When the original Cayenne arrived in 2002, it was a world away from what we’d come to expect of Porsche, and that was precisely what was so clever about it. Until the Cayenne made its debut Porsche had only ever built dedicated sports cars. It had been doing so for more than 50 years, long enough for it to become recognised around the world as a maker of some of the best such machines ever produced.
But seemingly from out of nowhere, Porsche announced it was getting into the sports utility market. It was a bold move for a sports car company, and one that didn’t exactly meet with widespread approval, at least not to begin with. But as the idea of a Porsche SUV grew more familiar, it also seemed less daft.
The enormous, convention-busting leap that the Porsche Cayenne SUV effectively gave the company licence to manufacture whatever kind of passenger vehicle it wanted to. In the years that followed, the Macan compact SUV, the Panamera executive car and the all-electric Taycan saloon all slotted into the Porsche model line-up alongside the conventional sports cars, almost without friction.
But the really clever thing about the Cayenne was what it ultimately meant for Porsche’s bottom line. Nowadays almost 70% of the company’s output is made up of SUVs; the Cayenne and Macan comprehensively outsell even the most iconic and enduring Porsche of them all, the 911. Shifting 280,000 units globally in 2019, Porsche generated more than €20bn in revenue, while recording some of the highest profit margins in the entire automotive sector.
Business is booming. And to think, many of us reckoned Porsche was mad to get involved in the SUV game in the first place.
Generations: 3
Porsche Cayenne mk3 (2017-)
Bodystyles:
- Five-door SUV
- Five-door coupe-SUV
Notable features and facelifts of the Porsche Cayenne mk3:
- Handling and comfort upgraded to all-new levels
- Diesel models dropped, as was manual gearbox option
- Petrol and plug-in hybrid models available
- Rakish Cayenne Coupe model introduced in 2019
If you've got a Porsche badge on your bonnet, you'd better be outstanding to drive. The original Cayenne was remarkably athletic for such a large, high vehicle, and that’s what characterises the third-generation model even now.
Its handling capability is class-leading; steering response, body control and agility remain a step ahead even of the likes of the BMW X6, giving Porsche’s full-size SUV a very compelling USP. Throughout its life, the Cayenne has shared a mechanical platform with the Volkswagen Touareg, and while that remains the case with the latest model, its underpinnings are now also shared by the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Audi Q8.
As well as being unusually agile, the Cayenne is also supremely comfortable. Its cabin is exceptional, with high-grade materials and a sense of solidity about the build quality. The diesel variants went the way of the second-generation Cayenne, meaning the current model is petrol or petrol-electric hybrid only. The Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid – the fastest Cayenne ever – uses both a twin-turbo petrol V8 engine and a sizeable electric motor to generate 671bhp. That’s enough to shove the Cayenne to 62mph from a standstill in just 3.8 seconds. It can also run on electric power only, which could bring dramatic reductions in MPG.
Fans of manual gearboxes were out of luck with this generation of Cayenne, as you could only specify it with an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic.
The Porsche Cayenne Coupe – so-called because it has a more rakish roofline, though the door count remains at five – arrived in 2019 as Porsche’s response to sportier-looking SUVs like the X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. There are some mechanical changes beneath the skin, such as a slightly wider rear track, but the Cayenne Coupe fundamentally adheres to the same blueprint that proved so popular back in 2002: space for the family, that desirable Porsche crest on the nose, a fine interior, plenty of performance and best-in-class handling. Don’t bet on the Cayenne deserting that basic recipe any time soon.
Read our expert review of the Porsche Cayenne mk3 or search for a used Porsche Cayenne mk3 on CarGurus
Porsche Cayenne mk2 (2010-2017)
Bodystyles:
- Five-door SUV
Notable features and facelifts of the Porsche Cayenne mk2:
- New Porsche Cayenne was lighter than before, and better to drive
- Petrol, diesel, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models all available
- Facelifted in 2014 with tweaked looks and plug-in hybrid model
As well as more power across the board than the original Cayenne, the second-generation model was also lighter. Significant mechanical changes beneath the skin, as well as the use of lightweight materials, meant certain versions were 180kg lighter than their predecessors. It was on the second-generation Cayenne, too, that Porsche introduced the likes of Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management, chassis hardware that made the Cayenne even more athletic to drive.
