Porsche Cayenne Review 2024

With a (very) premium price tag and an extensive options list, you need deep pockets to consider a Porsche Cayenne. It holds its value exceptionally well, too, so you'll pay a premium for one on the used market.

If you can justify it, though, the Porsche Cayenne is probably the ultimate large SUV. It's a true luxury-grade machine, which can go head-to-head with alternatives such as the Range Rover Sport. It looks more upmarket than ever before, so if you want to show the world you’ve arrived, it may well be for you.

While the base Porsche Cayenne is itself fast, the extra attitude of the Porsche Cayenne S somehow seems more convincing. It’s surprisingly easy to justify the extra expenditure. Same goes for the E-Hybrid, which isn’t hugely more than the base car, but is both more technically interesting and socially acceptable. The range-topping Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid is the most ludicrous, with colossal power, a wild £130k price tag, yet also some semblance of eco-consciousness - it really is quite a beast.

The Porsche Cayenne is built on the same architecture as the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg. It’s also related to the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus. How about that for good breeding?

Rivals include the Range Rover Sport, which owners seem to have no qualms about spending a small fortune on. There’s also the luxurious BMW X5, spacious Mercedes-Benz GLE (including the high-performance Mercedes-AMG versions) and the Jaguar F-Pace, while the Tesla Model X is an intriguing all-electric alternative to the plug-in hybrid Porsche Cayenne. The Jaguar I-Pace is another electric sports SUV rival, too, as well as the Audi Q8 e-tron.

Quality is impeccable. While the first generation Porsche Cayenne may have let the side down in a few key areas, the company is absolutely back to its very best with this latest 2017-on model.

Everything is fantastic to the touch. Most of the interior is lined in leather, and the parts that aren’t either use the richest, softest-touch plastics, or are clad with impeccably well-finished trim panels. It’s less like a car and more like a luxury hotel.

Even the switchgear is gorgeous, with tiny silver controls clicking beautifully and feeling almost jewel-like. Yet it’s the clarity of the displays that dominate the interior which really give the Porsche Cayenne a modern, high-end look. It’s all so crisp and cool, and incredibly classy. All the luxury that’s built into the latest Porsche Panamera is in evidence here – and how.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen is a joy to use. It’s like you’re operating a really expensive tablet, so responsive and tactile does it feel. There’s not a hint of lag or delay, and the system responds swiftly to even the lightest finger-touch. This latest-generation Porsche Communication Management is fitted with Porsche Connect Plus for online services and navigation. It’s fully personalisable and up to six profiles can be configured, ready to use at the press of a button.

Functions that aren’t controlled through the touchscreen itself are operated via a smartphone-like glass touch surface, which gives acoustic and haptic clicks in response to a finger jab. It’s all very space-age and sophisticated. Needless to say, a 4G modem, wi-fi hotspot and full Porsche Connect services are fitted as standard.

Buy a 2024 Porsche Cayenne and you'll also get a 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster with a curved floating design. This looks pretty slick, leaving little need for the optional head-up display. If that's not enough, you can also get a 10.9-inch display on the passenger side. This is an impressive (if slightly gimmicky) feature - especially as a special filter prevents the driver from being distracted by the additional screen.

The latest Porsche Cayenne is a seriously imposing car: over 4.9 metres long and almost two metres wide (and that’s with the door mirrors folded in). It’s also nearly 1.7 metres tall and, yes, it’s heavy – weighing two tonnes even in base-spec guise (the E-Hybrid is over 2.3 tonnes).

It’s therefore fittingly spacious on the inside. In the front, it feels palatial. You step up high into it, climbing into a wide cabin with a huge centre console that seems to position you far away from your fellow front-seat passenger. With your right arm on the wide windowsill and left elbow on the adjustable armrest, you’ll feel like the king of the road.

It’s vast in the rear, too. This is a no-compromise machine, with a rear seat that isn’t compromised by the need to get a third row of passengers into the rear. It’s very roomy, with plenty of width for three adults, loads of headroom, leg-crossing kneeroom and enough foot space to stretch back and relax. 

The middle-seat passenger might not quite feel as comfortable as the outer two, but that’s only because the other seats are so comfortable and nicely shaped. With big windows to stare out of and a plethora of air vents to control the rear-seat climate, it’s a real haven back there.

The boot is, you won’t be surprised to hear, mammoth. At its largest, seats-up space stretches to 770 litres – that’s truly enormous, and around 100 litres bigger than even its predecessor. Folding the seats down extends the space to 1,710 litres, which is on a par with the very largest estate cars. The Panamera is a hugely practical and spacious machine and easily justifies itself for the flexibility it delivers. Just note that if you do pick the E-Hybrid version, boot space will shrink by 100 litres, due to the batteries in the back.

As for child seats, there are ISOFIX mountings on the outer two rear seats, but Porsche chose not to utilise the Cayenne’s extra width to fit a third ISOFIX seat mount. There isn’t an ISOFIX mount on the front passenger seat either, although you will find an airbag cut-off switch.

