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The 2024 Porsche Cayenne doubles as a luxurious crossover cruiser and an antidote to SUVs that seem allergic to road feel and driving fun. Gobs of power, unlikely handling, and sports car-like steering all coexist in the comfy confines of the Cayenne. All grades but the base Cayenne earn two points each for acceleration and handling to a 9 here.
Yes, all-wheel drive is standard. The Cayenne has a tow rating of 7,716 pounds.
The 2024 Cayenne comes with steel springs and multilink front and rear suspensions with new two-valve adaptive dampers, but Cayenne shoppers likely will consider the available air suspension. The adaptive dampers vary the compression response to better match the inputs, so at lower speeds there’s more connection between driver and vehicle, and at higher speeds it mutes the road for a more refined, luxurious ride.
There’s also more of a difference between Normal, Sport, and Sport+ modes, and the air suspension can lift most Cayennes to 9.6 inches of ground clearance. Porsche says the Cayenne can ford up to 20 inches of water, except for the E-Hybrid, but it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to off-road a Cayenne with its wheel and tire setups.
Also standard across the lineup is an 8-speed automatic transmission that’s Porsche smart. It reacts more telepathically than other vehicles as it shifts earlier in Normal mode but lets you dig deeper into the revs in Sport modes. Under heavy throttle the Cayenne can lift like a rear-wheel-drive car.
Torque distribution between the axles is always changing, and the Cayenne’s poise in and out of turns, especially in the Cayenne S model with the air suspension, makes it feel much lighter than it is. Steering on the heavier side counters that, and the wheel feels great in the hands, even without a flat-bottom design typically used in sports cars.
How fast is the Porsche Cayenne?
It goes from quick to $200,000 in 3.1 seconds.
The base Cayenne has an updated 3.0-liter turbo-6 that now makes 348 hp and 368 lb, improvements of 13 hp and 36 lb-ft. It hustles from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds, unless it’s equipped with the Sport Chrono package that comes standard with the Coupe. It shaves the sprint down to 5.4 seconds.
The sweet spot in the Cayenne lineup comes in the form of the Cayenne S. Porsche ditched the V-6 in favor of a heavily modified 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 making 468 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque, which is 34 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the old V-6 in Cayenne S models. Porsche said it couldn’t improve the V-6 performance and meet emissions regulations, so it turned to the new V-8 that better limits emissions and fuel consumption in high power situations.
Those situations result in a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds or 4.4 seconds with Sport Chrono or the Coupe. The Coupe is where it’s at.
2024 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid
The E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid mates the updated 3.0-liter turbo-6 with a new electric motor that boosts total output to 463 hp and 479 lb-ft. It outspecs the Cayenne S, but the Cayenne S feels quicker, even with the E-Hybrid’s 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds. At 5,348 pounds in SUV form, it weighs 474 pounds more than the Cayenne S and the extra weight can be felt in turns.
Its sophisticated power delivery system remains mostly unnoticeable to the driver, optimizing electric power around town and engine power while cruising, and unifying them both when called upon. Various modes let the driver dictate power delivery, such as Sport mode for optimal performance between both or E-Charge mode that uses the engine to charge the battery while cruising. The 8-speed automatic remains in use for electric or engine power, and it also responds well to inputs: if you’re motoring along in EV mode under 50 mph and hammer the throttle to pass, it’ll downshift the transmission a few gears as the engine kicks on.
The E-Hybrid is a cleaner option for the Cayenne, and adds more practicality around town without sacrificing much performance.
A 25.9-kwh battery pack replaces the former 17.9-kwh unit, which should increase the electric range beyond the 15 miles of its predecessor. It now has an 11-kw onboard charger that lowers the charge time of the larger battery to 2.5 hours.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid
Porsche promises the best of both worlds with the Turbo E-Hybrid: Drive around town for errands without burning a drop of fuel, or hit that favorite canyon or track for blistering performance. Paired with the twin-turbo V-8, it uses the same battery pack as other E-Hybrids, but it defaults to electric power from its more potent 130-kw motor (from 100 kw in the outgoing Cayenne E-Hybrid). It’s more powerful than the Turbo GT, but because it weighs nearly 700 pounds more in Coupe form than the GT and because it rides an inch higher, it doesn’t catch up until the Turbo GT until the quarter mile mark of 11.7 seconds, one-tenth slower than the GT. Outside of the drag strip, it’s the comfier, quieter, cleaner, and better Cayenne as an everyday driver.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
We haven’t tested the top of the Cayenne lineup yet, but the upgrades promise gut-busting performance, even more than its predecessor. Sold only in Coupe form and standard with the adaptive air suspension, rear-axle steering, sport exhaust with titanium pipes, and carbon-ceramic brakes, the Turbo GT now flexes a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 making 650 hp and 626 lb-ft. In Sport+ mode it launches from 0-60 mph in just 3.1 seconds on its way to an 11.6-second quarter mile. It has a ground clearance of 6.8 inches, versus 7.8 inches for the other Cayenne models.