Very soon after the launch of the second-generation Cayenne, Porsche added a hybrid version to the line-up. This was Porsche’s first production hybrid, a model that foreshadowed a move towards petrol-electric power at Porsche that continues to gather pace even now. The Cayenne S Hybrid combined a V6 engine with an electric motor to achieve better fuel economy with lower carbon dioxide emissions.
It wasn’t until 2014, however, that Porsche introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the Cayenne. The S E-Hybrid superseded the S Hybrid, its plug-in capability and much larger battery enabling an electric-only range of around 20 miles (the earlier hybrid could be driven in electric mode only a short distance, and even then only at low speeds). This reduced the official carbon dioxide figures by more than half, making the S E-Hybrid a surefire hit among company car drivers who paid benefit-in-kind tax based on emissions.
Meanwhile, the non-hybrid engine line-up was expanding. For the second-generation Cayenne, Porsche introduced a second diesel variant, a V8 to sit above the diesel V6. The base model was still powered by a petrol V6 while the top-of-the-line model, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, was treated to a horsepower increase from 542bhp to 562bhp.
Read our expert review of the Porsche Cayenne mk2 or search for a used Porsche Cayenne mk2 on CarGurus
Porsche Cayenne mk1 (2002-2010)
Bodystyles:
- Five-door SUV
Notable features and facelifts of the Porsche Cayenne mk1:
- Styling lifted from the contemporary 911 and Boxster
- New model was instantly better to drive than its rivals
- Facelifted in 2007 with slimmer headlights and new engines with more power
Only marginally less controversial than the first Cayenne’s very existence was the way it looked. Porsche’s stylists set out to graft the company’s then-new design language, familiar from the 911 and Boxster of the time, onto the nose of the new SUV. The results won few admirers.
Regardless of the aesthetic outcome, buyers were tripping over one another to get their names down for a Cayenne. The Porsche brand was one of the most revered in the entire car sector, just as it is today, and for the very first time you could park a Porsche on your driveway without having to put up with the impracticalities of a sports car. What’s more, the Cayenne proved to be the very best car of its type.
Porsche didn’t invent the luxury 4x4 sector with the Cayenne; BMW had brought the X5 to market three years earlier and Mercedes the original ML two years before that. Land Rover had been selling the Range Rover for three whole decades before Porsche latched on to the emerging SUV trend. But what the Cayenne proved was that a tall vehicle with the ground clearance of an off-roader could still handle with much of the precision of a saloon car. As of 2002, luxury SUV drivers had to put up with wallowy, roly-poly handling no longer.
The basis of the Cayenne was the VW Group’s PL71 platform, which it shared with the Touareg that was launched around the same time. While the base model Cayenne was powered by a 3.2-litre V6 with 247bhp, the mid-range Cayenne S had a 4.5-litre V8 with an additional 100bhp. But those who really wanted their Porsche SUV to perform like a true Porsche would have preferred the Cayenne Turbo with 444bhp, or better still, the Cayenne Turbo S that arrived in 2006. That version, its twin-turbo V8 rated at 513bhp, could hit 62mph in just 5.2 seconds.
A year later Porsche facelifted the Cayenne with slimmer and far more attractive headlights. The engine line-up was revised as well, with more power for all versions – the range-topping Turbo S now produced a mighty 542bhp – and in came both the GTS and diesel variants. The former was billed as the sportiest Cayenne of the lot, its 4.8-litre normally-aspirated petrol V8 good for 399bhp and combined, if you so wanted, with a six-speed manual gearbox. The diesel model, meanwhile, was Porsche’s very first and paved the way for the Stuttgart company to explore a variety of alternative powertrains.
Read our expert review of the Porsche Cayenne mk1 or search for a used Porsche Cayenne mk1 on CarGurus