Anyone who has spent time in one of Porsche's sports cars will get a familiar feeling in the Cayenne driver's seat. The cues are pure Porsche: the shape and feel of the gear selector or the thick, grippy, steering wheel; the three-spoke hub design, with a brand crest and multiple controls for audio, trip computer and climate adjustments; the ignition switch to the left of the steering column or the contour of the seats.
Cayenne's instrument cluster is tucked under a single, prominent arch, with two big gauges (tachometer left, speedo right) on either side of a central multifunction display. This display presents information on audio and trip functions, mechanical operations and ambient conditions. Automatic speed and wiper controls are located on stalks on either side of the steering column. The bulk of the switches, including primary audio and climate controls are racked in the center of the dash above the center console. These are replaced with a CRT monitor on Cayennes equipped with Porsche Communications Management. A dozen vents throughout the cabin distribute warm or cool air evenly.
The Cayenne is not as richly appointed as a similarly priced Range Rover, but it's not supposed to be. The emphasis here is sporting flair, rather than traditional luxury. With the exception of a cheesy looking headliner and oddly designed armrests in the doors, the materials and finish are acceptable for a vehicle of this ilk. One of our test vehicles was equipped with the Light Wood package. It's polished to a gloss and expensive looking, but almost blonde. Some of us at newcartestdrive.com love light woods. My tastes lean toward the dark Burr.
The standard leather upholstery is high grade, while the standard metal trim has a brushed finish. The front seats stand out for their balance of support, comfort and adjustment range, and the navigation display screen is one of the largest we've encountered.
The navigation system calculates routes and makes adjustments more quickly than just about any we've used. This GPS system has been further improved for 2005, with DVD rather than CD data disks. This allows maps for the entire United States on a single disk, rather than several that must be changed from region to region.
Cayenne transports five adults in reasonable comfort. The rear seat is well countered, with excellent headroom and decent legroom, even when the front seats are well back in their travel range. Seating for five is something we haven't seen previously in a Porsche, but don't expect the interior volume of a Lincoln Navigator, and don't look for a third-row seat.
A few other things we've never seen in Porsche before Cayenne: The rear seatback folds forward in a 60/40 split, and it includes a pass-though slot with a ski sack, allowing Cayenne to haul longer, narrow items inside without flattening (or messing up) the rear seat. There's a standard cargo net to keep grocery bags and other items from sliding around during travel and a retractable shade-type cover that opens and closes over the cargo hold.
The Cayenne boasts 19 cubic feet of stowage space with the rear seat in place and 62.5 cubic feet with the seat folded. That gives the Porsche more cargo space than the BMW X5, slightly less than the Mercedes M-Class. The tailgate is two-stage, so either the glass or entire gate can be opened upward, and there's a new electronic latch for 2005. Simply lower the gate to the latch, and an electric mechanism pulls it shut.
The dimensions of the tailgate opening and load floor allow Cayenne to haul small appliances such as a bar-size refrigerator or a large TV set. Moreover, with an impressive payload of 1600 pounds, a Cayenne owner should be able to haul just about anything that can be crammed inside and on top without worrying about exceeding recommended weights.
The Porsche of SUVs is what those familiar with the brand probably expect from a Porsche. 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 that any SUV you can name. Even the V6 is a solid performer, although it's the V8 engines that begin to separate Cayenne from others in the SUV pack.
Want Porsche? Sit still in the Cayenne's driver seat and gently blip the accelerator pedal (just like the guy in the commercial). These are not the sounds emanating from the typical SUV. The Cayenne's exhaust rumbles a bit louder, maybe, but certainly deeper. 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. Yet this is the Porsche SUV, and the thought can be difficult for longtime Porsche enthusiasts to get their arms around. Perhaps Cayenne more appropriately invokes images of the Porsche 959s that won the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally through North Africa, skimming over giant dunes in the Sahara at 140 mph.
The Sahara we couldn't arrange, but we have mucked the Cayenne through a muddy off-road course in the south of Spain. This was not a bolder-laden wilderness trail like the Rubicon, but it included axle-deep mud and steep, low-grip 50-yard grades. Up, down and across, the Cayenne performed flawlessly with little sweat for the driver. In most cases the onboard electronics did the heavy lifting, and the driver had to simply, lightly, modulate the throttle or brake in low range. When introduced, Cayenne's back country performance impressed even the jaded, and it supported Porsche's assertion that it has more off-road capability than the BMW X5 or Mercedes M-Class, which we've tested in similar circumstances. Cayenne has maximum ground clearance 8.54 inches, or 10.75 inches with the optional air suspension, and a fording depth of 21.9 inches. There's even an Advanced Offroad Package that adds skid plates to protect the underbody and a locking rear differential.
