The company’s largest “sports car” rolls into town for reservations, packed with new tech
SINGAPORE
Stuttgart Auto, the authorised dealer for Porsche in Singapore, took the covers off the latest Cayenne SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) in a special preview event at Infinite Studios on March 28.

The off-roader will be available in three variants: the basic Cayenne, Cayenne S, and the bonkers-fast Cayenne Turbo. According to the Porsche Singapore website, they cost S$343,488, S$433,988, and S$607,188, not inclusive of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) or options.

As the Cayenne is closely related to the Panamera saloon and Panamera Sport Turismo, it also features the same engines, all downsized from the previous generation. The range starts off with the regular Cayenne, which has a 3.0-litre V6 with a single twin-scroll turbocharger. It puts out 40hp and 50Nm more than its predecessor, at 340hp and 450Nm. It’ll do the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 245km/h – improvements of 1.7 seconds and 15km/h, which has been achieved in part due to a 55kg weight reduction, to 1985kg.

If you want more speed but to still keep your sanity, the Cayenne S might be for you. It’s powered by a 2.9-litre biturbo V6, with 440hp and 550Nm of torque. The century sprint is done and dusted in under five seconds, and will top out at 265km/h.

The highlight of the range though is the mighty Cayenne Turbo, with a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, developing a maximum of 550hp and 770Nm of torque. That will push this near-2.2 tonne car to 100km/h in a physics-defying 3.9 seconds, and keep going till it runs out of puff at 286km/h.

To keep it ahead of the competition, the new Cayenne debuts a number of innovations: the Turbo is the first SUV in the world to feature an active roof spoiler, which deploys above 160km/h to stabilise the rear end, and can be raised up to 28 degrees to act as an airbrake when stopping from above 170km/h.

The Cayenne is also the first car to be fitted with PSCB, or Porsche Surface Coated Brakes. Fitted as standard to the Turbo, and optional on other models, PSCB is positioned between the standard and ceramic composite brakes (PCCB), and uses brake discs with a hard tungsten-carbide coating which is claimed to offer longer service life and generate less brake dust. Gripped by massive white 10-piston calipers, a side effect of PSCB is that the discs will be polished to an attractive near-mirror shine after just 600km of everyday driving.

The technology likely to benefit Cayenne owners in day-to-day driving the most, however, is the introduction of optional rear-axle steering, a technology currently also available in the 911 and Panamera. At low speeds, the rear wheels can turn up to three degrees in the opposite direction to the fronts, cutting the turning circle down from 12.1 to 11.5 metres, which will be a massive boon during U-turns and parking.

Order books are now open, though test drives will not commence until the Cayenne’s homologation process with the Land Transport Authority is complete, expected to be around the middle of the year. Until then, check out how the new Cayenne handles extreme off-road situations, when we took a few on a sojourn to the sands of the United Arab Emirates.