First drive evaluate: 2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe clarifies the efficiency SUV
The jagged line that separates Austria and Slovenia on a map appears prefer it traces the sharp bends of a river, but it surely doesn’t. There isn’t a bodily barrier between Austria, the place I shuffle a 2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe down a foggy highway early on a Sunday morning, and Slovenia, only a stone’s throw away.
I shove the throttle to the ground on this 541-horsepower, almost 5,000-pound beast to climb a hill on an impossibly slender highway. As I crest the hill, a shabby Skoda hatchback emerges from the fog, forcing me to squeeze the brakes—tungsten-carbide discs that seize higher than typical metal and produce much less mud—to keep away from stuffing this prettiest of Cayennes right into a ditch that will very effectively be the border between two nations. The dual-turbo V-Eight beneath the Cayenne Coupe’s hood can run on 4 cylinders to avoid wasting gas and packs its turbochargers throughout the engine’s V to avoid wasting weight and shorten the trail of the turbos’ airflow, however I doubt extradition is in its repertoire. I twist the Cayenne Coupe’s drive mode dial into Sport+, the dampers tighten, the Eight-speed automated slips down two gears, and the massive SUV hurtles towards the subsequent bend because the Skoda disappears in my rearview mirror.
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Based on the intense 12.Three-inch touchscreen housed within the dashboard, I’m nonetheless in Austria, however solely by a hair.
Time stood nonetheless in Slovenia till the Iron Curtain fell, but it surely caught up quick. Immediately, the 2 international locations don’t look a lot totally different to my eyes. It wouldn’t be honest to say that the Porsche Cayenne has remained equally stagnant, and but the brand new mannequin that bowed for 2019 strayed little aesthetically from the primary Cayenne that ruffled fanatic feathers when it bowed in 2002.
For the primary time in almost twenty years, Porsche has a brand new story to inform with its Cayenne Coupe.
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
The Cayenne Coupe shares its underpinnings, powertrains, and most of its form with the usual Cayenne. The Coupe’s A-pillars are sleeker and its roof sits three-quarters of an inch nearer to the bottom at its highest level earlier than sloping Panamera-like towards towards the tailgate. That tailgate dives towards the rear bumper in Porsche’s tackle a method popularized by the BMW X6 greater than a decade in the past. The distinction between the Cayenne and Cayenne Coupe isn’t almost as dramatic as it’s between the X5 and X6, however the Porsche is extra balanced and intentional in its design.
The Cayenne Coupe comes customary with the Sport Chrono Bundle that features an analog timer and the Sport+ mode that slices a tenth of a second off its Zero-60 mph dash. Energy comes from a 335-hp turbocharged Three.Zero-liter V-6 within the base configuration, a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 within the Cayenne S, and the 541-hp twin-turbo four.Zero-liter V-Eight tucked beneath the hood of my Cayenne Turbo tester. No hybrid Cayenne Coupe is on supply but, however a lithium-ion battery will match beneath its rear seat. Three-mode adaptive dampers come customary and do their finest to tame the stiff trip supplied by the non-compulsory 22-inch alloy wheels.
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The bottom engine delivers energy with creamy linearity, pouring on its 332 pound-feet of torque from simply 1,340 rpm. Sixty mph arrives in a tick beneath 6 seconds.
It’s laborious to think about needing something quicker than the Cayenne S, which vaults to 60 mph from a cease in four.9 seconds with the Sport Chrono Bundle. The Turbo’s V-Eight slices the Zero-60 mph dash to three.9 seconds, however its energy is more durable to modulate in most conditions. The Eight-speed automated transmission that’s customary throughout the road behaves brilliantly no matter what engine it’s bolted to. Paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel let the motive force decide when the transmission will fireplace off its fast shifts.
Like the usual Cayenne, the Coupe excels at autobahn speeds with a docile demeanor and affordable noise suppression. Flung right into a nook, the massive SUV hides its heft effectively, although it by no means feels mild on its ft down these slender Austrian roads. The electrical-assist energy steering is boosted at low speeds for simpler parking and tightens up properly when hustled down a winding highway. By no means does the electrical tiller transmit tarmac like an older hydraulic or handbook system, however no automaker has steering really feel as dialed in as does Porsche.