At one point during our off-road adventure, we crept the Cayenne through a succession of holes a couple of feet in diameter and 10 inches deep, dropping a wheel on one side into one of the holes and then another wheel on the opposite side into another hole, so that the vehicle repeatedly bobbed left-right like a pack camel dipping its legs to be loaded. This is what SUVs are supposed to do, regardless of whether Cayenne's off-road capability actually amounts to a huge sales point. Porsche salespeople joke that few 911 owners will even take their cars out in the rain. If that's true, then there's not much reason to think Cayenne owners will allow their SUV to be blasted with gravel or painted with mud. Still, the hole-crabbing was instructive as to the overall stiffness of the Cayenne's body/frame, and to its rattle-free operation on pavement. It flexed just in bit in situations that might bend lesser SUVs in half.
We also got some lessons off road in the operation of Cayenne's permanent all-wheel-drive system, and how it might effect performance on pavement, where most owners are more likely to drive. This 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, with two Cayenne enhancements: the standard low range for real off-roading and a lock for the center differential. It's managed by Porsche's latest stability- and traction-control electronics.
Like similar systems, Cayenne's AWD 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. Yet in many luxury SUVs, the default torque distribution is as much as 70-percent front wheels, 30-percent rear. In normal circumstances, this can make them drive a lot like a front-drive minivan. The Cayenne has a default power split of 38-percent front, 62-percent rear, so the rear wheels clearly rule. This more closely replicates the rear-drive characteristics of a sports car.
On a muddy flat in the off-road course, we tried to evaluate Cayenne's anti-skid electronics and discovered something we don't expect in the typical SUV. The electronics are programmed relatively loosely, allowing either the front or rear of the Cayenne to slide a bit before the brakes apply themselves or the engine throttles back. In the mud the Cayenne's standard 32/68-torque bias showed itself in easy dirt-tracking power slides, with the steering wheel turned slightly in opposite lock and the rear-end hung out in a fishtail-type skid with a bit of accelerator modulation. In other words, it's a lot of fun.
On the road, the Cayenne handles crisply, but it isn't a Porsche 911. Its 4800-pound curb weight ensures that, rearing its head in transient maneuvers. It performs these maneuvers better than an 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.
The standard Cayenne's narrow-angle 3.2-liter V6 engine was developed by Volkswagen. Porsche did its own finish work for its version of the V6, which features variable timing for both the intake and exhaust valves for an impressive combination of smooth idling, good low-end torque and free-revving high-end horsepower. Theoretically, at least, the V6 Cayenne should offer a mileage advantage over the V8s; unfortunately, the Cayenne's weight negates most of that potential gain. With EPA ratings of 15 mpg city and 19 highway, the Cayenne does only one mpg better then the V8-powered Cayenne S. That may or may not prove significant in real driving.
However, with 247-horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque over a wide range of engine speeds, the Cayenne V6 is no slouch. And it's aided by something Porsche loyalists have waited nearly three years for: a standard six-speed manual transmission. Until 2005, the Cayenne was the only Porsche ever built without a manual gearbox (the Tiptronic automatic remains an option). The manual is also equipped with an off-road feature called Porsche Drive-Off Assistant, which 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 let out the clutch pedal.
The manual's shift action is Porsche sweet, and the V6 Cayenne is anything but underpowered. Porsche reports 0-60 mph times of 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 133 mph; 10 years ago, those numbers were good for a sports car, and they remain competitive among SUVs. Further, the V6 is as pleasant to operate as the V8s, if not as exhilarating. Its wide power band gets the Cayenne up to speed in convincing fashion, and the V6 Cayenne actually feels, lighter, perhaps better than the V8s, for mundane chores like commuting or shop-hopping.
Yet the V6 also demonstrates what we might call the conundrum of Cayenne. It's perfectly suited for the typical SUV buyer's driving tasks and it's priced competitively with the VW Touareg and SUVs from Japan's luxury car makers. Yet for roughly the same price as the standard Cayenne, the Touareg offers a 310-horsepower V8 and a bit more standard equipment. A V6 Touareg sells for thousands less. And Cayenne is a Porsche, for crying out loud, with the acceleration and exhilaration that goes with that. But if you want Cayenne with acceleration that begins to separate it from the mundane pack, you'll have to ante up another $14,000 for the Cayenne S.
