Short impressions of the new Cayenne Turbo
Sorry guys, no extensive driving report since I just don't have the time right now (real life work has priority since it feeds me and the family).
Here we go:
1. at first look, the new Cayenne Turbo remínds me of the Audi Q5, it seems to be smaller than it is, a very interesting optical illusion
2. the rear is not everybody's taste, I heard a lot of good things about the front but even more bad comments about the rear. Apparently it reminds people too much of Audi.
3. the interior is fantastic, everybody seems to love it, it is like a glove, it provides a very intimate and sporty feel, definetely a great design job
4. the interior, both front and rear, seems to be smaller than on my X5 M. It may just be a feeling or an optical illusion but especially in the rear, the X5 M seems to have slightly more room
5. rear trunk looks smaller too compared to the X5 M but again, I didn't see both cars back to back, so it may be an illusion too
6. engine/exhaust sound is very similar to the "old" Cayenne Turbo. Slightly more V8-like (not by much though) than my X5 M and definettely not that loud.
7. Steering feel very similar to X5 M, didn't have the chance to drive the new Cayenne Turbo throug very sharp turns yet though
8. auto tranny shifts smoothly but maybe a tiny little bit slower than on the X5 M, upshifts pretty fast
9. from 0-200 kph, the new Cayenne Turbo and the X5 M are practically head to head. We did several runs, the X5 M was two times maybe half of a car length ahead at slightly over 200 kph but thats it. In the higher speed range over 220 kph though, the X5 M gains a lot of ground. At around 270 kph on the speedo, the X5 M was aprox. two car lengths ahead, which may have to do with the 8 speed tranny on the Cayenne Turbo and the 6 speed tranny on the X5 M. It may also simply have to do with the fact that the X5 M has 55 horses more to push at a speed, where the weight doesn't really count anymore.
10. fuel consumption during these runs was always over 21 l / 100 km on the Cayenne Turbo, pretty close to the X5 M fuel consumption.
Overall conclusion: the Cayenne Turbo is a fantastic SUV but I'm not sure if it is really worth the premium over the X5 M. Especially it's pretty "tame" and "small" look may not be what people in the US and he Middle East markets want from such a SUV. For showing off, the Panamera is surely the better object. The ne Cayenne Turbo reminds me of an interesting but not beautiful woman with a gorgeous body. I'm not sure though that this is the product some markets were waiting for.
The weird part is: it seems that Porsche designed the new Cayenne specifically for the Euro markets to make it look smaller and less aggressive but in the end, this could actually be the new Cayenne's biggest problem for other markets (US, Middle East, Asia).
I wish I had more time to spend with the new Cayenne Turbo, maybe in a couple of weeks.
It is a great SUV, no doubt about it but to be honest: I'm not at all sorried I went for the X5 M but at the same time, I can very well imagine that I would go for the new Turbo S which is rumored to follow sometimes next year.
Make no mistake: the new Cayenne Turbo is really fast and a lot of fun to drive. I just wish the exterior would be slightly more attractive.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW