The Porsche Cayenne embodies many of the virtues of Porsche cars in an SUV body. Porsche also finds the Cayenne a more reliable seller than its sports cars. The GTS model, intended for street use, sits lower than the standard Cayenne.
The Cayenne GTS uses the same 4.8-liter V-8 as the standard Cayenne, but Porsche tweaks it for an extra 20 horsepower, up to 405. Fuel economy is poor, though, at 11 mpg city and 17 mpg highway.
All Cayennes use an air suspension, including the GTS. We noticed plenty of lean in hard cornering, but that can be corrected with an optional dynamic handling package.
Along with its sport reputation, Porsche also maintains a high level of luxury. The interior of the Cayenne reflects that luxury with fine materials throughout.
For a sport-oriented SUV, the tachometer is surprisingly small in the instrument cluster. The center display shows information about trip, music, and navigation.
Porsche fitted the 2009 Cayenne with a whole new cabin tech suite, called the Porsche Communication Manager (PCM). This one uses a hard drive for maps and music.
