What's the news?
While Porsche is reportedly mulling over whether to equip the new Cayenne SUV with a diesel at all, it's certainly going to make a new Cayenne Turbo, and the 500hp version of the new 4x4 has just taken a bow at the Frankfurt motor show.
Porsche says that it combines the agility of a sports car with the comfort of a saloon and the utility of an estate, but they forgot to add the thump of a sledgehammer - the Cayenne Turbo will accelerate to 100km/h in a brutal 3.9 seconds (4.1 seconds if you don't pick the optional Sport Chrono pack). Top speed is just shy of 300km/h.
Thanks to being based on the same platform as Audi's Q7 and the Bentley Bentayga, the Cayenne also inherits the 48-volt electrical system that allows it to use an active anti-roll suspension system, which should keep this tall-bodied SUV as flat as possible in the corners.
Style-wise, the Cayenne gets different, double-decker, lights to the regular models, while it also gets wider arches and Turbo-specific 21-inch wheels.
The twin turbo chargers are mounted in the V of the 4.5-litre V8 petrol engine, which improves throttle response. The engine now produces 30hp more than it used to, and has a whopping 770Nm of torque. All of that goes to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Suspension is by air units, with three air chambers each and six selectable ride heights, for everything from trackdays to off-roading. There's active suspension as well as torque vectoring, and a choice of new brakes. While you can have the optional ceramic carbon brake discs if you like, the standard steel discs now have an extra layer of ultra-hard tungsten-carbide coating, which both increases the wear resistance and makes it ever more like hitting a brick wall when you go for the middle pedal. Braking distances are said to be two metres shorter from 250km/h than the previous Cayenne.
Inside, you get 18-way electric adjustable seats, a high-resolution touch screen, and a 710-watt Bose sound system which should drown out the screams of your passengers when you go for another 0-100km/h run.