I was one of them; one of those that dismissed the Porsche Cayenne at first. After all, this wasn鈥檛 your typical Porsche model - not on the surface. Not rear-engined, more than two doors, not a sports car. Which, of course, turned out to be all sorts of wrong. Now, there鈥檚 a new one. It鈥檚 lighter than those guys, though. Last year, the hood and trunk were crafted from aluminum; this year, the whole body is. They鈥檝e turned to lighter weight engine internals, a lithium-ion battery, and more to help shave as much as 500 lbs. 鈥檚 half a metric tonne, folks - over last year鈥檚 truck. You won鈥檛 look all that bad while you鈥檙e at it, either; granted, SUVs and pickups are some of the harder vehicle types to style uniquely, but the longer, wider and lower Cayenne does a pretty good job of it nonetheless. The main change for 2019 actually happens 鈥榬ound back, with a rear fascia that now sees the LED taillights connected by a light bar, in keeping with the rest of the Porsche line-up. The Cayenne S, meanwhile, gets a fixed spoiler.
Up front, the headlights have also been updated to something Porsche calls 鈥淢atrix Beam鈥? 84 LEDs help provide variable lighting strength depending on the situation. In Canada, it used to be that high beam/low beam was a black-and-white thing; you either had one or the other. After new legislation, Porsche can provide varying levels by switching off individual LED segments. The next real eye-catcher is a stylistic change, yes, but also a functional one. If you鈥檒l look at the wheels, you鈥檒l notice white brake calipers - massive, 10-piston white brake calipers squeezing massive 415 mm discs. Less noticeable at this juncture on these low-mileage cars is the reflective surface of the caliper; with more wear, they will become as reflective as a mirror. There to show you how little brake dust there is. 10,000 ceramic-disc system that鈥檚 also available. Inside, a few details are on-hand to differentiate the 鈥?9 from the 鈥?8; the biggest change is the touch-panel surrounding the shift lever, an area that had been littered with about a million buttons until this year.
Also new is the infotainment screen; a 12.3鈥?number with ultra-clear graphics and all that, complemented by a quasi-digital gauge cluster; analog tach in the middle, and two customizable screens on each side. It鈥檚 a nice modern take on the traditional Porsche gauge cluster. They鈥檝e also added new seats; 18-way power adjustability is standard on both the S and Turbo, while the Turbo gets an active set-up that adjusts the side bolsters depending on how aggressively you鈥檙e driving. That鈥檚 some pretty serious kit for a people-moving SUV. Air suspension is standard on the Turbo but optional on the S, and it does a masterful job of ironing out the road ahead of you. While we spent some time on a smooth highway during our drive, most of it was spent in quasi-plowed, hard-packed back roads finished in a way that only roads in Quebec can be. Ideal conditions, then, to test Porsche鈥檚 most family-oriented vehicle.
With the Cayenne - especially the Turbo that gets Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus as standard kit - you can really feel the systems working, shuffling power to and fro, axle to axle, wheel to wheel, keeping the Cayenne heading true. That鈥檚 the electronic stuff; there鈥檚 new mechanical additions, too, in the form of a new multi-link front suspension set-up and staggered wheels and tires that measure 315 mm at the back, for better turn-in response. It鈥檚 also here that you can really feel those new brakes doing their thing, as brake pressure can also be automatically applied if the situation requires it. It often did, here, and I experienced enough to say that these are some mighty fine brakes that are responsive and ultra-capable, without the grabbiness or noisiness associated with the ceramic system. Safe to say that if you want to feel confident during winter driving, the Cayenne has you covered in more ways than one.
Of course then, while I haven鈥檛 yet experienced one in drier conditions, you also get all of that dry-driving stuff we talked about earlier. The Turbo is undeniably fast even in these conditions - monstrously so, in fact- but that鈥檚 not to say the S left me wanting. For starters, the V6 howl that replaces the Turbo鈥檚 V8 growl is a great sound in its own way, and it鈥檚 also lighter than the Turbo and quite fleet of foot as a result. At the wheel of the Turbo, I felt like I was in a ground-pounding GT car; the S is more sports car-like in its attitude. Pretty neat trick Porsche has pulled here, with two divergent takes on a single model. Add the base single-turbo-6 and hybrid models, and you can see just how far the Cayenne has come, and how its stock has risen both at Porsche and with buyers.