The 2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo, isn't pretty, is fast
Cars
I love lightweight cars.
Catrons, Elises, sports cars with plastic windows, hot hatches with their rear seats removed, that sort of thing.
Offer me a choice of car for a mountain road like this, and that's what I'd pick.
But I have a confession to make.
I also have a penchant for a car that is the anthesis of all that, a car that weights 2 tons, And is capable of keeping going when the [UNKNOWN] peters out.
Yes I really rather loved the first two generations of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo.
And now there's a new one.
So we're in Crete to see if it's any good.
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I suspect that admitting to liking a car in is a bit like a phone critic admitting to being watching Michael Bay Transformers film in their spare time.
But there we go.
I've said it now.
So let's see what this new one is like.
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The first thing to say about this new car and it's probably of the interior.
You'll recognize As much of this interior from the panomera, but it is very smart nonetheless.
This huge screen here is just, the graphics on it are wonderfully crisp.
The resolution is fantastic, and sometimes you get into a car and you sort of think, It doesn't look as good as my phone.
This really does.
It is a lovely place to be in here.
We've also got new sports seats in here, which [UNKNOWN] headrest just to make that S in SUV all the more apparent [LAUGH].
As ever with the Porsche design department, it's a case of evolution, not revolution, in terms of the new Cayenne styling.
Sadly, that means the larger more gaping mountain will grow at the front and to a large part the rear do nothing to make the car any prettier on the road.
Not that it lacks introspective styling.
Under the skin the big news is the 48 volt anti roll system now you might recognize that from the Fantasia and the Q7.
So the question is, is this Your Bentley in drag.
Well because the other thing about it is really will stare they've had that on the sports cars for some time but they admit it was quite difficult to get it to work on something this big and heavy but they managed it.
Under the bonnet we still got a turbo charge for the eight Gone is the old four point eight meter.
In it's new place is the four liter, just like in the Panomara.
This new engine has now got the turbo chargers sitting inside the V. The response is certainly fantastic.
It's still going through an eight speed auto box.
One thing it absolutely not quit is the deep growl like the old 4.8 liter had.
Still sounds pretty good though.
Curiously, despite the reduction in engine size and a lighter body shell the new Cayenne Turbo is actually slightly less fuel efficient than the old Cayenne Turbo.
The new car only managing 24.1mpg to the old ones 24.6, odd.
It really is absolutely beautiful and I've wanted to come here for ages.
The roads are a mixture of Some loss really is very narrow little roads but we found some sections that are bigger up in the mountains, it's just spectacular.
It might be difficult to get a car out here, but it's certainly worth it.
The performance of this car is tricky monstrous as well, we've got 542 [UNKNOWN] horsepower [UNKNOWN] 68 pounds for the talk.
This will do note 60 miles an hour in just 3.7 seconds with sports plus engaged.
And note 100 miles an hour in 9.2 seconds.
9.2 seconds, that's absurd for something that weighs over 2 tons.
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All right, so we clear piece of road, four plus.
Put my foot on the brake.
[SOUND] That's pretty impressive.
Yep, it's like watching a sumo wrestler.
Do under ten seconds for the hundred meters.
It's that shocking.
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Wow.
Of course, if you've got all that power you need a fairly serious set of brakes.
We've got another set of four letters to remember, it's It's PSCB, which is Porsche surface coated brakes.
They've got a tungsten carbide coating that would make them look a bit like the [UNKNOWN] brakes from the P1.
It's very shiny and supposedly makes them last up to 30% longer and just helps to bite on the pedal.
You can tell if it's running PSCBs Because the 10 piston mono-block brake calipers are painted white, as opposed to the yellow of PCCBs.
Right, that's enough initials.
We've also got for the first time on an SUV apparently, according to Porsche, an active rear wing.
It's not very big, but it will act as an air brake as well in extreme circumstances.
[UNKNOWN].
So is this car still a guilty pleasure for me?
Well, It hasn't, I don't think, raised the game really in terms of [UNKNOWN] dynamics in the corners from the last model.
If anything, perhaps the steering is not quite as good.
Well, this car [UNKNOWN] better though Is [UNKNOWN] every day, [UNKNOWN] soak up the bumps, soothe you over a long journey.
The [UNKNOWN] just an underlying sort of [UNKNOWN] tightness to it, which is what gave it it's great agility.
But this new three chamber [UNKNOWN] suspension Just relax the whole car.
While I doubt even Porsche would try to claim that a Cayenne is as consummately capable off road as a Range Rover or mountain goat, it does none the less have the ability to take you to places that the majority of cars can only dream of.
This new version even has pre programmed drive and chassis modes, to make it easier.
It's often the tires that are fitted which are the limiting factor in terms of what it can do and how hard you can hit stuff.
And, just as with an Ariel Nomad, there is something bizarrely fun about hurrying along a road as fast as a sports car and then moments later being halfway up a hill and a long way from any tarmac, without a massive accident in between, that is.
So, if we come back on road.
And I'm gonna turn it sport.
Always sport plus.
And what's it like?
Well, I heard it described before as a big Mitsubishi Evo and that's perhaps being a bit kind.
But it is extraordinary what this car can do.
And the fact that in the corners It really does feel very [UNKNOWN]
just a little [UNKNOWN] Silly, but fun.
[LAUGH] It's not quite akin to an [UNKNOWN] handling like a pit special, but you get the idea.
Ultimately, I think the [UNKNOWN] turbo lacks a little of the previous generations gritty driver appeal.
Cuz it was weight in the steering and a dirtier engine designed from the old car.
And that's a bit of a shame.
Having said that, the new car is still remarkably athletic, and there is no denying that this latest car is much better in regards to it's an it's right quality.
In other words, the qualities that matter to 99% of the people that will buy one.
Given the choice, I'd still obviously pick something small and lightweight for a proper drive on these amazing Cretan roads.
But if I was driving along, skimming low to the ground, and I looked in the mirror to see the distinctive lights of new [UNKNOWN] turbo bearing down on me, I wouldn't be entirely surprised.
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