Test Porsche Cayenne Turbo E Hybrid Coupé GT package

What a long name! Can you also order the GT package on the regular Cayenne Turbo E Hybrid? yet another word makes a difference…

Only the Coupé, i.e. the Cayenne with a sloping roofline, can be had with the strongest drivetrain in combination with the GT package. This makes it more or less the successor to the most powerful Cayenne ever: the Cayenne Turbo GT. It was wild and fierce and was sent onto the road to put Lamborghini Urus drivers or drivers of an Audi RS Q8 in their place. But that Turbo GT had ‘only’ 640 hp, and the same 4.0 V8 biturbo produces no less than 739 hp in the most powerful Cayenne of the moment. The Turbo E Hybrid combines the Porsche engine that is widely used within the top of the Volkswagen Group with a 176 hp electric motor, which gives it a system power of almost 100 hp more than the non-electrified Turbo GT. But yes, plug-in hybrid, so with a heavy battery pack. That is the same as that of the Cayenne E Hybrid and the Cayenne SE Hybrid, which combine the same 25.9 kWh battery pack and the 176 hp electric motor with a blown V6 engine.

Is the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT completely passé?

In some countries it is still there. In the Netherlands and many other countries you cannot get the updated Cayenne as a Turbo GT, but will the Cayenne as we drive it now appeal to you as a demanding SUV driver? It won’t be because of the looks. The GT package gives the Cayenne Coupé a lot of appearance. For example, with 22-inch wheels that can handle wider tire sizes. With a width of 315 mm at the rear, the thickest Cayenne sits comfortably on its wheels, and the centrally placed exhaust tips of the titanium exhaust systems make the thick plug-in hybrid look no less impressive than the Turbo GT, which is no longer available in the Netherlands.

More power than the Turbo GT, isn’t that just nice?

You might think, but the Turbo E Hybrid with GT package still feels like a step back in terms of driving. Especially if you drive away with the battery pack charged in E-Power or Hybrid mode. The electric motor lets the Turbo E Hybrid zoom through traffic, the V8 can sleep a little longer and only comes to life when you switch on the Sport or Sport Plus mode. If you don’t do this, you could drive entirely electrically for up to 82 kilometers in city traffic, but on rural roads your range will be reduced by ten kilometers. You select the driving modes with the handy rotary knob on the GT steering wheel. In terms of operation, the Cayenne improved with this year’s thorough update, but it is not at the level of a BMW X5. The electric performance and updates of the Cayenne are nice and nice, but we did not travel to Barcelona with that approach. The electric performance corresponds to that of the Cayenne E Hybrid and the SE Hybrid and you will soon be able to read in a comparison test what the entry-level Cayenne can do as a plug-in hybrid. We go to the track and look at the dynamic properties of the new sporty top model.

And how does the biggest Cayenne perform on a circuit?

It’s always amazing how Porsche can make the kilos that are there seem to disappear. Active stabilizers do a lot in that regard. They counteract leaning tendencies well without filtering out all the feeling that you want to experience as a driver at the edge. A little movement in the bodywork is nice, because it gives you a better feel for how the car is entering the bend. Submitting is going great. The nose is certainly looking given the V8 in the front and the electric motor integrated in the gearbox. Porsche Torque Vectoring lends a helping hand by braking the right wheels and presto, the throttle can be reduced again. The V8 makes a nice sound. But this is not the sharp Cayenne Turbo GT, which feels much more playful, which immediately grabs you from the first meters and which is perhaps the wildest SUV we have ever driven. And when it comes to braking, even the standard ceramic brakes can’t stop the feeling of 2,470 kilos of braking. You really have to put a lot of pressure on the brake pedal. Logical on the one hand, because it goes so fast on this circuit that this will probably never be necessary on public roads. And 2,470 kilos, is that heavy? Yes, but a plug-in hybrid Range Rover Sport weighs 300 kilos heavier and has at most a six-cylinder combustion engine.

Is the version with GT package much different than one without?

We notice that the GT package is paying off when we later step into a Cayenne Turbo E Hybrid Coupé without it. Because the car is 100 mm higher on its air suspension, you notice that the car rolls more and is more comfortable. The GT package is only available on the Coupé variant, the regular Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid is only available with the normal suspension setting.

So the GT package adds something after all?

All adjustments to the ‘GT’ certainly have an effect, and because that version has things like a carbon roof and even more weight-saving features, it weighs 100 kilos lighter than the Cayenne Turbo E Hybrid Coupé. It stops at 295 km/h, with the GT package the fastest Cayenne runs at 305 km/h and with a 0-100 time of 3.6 seconds it is also a tenth faster in acceleration. Almost as fast, and in the sprint even slightly faster than the Cayenne Turbo GT. But numbers don’t say everything. Yes, the sportiest Cayenne of today impresses, but it cannot match the sharpness and exhilaration of the previous top version. Big plaster on the wound is 80,000 euros lower price. If you had to pay another three thousand euros for the Turbo GT (which was also only available as a Cayenne Coupé), it starts at 219,500 euros. The advantage of the electric range of this super plug-in SUV, which feels like a GT light compared to the real Turbo GT.