Crown

AutoBILD Sportscars (Cayenne S Diesel vs. BMW X5 M50d)

0-100 kph in 5.3 sec. (BMW in 5.4 sec.)

0-200 kph in 23.3 sec. (BMW in 23.2 sec.)

Considering that the Cayenne GTS for example is more than 200 kg lighter and has almost 40 hp more, the performance of both, the Porsche and the BMW, is remarkable but also questionable. I just hope that customers get the same performance in their cars.

I don't actually think that these cars have more than 400 hp but in the lower speed and rev range, they probably deliver more power (torque anyway) than fuel operated cars in the same rev/speed range.

Also "funny": AutoBILD Allrad, the "sister" magazine of AutoBILD Sportscars, tested the Cayenne GTS at 0-100 kph in 6.1 seconds (which unfortunately is quite close to what I have tested today, 6 seconds flat but my GTS is still new). They do not offer any 0-200 kph performance figure but surprisingly, I have clocked my GTS today at 19.8 seconds, which would be almost 4 seconds faster than the Cayenne S Diesel. Weird. Apparently the high torque in the lower speed/rev range really gives a huge acceleration advantage. I wonder if the gear ratio is shorter too on the S Diesel.

Let's also speak about fuel consumption: I usually drive my Cayenne GTS mostly in the city and the "Sport" button is active all the time. Today I measured (fuel station, not onboard computer) my fuel consumption to be 21.1 l / 100 km. Ouch. Yes, there was some Autobahn involved too but not much. Now here comes the fun part: AutoBILD Allrad claims an average fuel consumption of only 12.8 l / 100 km for the GTS. Funny, isn't it? Especially since I've never seen anything below 15 l / 100 km on my GTS. Now AutoBILD Sportscars claims an average Diesel consumption of 11.4 l / 100 km. For me, this would probably translate to a 19 l / 100 km Diesel consumption for the S Diesel, which would be quite in sync with the 15-16 l / 100 km I used on that S Diesel test car I had the chance to drive in.

Overall, the S Diesel is an amazing offer, even considering the price tag of the BMW X5 M50d, which costs over 5000 EUR more than the Cayenne S Diesel in Germany. Don't expect the 9 l / 100 km average Diesel consumption of the less powerful Cayenne Diesel though. So if you want to get a Diesel SUV, get the Cayenne S Diesel. Amazing performance, the typical Porsche look and feel and you can even outrun a Cayenne GTS at the stop light. I think that this car could even convince Americans that a Diesel is not such a bad thing in a Porsche SUV.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2012), Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

Christian, 

if Cayenne S Diesel could boast GTS exterior look, it for sure could be even more popular! I think S Diesel is a very nice package. The only downside is exterior look of usual Cayenne. Agree?

artur777:

Christian, 

if Cayenne S Diesel could boast GTS exterior look, it for sure could be even more popular! I think S Diesel is a very nice package. The only downside is exterior look of usual Cayenne. Agree?

To be honest, I wish Porsche would offer some sort of GTS package as an option for the Turbo and Turbo S. Same black exhaust pipes, same deviating stitching interior, etc..

I do not think that it would be a good idea to offer the GTS exterior look for the S Diesel but if customers really want a sportier look, there is the Sport Design package available. There is a mystery I don't understand: Currently, there is no PDCC available for the S Diesel. Also make no mistake: According to the review in AutoBILD Sportscars, the S Diesel feels much less sporty, especially the steering, than the GTS or even the Turbo. I can confirm it, the S Diesel I drove feels (steering, suspension) exactly the same as the regular Diesel, so adding a GTS "package" to this car wouldn't make much sense in my opinion.

On the other hand, I think that the current steering/suspension/chassis/exhaust sound setup of the GTS should also be standard (or at least optiona) for the Cayenne Turbo S. I mean c'mon...the Turbo S is the top tier model, right?!

Many inconsistencies in the Porsche Cayenne model policy, including the sad fact that the Cayenne GTS has only 20 hp more than the Cayenne S (on paper, in reality performance in the sub-120 kph range seems to be indentical) but to be really between the Cayenne S and Turbo, it should probably have something around 440 or 450 hp.

I already wrote a complaint to Porsche about the minimal power difference between the Cayenne S and GTS but engineers are one thing and marketing another one...

