Porsche Cayenne Coupe 2020 Review
If looks are in the eye of the beholder, German car designers need their eyes checked…
When the BMW X6 created a new coupe-like SUV segment more than a decade ago, it was (rightly) lambasted as a grotesquery, a malformed machine whose legacy was foretold to be fleeting. That was 2008. Today there are more coupe-like SUVs than dating apps. And here’s another one, the Porsche Cayenne Coupe. Propelled by thrust-laden, lust-worthy turbocharged V6 and V8 engines, festooned with luxury features and compelled by Porsche’s go-fast chassis tricks, the new model is unsurprisingly very satisfying to drive. But you’ll pay handsomely for it. Prices range between $128,000 and $292,700. That’s up to $11,000 more than for the regular – and mechanically identical – Cayenne. But what price do you put on beauty?
The good
The humble SUV has become, well, a bit arrogant.
You used to be able to buy Toyota RAV4s and Nissan X-TRAILs… but when the likes of Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce slap their illustrious badges on SUVs, the extreme levels of confidence in the SUV marketplace have become abundantly clear.
And don’t get me started on these ‘coupe’ SUVs.
By definition, a coupe is a two-door vehicle or carriage, not just a vehicle will a sloping tailgate. But I’m not here to argue semantics; I’ve just driven the new Porsche Cayenne Coupe and I’m here to tell you what I think.
Expensive, yes, but Porsche doesn’t really build any stinkers and the Cayenne Coupe is a fast, engaging performance SUV that still offers a decent level of practicality and lashings of luxury.
It will certainly appeal to those who want to combine the benefits of an SUV, including a better view of the road and extra ground clearance, with an exterior design that’s a little special and a bit more exclusive. And if this is what we have to tolerate to ensure the 911 lives on, I’m all for it.
Beyond the slightly wider rear axle – up 18mm – there’s no meaningful mechanical differences between the coupe and the wagon. That’s not a criticism.
The steering (and 911-inspired steering wheel) is a highlight, delivering a decent degree of feedback and making the Porsche feel much smaller and more agile than it has any right to be. It gives the driver confident control over the big SUV, which weighs over two tonnes and measures almost five metres long, and make it satisfying to drive.
Hurl it into a corner and the big Pirelli P Zero tyres and all-wheel drive system collaborate to produce excellent grip levels. Option the rear-steer system ($4300) and torque vectoring ($3120) and there won’t be many sports cars let alone SUVs that can out-dance the Cayenne Coupe, except perhaps for the smaller Porsche Macan.
Rocketing along a few gravel roads, the Cayenne Coupe showed off a playful character with progressive (and controllable) oversteer. The way it pivots on its axis with a dab of extra steering lock and a squirt of throttle is entertaining.
Unlike regular Cayenne SUVs, all coupes come standard with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), or adaptive dampers. These provide adequate – but not great – levels of ride comfort in the mildest setting on the choppy country roads we navigated west of Canberra.
In the middling mode there’s improved body control which helps when cornering at speed, but the stiffest setting feels too rigid for average Aussie country roads. In Sport Plus mode there’s more midriff jiggle than a Santa Claus’ belly laugh, just like the BMW X4 M.
Adaptive air suspension with auto levelling and height adjustment is standard across the range, except in the entry-level model, where it is an optional extra ($4490). Model grades with air suspension fare a little better, masking some, but not all, road imperfections.
All models come as standard with a diligent, quick-shifting eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and before I go further, let’s get pricing out of the way so you know the cost of the various models:
Cayenne Coupe: $128,000 (V6)
Cayenne S Coupe: $166,200 (V6)
Cayenne Turbo Coupe: $253,600 (V8)
Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid Coupe: $292,700 (V8)
The entry-level Porsche Cayenne Coupe is powered by a 3.0-litre V6 boosted by a single turbocharger (250kW/450Nm) and in my view it’s the pick of the bunch.
Entry-level Cayenne Coupe comes with plenty of fruit, including a fair whack more than the regular Cayenne – think panoramic glass roof, adaptive suspension, speed-sensitive power steering and the high-performance Sport Chrono package with the coolest steering wheel drive mode switch this side of a race car.
Although it’s the runt of the litter, it’s far from slow, accelerating to 100km/h in six seconds flat. Activate launch control and it feels genuinely fleet, g-forces gently squeezing occupants into their cushy (but supportive) eight-way power-adjustable sports leather seats.
