Porsche Cayenne S

How things change. When the first generation Porsche Cayenne was launched, I was among those who cracked fat jokes about the SUV, and provided a hearty chorus to those who thought that the porky vehicle was an aberration in the company’s hallowed line-up. Twelve years later, I am in Barcelona for the launch of the 2015 Cayenne and, along with my breakfast, I am eating my own words. In the intervening years since the Cayenne made its debut, it has sold nearly 500,000 units
globally, and for the last couple of years or more, the SUV has accounted for around half of Porsche’s sales. That means that the Cayenne has had a major role to play in the development of the company’s new cars and technologies. You take the Cayenne out of the equation, and you’d, probably, not have a 918 Spyder. In short, the Cayenne is a lot more important to Porsche than you think.

The Cayenne that is waiting for me outside our hotel, on a hilltop near Barcelona, is, of course, not an entirely new model. It’s simply got a mid-life facelift, and, while there are no drastic changes, it’s been tweaked just enough to enable it to see off some very perky competition until around 2018, which is when the next generation of the car will hit the roads. On the new menu is a range of engines that has been optimised for the SUV, and each of them promise lower fuel consumption and increased performance. These include a 262bhp 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel, a wonderfully crazy 520bhp V8 bi-turbo and the SE Hybrid, the first SUV of its kind. (Here’s some bar room trivia, in case you are interested: The world’s first hybrid was a Porsche. The 1899 Lohner Porsche, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, combined battery-electric drive with a combustion engine.) The Macan, too, has left its imprint on the Cayenne: the big SUV shares the new 3.6-litre, 420bhp V6 bi-turbo with Porsche’s remarkable compact crossover.

It is an overcast day in Barcelona, and the threat of rain hangs in the cool air. And, in that subdued light, the Cayenne doesn’t look too different from its predecessor. But there’s one thing I can’t argue with: the new model looks more compact, more sprightly and sharper. The Cayenne sports a redesigned front end and wings; the central air inlet is less in-your-face; and the bi-xenon headlights, with the ‘floating’ four-point LED daytime running lights standard on the basic and S models make the car look wider. I also like the way the roofline dips sportily towards the rear of the vehicle, and the subtly flattened tail-lamps. The Cayenne is still by no means a looker, but it has been steadily growing on me, and this iteration will only accelerate that process.

I’m driving from Barcelona to somewhere near Montserrat. It is a mostly winding route, especially if you take the B-roads. The sky has cleared up, and the horizon is filled with jagged mountains. The Cayenne I have chosen to drive is the S. I like turbochargers and spinning turbines, and compressors, and I can't figure what some enthusiasts have against them.

When the M3 was launched this May, I heard M nuts say that they missed the raw acceleration of naturally aspirated engines, and I’m certain there will be folks who will have a thing or two to say about the twin-turbo V6 that powers the Cayenne S. But, as much as I dig the raw grunt of a V8, I don’t think you can find issue with a motor that is two cylinders down and is still torquier, powerful, fuel-efficient and cleaner than the eight-cylinder engine it replaces. The Cayenne S’s V6 develops 20bhp more than the V8, and it is certainly, especially in Sport Plus mode, not an unexciting way to travel from Point A to Point B, or Pointlessness A to Pointlessness B, depending on your outlook on life.

The engine, which is mated to an 8-speed Tiptronic transmission,  doesn’t sound as brilliantly blatty as the V8, but it is quick 0 to 100kph is done away with in 5.5 seconds. It pulls with purpose, and is so perky that, at times, I found it difficult to believe that it employed turbochargers. Once past 1800 rpm, and all the way to around 4500 rpm, there is a steady stream of torque, and, in fact, there is so much of it about 550 Nm that I wanted to distribute some of it to ancient Seat Toledos and Ford Escorts that trundled on Spain’s two-lane highways. Make no mistake, the Cayenne S is a wonderfully driveable car. Porsche has also significantly improved its ride and handling. A lot of it, say Porsche officials, has to do with chassis upgrades such as new multi-part mounts on the transverse links of the front and rear axle. And, I never thought I’d say this about an SUV as large and heavy about 2,085kg as the Cayenne, but flicking it around winding roads is a lot of fun, especially when, thanks to the 918 Spyder style hydraulic steering wheel, the car goes exactly where you want it to.

Like the other cars in its range, the Cayenne S, too, benefits from reworked interiors, which are pretty luxurious without being over the top, and a decent list of standard equipment. So, apart from the above mentioned multifunction steering wheel with shift paddles, customers also get a tyre pressure monitoring system, stainless steel door sills and bi-xenon headlights, among others. There is also an impressive list of options, including air suspension, which, we’re sure, will cost an arm and a leg, and, maybe, a kidney as well.

Porsche had also constructed a special off-road track, in Les Comes, around an hour from Barcelona. And, yes, there were steep inclines, pointy rocks, and gravel-strewn trails, and drivers were instructed to tackle the same with, among others, the car’s hill-descent control system. At the end of a dusty, bumpy ride, Porsche achieved what it wanted to: the Cayenne impressed everyone with its 4x4 capabilities. You’d think that the new Range Rover would be  the  ace at steamrolling across undulating, vile terrain even while keeping its occupants cossetted, but the Cayenne comes close.

Porsche India is still working on the launch date and the pricing of the Cayenne range, but it should arrive at the end of the year, and we expect it to be priced significantly higher than the outgoing model, at least 30 per cent more than the Macan. A crore and forty is not small money, but if you’re looking for the best-driving big SUV in the world, and one that is a notch higher in the status stakes than its German competition, the new Cayenne is where it’s at.