The Cayenne GTS with the Turbo S engine would be a product I would have bought in a second. The Cayenne GTS is so much fun to drive, even with the "low power" engine, it is just unbelievable how much fun it is. Porsche should really change their model policy and offer the same setup at least for their Cayenne top model, the Turbo S. Customers would be amazed.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2012), Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

After a short drive with the new Cayenne S Diesel last week i must say that the engine is marvelous. It has such an effortless power delivery that you think in that big thing this is unreal. In city driving you are allways to fast. From 0-120 km/h it goes very well.

GTS package as abn otion for Turbo models ... Good idea! Agree. I also see some inconsistency in Porsche policy

In latest AMS Cayenne S diesel was compared against X5 M50d with little bit different results. Cayenne was faster and clear winner overall.

What were the figures?

RC:

Currently, there is no PDCC available for the S Diesel. 

I find this surprising and strange

RC:

Also "funny": AutoBILD Allrad, the "sister" magazine of AutoBILD Sportscars, tested the Cayenne GTS at 0-100 kph in 6.1 seconds (which unfortunately is quite close to what I have tested today, 6 seconds flat but my GTS is still new). They do not offer any 0-200 kph performance figure but surprisingly, I have clocked my GTS today at 19.8 seconds, which would be almost 4 seconds faster than the Cayenne S Diesel. Weird. Apparently the high torque in the lower speed/rev range really gives a huge acceleration advantage. I wonder if the gear ratio is shorter too on the S Diesel.

 

That 19,8 s is interesting, AutoZeitung got 5,9 s 0-100 kph and 22,3 s 0-200 kph with the Cayenne GTS.

artur777:

What were the figures?

AMS-results: BMW X5 M50d vs. Porsche Cayenne S Diesel

• Weight: 2272 vs. 2240 kg
• 0-100 kph: 5,4 vs. 5,5 s
• 0-160 kph: 13,7 vs. 13,5 s
• 400 m: 13,8 vs. 13,7 s
• Braking (100-0 kph): 36,5 vs. 35,1 m (warm)
• 18 m slalom: 60,4 vs. 63,5 kph
• ISO evasive test: 122,6 vs. 128,6 kph

Does anybody have results of a tunned Cayenne Diesel V6? It would be interesting to see the advantage of the lower weight with 300 HP.

1987 911 Carrera 3.2 - 2012 Cayenne Diesel - 2010 Abarth 500 - 1995 BMW318ti

Mikla:

Does anybody have results of a tunned Cayenne Diesel V6? It would be interesting to see the advantage of the lower weight with 300 HP.

Thanks for the review RC, interesting....

As I was reading down the thread I was about to post and now i can answer Mikla's question.

I have a 2012 V6 Diesel with full Techart 1 kit with turbo front end conversion, sounds dodgy but actually looks great, not as blingy as the Techart Magnums but a high quality different look, it is primarily my lady's car and she loves it.

It was Techarted when new straight from the dealer and I had him fit the Steinbauer tuning kit (link below) this is not just a chip, it claims 300PS and 660NM.

My opinion is that for driving below ~120kph this car does not need and more power/torque, the tuned engine with its VTG turbo is mega responsive and has proper grunt in the lower speed ranges. I do not have my Performance box (it is with the GT2 in Germany) so I can't run any performance number but I would guess at 0-100 in 6.5 to 7 and of course it averages 30mpg (9.5l/100km)

http://www.steinbauer.cc/gb/products/passenger/porsche/cayenne-ii-diesel/30-180kw__4hv/bc8/

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3.9  GT2 2011 make over

acrobat:

RC:

Also "funny": AutoBILD Allrad, the "sister" magazine of AutoBILD Sportscars, tested the Cayenne GTS at 0-100 kph in 6.1 seconds (which unfortunately is quite close to what I have tested today, 6 seconds flat but my GTS is still new). They do not offer any 0-200 kph performance figure but surprisingly, I have clocked my GTS today at 19.8 seconds, which would be almost 4 seconds faster than the Cayenne S Diesel. Weird. Apparently the high torque in the lower speed/rev range really gives a huge acceleration advantage. I wonder if the gear ratio is shorter too on the S Diesel.

 

That 19,8 s is interesting, AutoZeitung got 5,9 s 0-100 kph and 22,3 s 0-200 kph with the Cayenne GTS.