The Cayenne Coupe’s wider monitor could improve its high-speed stability, however I do not get the chance to pattern one towards the usual SUV. Porsche has widened the Coupe’s rear stance primarily to accommodate hefty rubber behind its broader haunches, to not enhance its dealing with. It’s one more reminder that the Cayenne Coupe is a press release greater than a devoted sports activities automobile, though that line blurs extra with each incarnation of Porsche’s SUV.
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
911 appears, possibly
Squint—and preserve squinting—and also you would possibly see a few of Porsche’s iconic 911 within the Cayenne Coupe’s profile. The curve of the D-pillars and the broader rear haunches hyperlink the 2. The roof slopes elegantly and appears finest with the chrome strips that define the crossover’s home windows, although they will also be completed in black.
The broad shoulder line on the rear homes tires as large as 22 inches in diameter wrapped in 285 mm entrance and 315 mm rear Pirelli P-Zero rubber.
On the rear, the Coupe’s tailgate is residence to an energetic rear spoiler that inelegantly rises to the event above 56 mph. It appears higher when it’s flush with the sheet steel, however even then it’s topped with a slender, black-painted lip spoiler. Proper you might be: Porsche put a spoiler on its spoiler.
Designers relocated the Cayenne Coupe’s license plate to its rear bumper, an answer extra elegant than the rectangle hacked out of the usual automobile’s tailgate.
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
Compromised inside, however not a lot
Inside, passengers received’t discover a lot of a distinction between the Cayenne and Cayenne Coupe. The sloped-roof Coupe comes customary with Eight-way sport seats with large bolsters, although non-compulsory consolation seats with extra adjustment and massaging backrests usually tend to discover their method into U.S.-bound fashions. Porsche shaved the Coupe’s rear seat base by a few quarter inch to compensate for the sloping roofline and retain ample head room. Its rear door openings sag decrease on the prime, however not frustratingly so. A two-piece rear bench with a easy storage console comes customary, however three seats are non-compulsory. To cut back border disputes between feuding rear-seat passengers, follow the usual two-seat setup.
Rearward imaginative and prescient is obstructed by the sloping roof, however the usual Cayenne isn’t nice both. The curved glass within the Coupe’s tailgate performs fun-house tips with the rearview mirror in sure mild.
Lookup and also you’ll discover that the Cayenne Coupe comes with a normal panoramic sunroof, besides when it doesn’t. The $14,440 Light-weight Sport Bundle provides a carbon-fiber roof that sheds almost 50 kilos and lowers the middle of gravity, Alcantara trim, a two-mode sport exhaust system, and lighter 22-inch alloy wheels that look divine however will value $1,700 to re-wrap in Pirelli P-Zero rubber when the time comes. Yikes.
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2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
The Coupe holds about 22 cubic ft of cargo behind its rear seat in comparison with 27 cubes for the usual mannequin. Most of that loss is above the belt line, so homeowners who don’t plan to stuff its cargo space to the headliner for a run throughout the border received’t discover. Most capability is 54.Three cubes, which isn’t excellent for an enormous SUV. However most Cayenne consumers aren’t after for optimum cargo capability.
For those who just like the common Cayenne and don’t plan to stuff its marginally extra spacious cargo space to the headliner with baggage, the Coupe makes a classy assertion not as compromised as rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. At round $76,000 in base guise, $13,000 extra with the twin-turbo V-6 in Cayenne Coupe S trim, and a staggering $131,000 for the Cayenne Coupe Turbo, vainness may have its worth when the crossover SUV hits American sellers this fall.
That’s about $10,000 greater than a base Cayenne, however solely $1,500 separates the Coupe from the usual mannequin as soon as its further customary options are taken under consideration.
As I hustle the Cayenne Coupe again towards suburban sprawl round Graz, Austria, and away from demure Slovenia, the crossover SUV’s mission comes into focus. It’s an attention-grabber, however yet one more aligned with conventional Porsche values of favor and efficiency than the comparatively dowdy customary Cayenne.
Porsche supplied journey and lodging to Web Manufacturers Automotive to deliver you this firsthand report.