The Cayenne's V8 engines are pure Porsche, developed in the same workshops that produced some of history's most successful racing engines. These 4.5-liter V8s have all the latest high-tech systems and materials, including a unique dry-sump lubrication system that allows uninterrupted oiling at extreme angles of operation, either off road or at high lateral gs on pavement. To account for higher operating pressures, the intercooled, twin-turbocharged version in the Cayenne Turbo has durability enhancements such as forged pistons and more oiling jets. The normally aspirated 4.5-liter engine makes 340 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 310 pound-feet of torque between 2500 and 5500 rpm, which puts it near the top of the SUV class. The Turbo generates a mighty 450 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 457 pound-feet of torque between 2250 and 4750 rpm.
There's more than rumbling exhaust to suggest that Cayenne's V8 isn't the typical SUV engine. There's a ton of power here. Even in the Cayenne S, the reserve of torque is better than ample. At any speed, the standard six-speed 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 those who do might try the Turbo. Judging by the seat of our pants, the Cayenne Turbo is easily the fastest SUV available.
Beyond sheer acceleration, there's engineering you don't see in Cayenne that gives it Porsche character. The standard Cayenne suspension uses coil-over struts with an extra set of conical springs to control lateral movement. That's not typical SUV fare. Even more sophisticated, the upgrade air suspension automatically adjusts ride height according to speed, with a range of nearly five inches. The air suspension also automatically (or manually) adjusts shock dampening rates for the preferred balance of ride quality and body-roll control.
The subtle things can make a difference. The Cayenne's steering rack, for example, is supplied by ZF, a company that also builds the steering components for the 911 sports car. Cayenne was the first SUV with Y-rated tires (certified for operation up to 186 mph) and the first with a six-speed transmission of any sort. Its brakes are truly impressive: 13.5-inch discs, with six-piston calipers in front and four-piston rear. Moreover, Porsche claims the Cayenne brakes were developed to meet the same rigid anti-fade standards as those on a 911.
These components, with what we learned off-road about Cayenne's body stiffness, torque bias and skid-management programming, become part of that smooth, synchronous whole on the open road. On pavement, the Cayenne is smooth, fast, and big.
It's not just acceleration or the V8s' reported 165-mph top speed that impressed us most, 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 Cayenne's air suspension keeps it on the stiff side, though it can be manually softened if the driver chooses. New programming for 2005 softens the Comfort setting, reducing some of the chop in Cayenne's ride. Either way, this SUV is impressively precise and responsive. Its 2.5-ton mass is masked by impressive stability and agility.
The Cayenne drives lighter than any big SUV on the market, including the X5 or M-Class, and speed creep is a constant issue. The brakes allow it to shed speed like a good sedan, and almost without realizing it you can be traveling 120 on roads posted 65. Speeds we'd never even consider in a Chevy Tahoe or some equally hefty truck-based SUV, except in a carefully controlled experiment, feel mundane in the Cayenne. It can be unnerving, almost otherworldly, based on conventional SUV sensibilities.
If one maintains a respectful awareness of the laws of physics, none of the Cayenne's performance comes at any particular cost, except perhaps in the size of the parking space it requires or its thirst for gasoline (14 mpg city, 18 highway for Cayenne S, 13/18 for the Turbo). As an SUV, the Cayenne is not subject to a gas-guzzler tax, and we suspect Cayenne shoppers won't be overly concerned about fuel costs anyway. Assuming that Porsche dealerships have adjusted their service schedules to the idea of daily-driven Porsches, Cayenne drivers will have no difficulty with the concept. Cayenne isn't the least bit finicky, or hard starting or rough. Nothing during our test runs suggested that you couldn't or wouldn't want to drive it every day, even for the most mundane chores.
Speaking of chores, this hot-rod SUV is no pretender when it comes to towing capacity. All Cayennes, including the V6, can pull 7700 pounds. You can't get a similar tow rating short of a heavy-duty pickup or pickup-based SUV.
The Cayenne model line now spans four variants. Base prices span $48,200 from the least expensive to the most expensive, and with options the spread approaches $60,000.
In 2004, Porsche introduced a V6 model known simply as Cayenne. For 2005, the Cayenne ($41,100) comes standard with a 6-speed manual transmission for the first time, lowering its price $1800 compared to 2004. The V6 model prices Cayenne in the thick of its luxury sport-utility competitors.
