Launched: Porsche Cayenne GTS

Wheels Magazine
March, 2008

Not so long ago, the idea of a sports four-wheel drive would have been a contradiction in terms, like military intelligence, or Microsoft 'Works'.

More bewildering was the thought that Porsche would manufacture and market anything capable of venturing off road.

Despite that, the big, bad Cayenne arrived in 2002 and has become Porsche AG's cash cow, accounting for 40 percent of the brand's sales globally.

Now Porsche has created a vehicle with more Porsche genes than any other Cayenne, with optimum agility and bold visual features - steamroller 35-profile tyres on big 21-inch alloys, double rear-roof wing, door sills, a Turbo nose with yawning air intakes, and high-sided sports seats.

The GTS's more appealing attributes are those that can't be seen, but are felt by the driver; more power and way sharper (tarmac) handling. The revisions for the GTS are thorough - visually, aurally and technically.

Australia does not get the steel spring suspension, which is offered in Europe and many other markets. Instead, our GTS spec includes the air suspension that is also sold with the Turbo and the S (the price-leading V6 does have steel springs).

Porsche's trademark PASM active dampers and a 20mm-lower ride height are also part of the GTS package, as is some fine tuning, such as a smidgen more camber, stiffer front roll bar and softer rear. The GTS also has a better fore-aft weight distribution than the Cayenne Turbo, which carries more engine mass up front.

To further differentiate this better-balanced package from the V8 S, improved breathing and a sports exhaust extract an extra 15kW to a lively, slightly peakier 298kW.

This motor tweak and a lower final-drive ratio guarantees the performance remains robust right to the redline in all gears. To reassert the S in SUV, a Sport button improves throttle response, alters shift points for the Tiptronic, locks the PASM dampers into a firmer mode, and opens a valve in the exhaust to unleash a magnificent wall of sound from the four pipes.

This echoed through the undulating and narrow roads in Portugal's Algarve region, where the sportiest Cayenne feels right at home. The atmo 4.8-litre V8 spins easily, but is flexible enough not to demand selection of the optimum gear every time.

This gives the GTS an immediately stronger, more purposeful and involving feel than the regular Cayenne S; the manual belts from rest to 100km/h in 6.1sec, while the Tiptronic is 0.4s slower. But the real story comes in the twisty stuff. Body roll is virtually absent, and it bites and turns into corners while maintaining serious apex speeds. This is a big heavy sucker, yet grip levels and handling defy convention. The only negative is that the firmly damped and sprung suspension (in Sport mode) is a trifle pitchy, and occupants do suffer from the old nodding head syndrome.

Never a great fan of the Tiptronic, this writer concedes that it works sweetly with GTS. In fact, I actually prefer the Tip over the manual, which is available through special order in Oz. Don't bother.

To get the rawest experience, serious drivers can turn off completely the PSM (Porsche Stability Management) which includes both traction control and stability control. Brakes are unchanged from the S. Porsche brakes are never an issue and the stoppers on the S (and GTS) are sensational for a 270km/h vehicle weighing 2.3 tonnes.

Okay, get your head around this, then. Here's a four-wheel-drive Sports Utility Vehicle that isn't suitable to go off-road, that seats five at a pinch, doesn't have great cargo space, but goes and handles like a 911. What it can do that the 911 can't is tow.

In fact, the brilliantly engineered GTS is the sharpest, most engaging, best-handling SUV we've ever driven.

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