Porsche Cayenne 2023

author: FutureCar Staff    

With a wealth of engineering changes underneath and visual updates to the body and interior, this Porsche Cayenne facelift isn't one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it surgeries. The new LED matrix headlights are easy to spot (and, if you like, you can have high-definition ones at extra cost), while the new bumpers front and rear make for a fresh, slightly Macaney-looking widened grille, though familiar proportions behind it.

Technically, the headline change is the removal from the Cayenne S of the 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 that formerly powered it, substituted for an overhauled version of the ‘EA825' 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 that Porsche first developed with technical partner Audi in 2017.

That leaves the entry-level Cayenne and the Cayenne E-Hybrid as the only six-cylinder models left in a showroom lineup which, for now, consists of four models (Cayenne, Cayenne S, Cayenne E-Hybrid and Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid; plus equivalent ‘coupes'). In time, we'll see a Turbo, a GTS, and a V8-powered Cayenne S E-Hybrid as well, the PHEVs set to account for more than three-quarters of the UK sales mix between them.

We won't see a return of the range-topping Cayenne Turbo GT, which is being reserved for markets, shall we say, less carbon-emissions-punitive than Europe and the UK. Go for the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid instead, however, and you can buy a GT package that makes your car look, ride and handle as much like the range-topping poster boy as possible. Meantime, ‘making do' with only 730bhp shouldn't be too much of a chore.

Below that range-topping PHEV, there will be two further electrified models. The cheaper Cayenne E-Hybrid uses an overhauled V6 and a 174bhp electric motor; only now there's a bigger battery to supply the juice. As such, electric-only range jumps to a handy 46 miles, dropping it into the 8% BIK tax bracket. It's a timely riposte to the Range Rover Sport's company car appeal. The bad news? Kerb weight shoots up by 370kg over the base Cayenne.

And above that car will shortly come a Cayenne S E-Hybrid, using the same battery and motor technology, but delivering a V8-engined electrified option for less than the Turbo E-Hybrid's £130k+ price tag.

Outside of the engine bay, Porsche is continuing with steel coil suspension for lower-range Cayennes, with height-adjustable air springs optional on some and standard on others. New double-valved adaptive dampers (on which compression and rebound can be adjusted independently of each other) feature on all models, with front wheel and tyre size having changed slightly too - both, says Porsche, to the improvement of the car's rolling refinement.

Four-wheel drive is standard on the Cayenne, downstream of an eight-speed torque-converter gearbox. Mechanical torque vectoring, four-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars, meanwhile, are optional-fit on most models.

FutureCar Staff