Even more interesting: My 0-100 kph time is 6.0 seconds and this is the average of several runs. Best run was...6.0 seconds, never got below 6 seconds flat, worst run was 6.3 seconds. My equipment (performance box) isn't the finest but it provides quite accurate results. I use Shell VPower (100+ octane fuel), not because I find it necessary for the GTS but I have a business customer account with them and they leave me only two choices: 95 octane or 100 octane. Not that I really think that the higher octane fuel provides any advantage on the GTS or any N/A engine car.

It is strange that above 160 kph, my GTS actually starts to be very powerful. From 0-100 kph, my wife in her X3 35d easily outruns me but above 120 kph I slowly gain and above 160 kph or so, I drive away.

There is a tiny delay in acceleration when I fully press the throttle from standstill, it is almost turbo-like. Not sure if Porsche had issues with the tranny or drivetrain but you should see my wife's X3 35d: This car jumps forward like a rocket when fully acceleration from standstill, amazing Diesel. She gains half a car length from the start and is almost a car length aheady of me up to 120 kph.

It is also interesting that my initial 0-200 kph time was 21.7 seconds (still better than what Auto Zeitung tested) and now it is almost two seconds better. Of course there could be some error in measurement but I really have the feeling that the GTS runs pretty well in the upper speed range but not so well from standstill. All measurements have been done with 19'' 265s Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D winter tires, "Sport" button pressed and VPower 100 octane fuel. Outside temperature was most of the time below 10°C.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2012), Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

jamesdamanuk1:
Hey rc not posted for awhile but im interested in what you say about the fuel. I just bought a 981s and also stick shell vpower 100 as ive been told you get better performace both with fuel and speed but is this not true?

I read a lot of articles about high octane fuel and most of the time, mainly turbo charged and/or high performance engines with lots of horses anyway, benefited from the extra octane numbers. There is a clear logic in that: A 5% performance gain, which probably only happens on certain cars and under optimal conditions, benefits a 500 hp car more than one with 200 hp (5% of 500 hp is 25 hp, 5% of 200 hp is 10 hp).

Benefits are usually there if you drive the car under extreme conditions (air pressure, air temperature, etc.).

Is it worth the extra money? You decide. Power gains of 10-20 hp are not really noticeable and even 25 hp may not be    "felt" by regular drivers. We discussed the whole fuel thing in a different thread (maybe if you use the search function, you find it, I am a little bit busy right now).

As a general rule, I would say that turbo charged engines and high power engines kind of benefit from high octane fuel, same goes to tuned engines.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2012), Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

Well balanced review. At the end the GTS seems to be the better "Porsche" but the Diesel S  could be the better SUV.
And probably excellent as towing vehicle. I'm just looking around for a car like this...

Conny, I really recommend taking a testdrive with the new Cayenne GTS. I know you had the old (957) one and you weren't too impressed but this weekend, I drove a 957 GTS for half an hour (a customer of mine wanted to buy a used one, so he asked for my opinion and since he is a VERY good customer, I accompanied him...) and I was surprised how BAD the 957 GTS was. It felt so different to my 958 GTS, also the sound was OK but not even close to the screaming V8 noise of my 958 GTS. Btw: The customer I talked about just called me a couple of minutes ago, he fell in love with a used Mercedes ML500. Oh boy...

So maybe you are in for a surprise if you do a GTS testdrive, just make sure it has PDCC (makes a huge difference too).

Speaking of exhaust sound: I was stopped by a police motorcycle a couple of days ago (crap, I didn't see him, he was in my dead angle) at a red light. I fully accelerated and was going a little bit too fast (76 in a 60 zone according to him), so he stopped me. First thing he asked me: "Is the exhaust legal?" He told me that the exhaust was so loud when I accelerated that he couldn't hear a police radio announcement in his helmet. I got off with a 10(!) EUR warning, he was quite nice but he looked under the exhaust for at least a couple of minutes to see if something was wrong. I was afraid he would send me to the TÜV for a sound level check (police can do that) but he didn't. He told me however that he made a note about the car and the exhaust note and he will communicate this to their database(???). Maybe they are looking for loud exhaust noises on standard cars or whatever, I'm not sure what this was all about. Fact is: In Bavaria, if the police catches you with an illegal exhaust and it is too loud, they can basically confiscate the car on the spot and instantly transform you into a pedestrian. I was lucky he couldn't find anything weird but he was really looking for something. No, my GTS is 100% stock.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S (Sept. 2013), Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

