very clever indeed, with a GPS-linked function.

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This means that as soon as you enter a tunnel, the Cayenne will recognise it from the nav and instantly switch the air conditioning to recirculate so you're not sucking fumes into the cabin. It also actively monitors particulate content in the air and switches on recirc if air quality drops.

A fixed glass panoramic roof is fitted as standard as is a 14-speaker BOSE sound system good for 710 watts. If this is deemed inadequate, Porsche will happily relieve you of $9630 and fit a Burmester 21-speaker setup that cranks out 1455 watts.

This will bite into the 538-litre luggage compartment due to its below-floor subwoofer. You even got a cooled smartphone wireless charger. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard and, praise all that is holy, this version of Porsche's infotainment no longer tries to hijack every function of your smartphone.

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There's even a rapid pairing function where you just need to scan an on-screen QR code.

There's a respectable amount of room in the back seats, but taller drivers will find the view out compromised by that sloping roofline. Visibility out of the car is something of a weak spot, with broad B-pillars and a slot-like rear window that gets narrower still when the rear spoiler pops up at speed.

The boot's decently shaped, but it's not any larger than what you'd find on something far smaller like a Hyundai Tucson, another consequence of the Cayenne Coupe's tapered rear. Lift the floor and there's a space saver spare. One nice touch? Soft close doors all round on this range-topper.

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What is it like to drive?

With the popularity of phenomenally rapid EVs, it's no longer quite such a shock to find that a big weighty car can accelerate from a standstill as if it's been shunted up the chuff by the Ghan, but there's something about the sheer physicality of the Turbo GT experience that feels suitably breathtaking.

Despite wielding a 3.3-second sprint to 100km/h capability, it doesn't feel EV-style concussive in that first second as you sink the clog. From there on, it's an exercise in ladling on kinetic energy like almost nothing else.

Switch the mode dial into Sport Plus and the exhausts will give a guttural bark, banging on upshifts and it all gets very serious, very quickly. The massive carbon ceramic stoppers do their best work when given a big clout. Try to modulate them with any degree of subtlety and they can feel a little skatey.

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Releasing an extra 14kW compared to its predecessor would appear to be child's play. Merely amping up the boost from the Turbo GT's twin huffers would do that: a few lines of code.

Porsche has instead been quite hilariously German about the process and has instead modified the pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft and timing chain drive, claiming that only by undergoing this exercise of absolute engineering rectitude can the Cayenne reliably deliver on and off track. Yes, they mentioned the t-word.

What's more impressive than the go and stop is the Cayenne GT Turbo's ability to deliver a decent serving of fun through the bends. This isn't something you just launch straight into.

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It takes a little while to get used to the cadence of the car's body movements, the response of the 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo engine and the eight-speed automatic transmission.

Then there's the sheer bulk of the car to consider. Threading a vehicle that's 2194mm wide (including mirrors) down a narrow country lane requires some concentration.

Of course, the steering is great. It's a Porsche. What was the last Porsche we drove with duff steering? There's a respectable amount of weighting, the Race-Tex-trimmed wheel hums with a pleasantly analogue vibe (even if it is largely sly artifice), and the big Cayenne is surprisingly easy to position.

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One thing it's not fantastic at is communicating the limits of grip.

On one or two occasions, when accelerating from corners, the GT Turbo lapsed into a surprising slug of power oversteer when I'd assumed the big Pirelli P Zero Corsas (285/40 ZR22 front and 315/35 ZR22 rear) would be able to accommodate a particular combo of tyre warmth, torque input and steering angle. Reassuringly, the stability control on this vehicle is excellent.

A widened track and an increased camber on the front axle of help during aggressive cornering. A 15mm lowering of ride height in its most focused drive mode also nudges down the CofG.

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Then you've also got the reassurance of Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) and rear-axle steering.

You'll be astonished at just how flat the Turbo GT corners, which, upon reflection, may well contribute to that slight lack of communication when it's at the limit of grip. Sometimes a little roll is a good thing.

Ride quality is surprisingly supple in Normal mode. In contrast to the previous version, the latest Turbo GT has broadened the spread of the effective spring rates in the new two-chamber air suspension. The firm setting isn't really any firmer than the old model, but the relaxed setting allows the car to breathe with the road that much more soothingly.