The mid-grade Cayenne S Coupe gets a smaller but more potent twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6 (324kW/550Nm) similar to the engine from the Audi RS 4. To be honest it didn’t feel significantly quicker, despite a claimed five-second 0-100km/h sprint.
The Cayenne Turbo Coupe? It is a scintillating vehicle, developing the sort of thrust usually felt during takeoff in a Boeing 787.
The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 (404kW/770Nm) is similar but not as potent as the unit slung inside the Lamborghini Urus, but it still makes a mockery of this Porsche’s tubby 2.2-tonne dry weight, blasting into another dimension at full throttle. It’s dizzying stuff.
Top speed is 286km/h and the 0-100km/h dash takes less than four seconds. Yep, it’s absurdly quick – and stupidly enjoyable.
When the Cayenne Coupe isn’t blasting out of corners on deserted country roads, or rifling towards the horizon, its retractable spoiler popping up above 90km/h, it’s actually a pretty decent urban explorer. There’s loads of sensors and cameras to make parking stress-free and apart from the small rear window, all-round vision isn’t too bad.
There is also a bonkers Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid Coupe variant, whose plug-in hybrid-boosted twin-turbo V8 powertrain (500kW/900Nm) ensures spleen-popping power – and more mumbo than the Lambo Urus’ 478kW/850Nm.
It wasn’t available for assessment on the launch drive but should be in dealerships by early January.
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The bad
Both V6 engines and the big V8 sound amazing, with pops, crackles and growls between gearshifts and on the overrun. But you’ll have to fork out $5970 for the optional sports exhaust system to get the agro acoustics.
The asking price of $253,600 for the V8-powered Cayenne Turbo Coupe should include that. And if you think that’s a bit steep there are plenty of options that are standard on some $20,000 Asian cars but not in any of the three models we drove at the launch. These include adaptive cruise control (3570), head-up display ($3070) and lane-keep assist ($1220).
Like many of these must-have features, LED matrix headlights ($2220) will cost extra, while frivolous upgrades like the lava orange hero colour ($5000) are less likely to find favour with buyers.
It’s a similar situation with the Audi Q8 55 TFSI ($128,542), which misses out on a lot of stuff that should be gratis when moving well into six-figure pricing.
All three models tested were exceedingly thirsty too. Granted, we wanted to hear what the almost $6000 exhaust system sounded like on all models, but even when their engines aren’t ordered to gulp fuel at ice-cap melting levels these SUVs ain’t frugal.
The ugly
The Porsche Cayenne Coupe adds roughly $11,000 over the regular Cayenne (except for the Turbo S E-hybrid model – that’s just under $5000 more) and you may be asking yourself, is it worth it?
On top of the extra features mentioned previously (panoramic glass roof, adaptive suspension, Sport Chrono package etc), the Cayenne Coupe gets one-inch larger alloy wheels and significantly massaged body work as part of its assault on the oculars.
Porsche reckons around 20 per cent of Cayenne buyers will take a punt on the more glamourous German SUV, which could equate to around 200 sales in 2020.
While the front-end design is retained, the roof and tail-end are all-new. The front and rear windscreens have more aggressive angles and the whole shebang is 13mm longer, 20mm lower and – like all special Porsches – has wider hips, adding an extra 18mm at the rear.
The changes in design mean you get 18 per cent less boot space (down 145 litres 625 litres), a lower seating position and less headroom for the rear seats. A 2+2 seating configuration is standard but a three-seat rear set-up is (surprisingly) a no-cost option.
Nevertheless overall interior room is impressive, with plenty of room for four adults. Fit and finish is very good and the infotainment system and digital instrument panel elements are excellent.
While the fancy central controls with the flat panel touch-buttons – complete with haptic feedback – look and feel amazing, it limits incidental storage options. There’s two USB C sockets up front and two in the back, along with four adjustable air-vents front and rear.
But there’s no wireless phone charger, so you’ll have to jerry-rig an aftermarket option if you don’t like cables mussing up the interior aesthetic.
There’s no doubt the Porsche Cayenne Coupe is sporty, sophisticated and – for some – seductive. It’s not as gaudy as some of its bent-roof soft-road rivals, but the price of admission is significant and the optional extras will make you weep.
However, if your chariot must have a Porsche badge and the Macan is too small for your requirements, this curvaceous creature has the capacity to impress.
How much does the 2019 Porsche Cayenne Coupe cost?
Price: $128,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: December 2019
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 250kW/450Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 14.2L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 225g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not rated