The Porsche Cayenne dimensions are 4918mm long, 2194mm wide and 1696mm tall.

Even the ‘slowest’ Porsche Cayenne now has 353PS from its 3.0-litre V6 turbo engine, which is good for 154mph all-out and 0-62mph in 6.0 seconds flat. On pre-facelift models, the Cayenne S used a 2.9-litre V6 turbo engine - but it's now been given a 4.0-litre V8 that produces 474PS. That's good news as not only is it quicker (0-62mph acceleration takes 5.0 seconds), it also sounds incredible - much bassier than the old V6.

If you're looking for a Cayenne that's even moderately efficient, the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid is one of the best hybrid SUVs on sale. The standard E-Hybrid pairs a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with an electric motor to produce a combined 470PS - taking it to 62mph in 4.9 seconds. The Cayenne S E-Hybrid boosts this to 519PS, dropping the 0-62mph time drops to 4.7 seconds.

For the ultimate fast SUV, the range-topping Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid combines the 4.0-litre V8 engine with an electric motor to produce 739PS and a whopping 950Nm of torque. 0-62mph acceleration takes just 3.7 seconds while top speed is 183mph. And it does all this while having the capacity to run for 45 miles as a silent, zero-emissions EV. Incredible.

All Porsche Cayennes use an automatic gearbox: the fast and smooth-shifting eight-speed Tiptronic S transmission.

The Porsche Cayenne is a beautifully refined machine, with its enormous structure being packed with insulation and the most intricate measures to eradicate noise. Remember, the base platform is also used by the luxurious Bentley Bentayga, so refinement will have been prioritised from the outset.

Despite the steamroller wheels, tyre noise isn’t too intrusive, and double glazing will keep wind noise at bay. The ability of E-Hybrid models to operate as silent-running EVs further enhances this incredible refinement. If you don’t want the Porsche Cayenne quite so silent, look for one with the optional sports exhaust system.

The calm, serene interior is the perfect place to enjoy some high-end audio, with Porsche offering systems from Bose and Burmeister, depending on your budget and how ‘concert hall’ you want things.

It’s not often that expensive, luxurious cars such as the Porsche Cayenne are crash-tested by Euro NCAP. The honour was carried out in 2017, though, where it perhaps unsurprisingly scored five stars (imagine the shock if it hadn’t). Adult occupant protection is outstanding, at 95%, and child occupant protection was rated at 80%. The Porsche Cayenne also scored 73% for pedestrian safety and 62% for safety assist systems.

An active pop-up bonnet helps pedestrian safety by reducing the risk of heads coming into contact with anything hard in the engine bay. Porsche also fits autonomous emergency braking that detects pedestrians and other obstacles such as cyclists at city-centre speeds, while the cruise control has a speed limiter built in. Surprisingly, though, a lane-keep assist system is only optional.

There’s a full suite of airbags, including knee airbags for both front occupants – but again, it’s odd that side chest airbags are left on the options list for rear passengers.

Optional safety tech includes adaptive cruise control, the aforementioned night vision display, a lane-change camera, traffic sign recognition and a 360-degree parking camera.

You might think a secondhand Porsche is a brave purchase, but the manufacturer actually ranked fourth in a recent ownership survey by consumer advice website HonestJohn.co.uk. The Cayenne comes with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty. There's no need to worry about the complex Cayenne E-Hybrid, either, as its hybrid system is covered for eight years/100,000 miles.

It goes without saying that the Porsche Cayenne is going to be a costly machine to insure. Not only is it a desirable SUV, it’s one wearing a sports car badge on the nose. Saying that, not every model drops into the highest insurance group 50. The standard Porsche Cayenne, which seems a good blend of performance and relative affordability, is group 44. Things quickly rise, though – the Cayenne S is group 48 and even the standard E-Hybrid is group 50.

Like all premium SUVs, you're going to be stung by road tax in the new Porsche Cayenne. While first-year rates are based on emissions (and lumped into the on-the-road price), you'll pay a standard rate of £180/year to tax the Cayenne... or £170/year for E-Hybrid models. On top of that, all Cayennes will be hit by an extra £390/year in 'premium car tax' for five years (from the second time the car's taxed). The only way to avoid this is by looking for an SUV with a list price of less than £40,000, or by buying a pure-electric alternative such as the Audi Q8 e-tron.

As a luxury car, the Porsche Cayenne has all the essentials you’d expect. Standard equipment on the entry-level model includes 20-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats with electric adjustment, Matrix LED headlights, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a wide array of driver-assistance tech.

You don't necessarily get a great deal more standard equipment on more expensive models. You're essentially paying for punchier performance. Most Porsche buyers go to town on options - a vast array of optional extras is available - including multiple types of suspension, interior trim, premium audio, wheels, paint colours... you name it. This is what makes buying a new Porsche Cayenne so involved, and what makes searching for a used one so exciting.