Cayenne is powered by a narrow-angle, single-cylinder-head V6 producing 247 horsepower, and comes standard with full-time all-wheel drive with a high- and low-range. The price includes leather seating with 12-way power adjustment, charcoal and micro-particle cabin filtration, heated retractable exterior mirrors, multi-function trip computer, a 72-watt 12-speaker stereo with CD, and insulated laminated privacy glass. New standard features for 2005 include a built-in Homelink transmitter to open garage doors or turn on lights and an electronically latching tailgate that sucks itself shut once it's lowered to the latch.
Cayenne Tiptronic ($44,100) is identical to the base Cayenne, except that it's equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission with Porsche's Tiptronic manual shift mode. Cayenne and Cayenne Tiptronic both come standard with sophisticated traction management and skid-control electronics.
In addition to slick electronics and the latest-generation antilock brakes, all Cayennes get luxury-grade passive safety features, starting with six airbags: dual-stage front and side-impact airbags for front passengers, and curtain-style head protection airbags on both sides of the cabin. All five seating positions have three-point belts with pretensioners to instantly tighten them and limit stretching on impact. The front belts also have automatic force limiters, reducing potential for belt-related injuries.
The other two models are built around Porsche's 4.5-liter dohc V8 engine. The Cayenne S ($56,300) comes standard with the Tiptronic automatic, and retails anywhere from $14,000 to $2,000 more than these luxury-class SUVs: Acura MDX, BMW X5 3.0, Cadillac Escalade, Hummer H2, Infiniti FX45, Lexus GX470, Mercedes ML500 or Volvo XC90 T6, not to mention that standard Cayenne. The normally aspirated Cayenne S delivers 340 horsepower (more than most of the SUVs noted above) and adds several items to the standard Cayenne equipment list, including automatic climate control with dual front-passenger settings and a 350-watt, 14-speaker Bose stereo.
Porsche raises the ante considerably for the Cayenne Turbo ($89,300). The Turbo costs more than just about any SUV on the planet, but with a twin-turbocharged version of the V8 and a whopping 450 horsepower, the Cayenne Turbo also delivers more power than any other SUV. The Turbo also adds adjustable air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), a variable dampening system that uses five accelerometers and electronically controlled adjustable shocks to manage body weight transfer both on and off road. The Turbo includes upgrades such as heated front and rear seats, electric steering wheel adjustment and park-assist radar warning front and rear. It's equipped with Porsche Communications Management (PCM), a GPS navigation system with integrated telephone and audio controls. Finally, the Cayenne Turbo has bi-xenon headlights that turn, Tucker-style, with the steering wheel.
Most everything on the Turbo (except the turbocharger) is offered as an option on Cayenne and Cayenne S. We've tested all models, but the most recent was the Cayenne Tiptronic with these extras: Porsche Communications Management system ($3,070); driver memory package ($360); heated front seats and steering wheel ($520); power glass sunroof ($1,100); high-gloss light wood package ($990); Olive wood steering wheel ($290); 19-inch Cayenne Design wheels ($2,390); six-CD changer ($650); and Prosecco metallic paint ($495). With destination charge ($765), that totals a substantial $54,730 for a "base," V6-powered Cayenne, or almost as much as the Cayenne S V8.
As with Porsche cars, options are plentiful. Other popular choices include the air suspension ($2,990), a dark Burr walnut wood package ($990), front and rear park assist ($990), tire-pressure monitor ($590), a trailer hitch and ball ($590) and 20-inch wheels ($3,500). There are seat upgrades and a full Smooth Leather package that covers everything from grab handles to the center console in hide ($2,990). Porsche Entry and Drive ($1,960) allows a driver to unlock and start the Cayenne by pulling the door handle and touching the shift lever, while leaving the keys in his pocket or her purse. Moreover, there are new options for 2005. Cayenne offers factory installed satellite radio for the first time, with a choice between the XM or Sirius systems, and there are now SportDesign and Black Monochrome Exterior packages.
Not enough? Owners can customize their SUV with Porsche's Tequipment line of dealer-installed accessories, from stowage systems to running boards to stainless-steel brush guards. Finally, there is Porsche's Exclusive factory customization program. This is where sheiks go to have their Cayenne painted the color of their finest stallion, or where superstar ball players get upholstery fashioned to match the worn leather of their first baseball mitt.