The Cayenne diesel would really be my ideal commuting vehicle, the comfort, safety and commanding driving position would be perfect. But at 20k plus miles annually I couldn't justify the running costs unfortunately. Due to a probable change in circumstances in a couple of years it may not be possible for my wife to use our 997 even as a passenger, so maybe than a Cayenne or Macan might provide the answer at that time to replace it. We'll look then to come down to two cars, replacing the 997 and her shopping trolley but we will tread a lot more carefully next time, our attempts to do that a couple of years ago caused us such angst with the wrong specced Cayman. Cayenne or Macan has greater chance of success hopefully.

Porsche 997 Carrera S PDK Aqua Blue / Black - Skoda Octavia Mk.3 daily drive

The Cayenne S Diesel has a great engine (which even sounds halfway OK for a Diesel) but it feels more than the regular Diesel than the Cayenne S (V8) and isn't even close to the Cayenne GTS. So the Diesel S is kind of a mixed bag, amazing straight line performance with huge torque and a much lower fuel (Diesel) consumption than the GTS but the driving fun kind of stays behind, the car is maybe too tame, too perfect.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S (Sept. 2013), Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

No PDCC for diesel Cayenne, S or not...

SciFrog:

No PDCC for diesel Cayenne, S or not...

Indeed but I think we have discussed this before in an earlier thread.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S (Sept. 2013), Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

Thanks RC - we wouldn't do a huge mileage in a Cayenne if we had one - maybe GTS is the way to go - I love a proper V8 engine note! It's a huge vehicle though, that would be our only reservation with parking and tight manoeuvring. Nearer the time we'll have to take one for an extended loan if we can

Porsche 997 Carrera S PDK Aqua Blue / Black - Skoda Octavia Mk.3 daily drive

dreamcar:

Thanks RC - we wouldn't do a huge mileage in a Cayenne if we had one - maybe GTS is the way to go - I love a proper V8 engine note! It's a huge vehicle though, that would be our only reservation with parking and tight manoeuvring. Nearer the time we'll have to take one for an extended loan if we can

consider a used Gen 1 flacelift GTS or turbo? they are 6 inches or more shorter than the Gen II

2012 991 C2S -PDK / 2010 997.2 turbo cab manual, sold / 2008 Cayenne GTS Manual /2008 RS 60 sold /04 C4S sold - 08 Cayenne Turbo PDCC sold

You would be surprised at how easy to maneouver the new Cayenne is, despite its size!

1987 911 Carrera 3.2 - 1992 964 Carrera 2 - 2012 Cayenne Diesel - 2010 Abarth 500 - 1995 BMW318ti

Mikla:

You would be surprised at how easy to maneouver the new Cayenne is, despite its size!

Really? Have you tried a parking garage especially in Italy or France?

2012 Cayenne S White/Espresso 

Ex: 993 Targa, 986S, 986 and 964 C2

I've a barge of an XC90 (with rear only parking sensors) and I find it to be OK in the UK. A friend had a Q7 which she sold after 6 months as she found it too big. I guess you need an extended test-drive before committing. I'm still a bit tempted with Cayenne next year, but may opt for the RR Sport as I've found the 7 seats in my truck too useful to ignore. 

991 (what a car!) XC90 - Black/Black 2 kids, 1 dog

993Targa:

Mikla:

You would be surprised at how easy to maneouver the new Cayenne is, despite its size!

Really? Have you tried a parking garage especially in Italy or France?

True but it is easier than with the old 955/957. 

In Italy and France, many parking garages seem to be built for very small cars, which is quite idiotic if you ask me.

We have a similar trend in Germany but luckily, there are some parking garages which offer XXL spaces for lager cars and SUVs. Finally somebody switched his brains on... 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S (Sept. 2013), Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

Newer garages are ok, but some of the older ones are a real pain, even in Switzerland. With two kids I need the space the Cayenne offers, but otherwise I would drive a smaller car.

2012 Cayenne S White/Espresso 

Ex: 993 Targa, 986S, 986 and 964 C2