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How is it on fuel?

Not good. But you knew that already. In fact, this car can't be sold in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Singapore, among others due to its emissions.

Porsche claims a combined figure of 12.5L/100km but that'd require a wholly unnatural sort of restraint that we'd find suspicious and probably un-Australian.

On test, on mixed roads, we averaged 20L/100km. The fuel tank measures a decent 90 litres.

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How safe is it?

The Cayenne may well have undergone “one of the most extensive product upgrades in the history of Porsche” but that product upgrade was clearly not significant enough to warrant retesting by EuroNCAP, so the Cayenne carries over its five-star safety rating from the previous model.

Special mention should go to the jaw-dropping headlights. LED matrix units are now standard across the Cayenne range blending speed, camera and navigation data feeds to ensure ideal illumination. The 11-point matrix of the main beam area does the usual trick of not dazzling oncoming drivers but the Turbo GT model has a few additional tricks up its sleeve.

This gets the high-resolution HD-Matrix LED lights. These lights adjust and recalibrate their power and throw every 16 milliseconds and can perform all sorts of clever adaptive functions such lane brightening, construction-site and bottleneck light or dedicated freeway high-beam.

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The key to this tech is a chip that measures a mere 12.8 by 3.2 mm, which holds 16,384 individual micro-LED pixels, two of which are fitted per headlamp pod.

These chips are governed by a control module, much like a PC graphics card, can set one of 1024 brightness steps for each of the diodes. Dial everything up to 1024 and the Turbo GT is throwing out 2500 lumens, or enough light to illuminate the road up to 600m ahead.

In case you were wondering, the sun kicks out around 127,000 lumens, so you're not turning night into day (and don't get me started on lux versus lumens) but suffice to say, they're extremely good lights when they're on main beam, that is.

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They're excellent at blanking out oncoming vehicles and retaining main beam, but when they dip, the throw isn't huge.

What's more, it seems as if the algorithm needs a little finessing, as they can drop to dipped beam on a pitch-black deserted country road for no apparent reason and then take a very long time (in some instances around 30 seconds) to decide that the coast is clear and resume the light show.

When it does, it's very dramatic, with the beam swishing outwards like a pair of opening curtains.

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How long is the warranty and what are the running costs like?

The warranty for the Cayenne Turbo GT is three years / unlimited kilometres.

While three years might seem a bit mean given that much of the new car market has moved to five-year warranties, there's still a bit of lag at the top end of town. The likes of Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, and Maserati all offer a similar three-year deal.

Main service intervals are at 15,000km/1 year, there's a three-year paint warranty and a 12-year anti rust warranty.

Aside from fuel, it's worth bearing in mind that set of rear boots for the Cayenne will retail at just over $1000 per corner.

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Would you recommend it?

The key to enjoying the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is to overcome your initial scepticism around what it is or what it represents and just enjoy what it does. Which is pretty much anything you ask of it.

This is a car which can turn a lap of the 'Ring quicker than a 997 GT3 yet features an off-road mode which can see it wading through 460mm of water. The updates to the latest version have usefully refreshed its utility and added some much-needed subtlety to its palette of flavours.

The Turbo GT is a genuinely phenomenal piece of engineering which, by rights, ought to be enough to endear it to 'proper' car enthusiasts, many of whom will turn their nose up at the idea of a huge and heavy SUV, no matter what it's capable of. And therein lies the rub. The Turbo GT doesn't get the respect it deserves and, truth be told, likely never will.

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Unlike many of its rivals, it's suffused with a genuine sense of fun. It's a patently ridiculous vehicle and, as such, it's hard to take yourself too seriously when you're driving it.

All of which means it's easy to lean into its extreme attributes and have a great time doing so. Yes, it's wholly unsustainable, but this is the last fling of great internal combustion engines and we might as well enjoy them while we still can.

If you have the means, the Cayenne Turbo GT earns a solid recommendation. Life is short and opportunities to have this sort of fun are not long for this world. This or an Aston Martin DBX707? In terms of fun, there's little to separate them, but chances are there will be little overlap in the buyer set. Think of the Cayenne as the unlikely joker in the pack.

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