Ready, Willing, Able

And For Porsche’s Next Act, It’ll Try And Convert A Nonbeliever With The Help Of An... Suv?

- Raunak Ajinkya

What I’m about to say may sound extremely odd, especially considering the line of work I’m in, and the fact that I should have gotten used to it by now, but I stand by it: I still can’t get to bed with the idea that Porsche, today, is known just as much for making the stupendously good 911, Cayman, Boxster and Panamera, as it is for churning out... SUVs. Sends a shiver down my core every time, really.

I won’t waste your time with spiel about how Porsche should stick to its roots, and diversifying is actually diluting its image, and other such truths. Suffice it to say, though, that the Cayenne, the car you see on these pages, still felt odd to me when I saw it in the flesh one sunny morning. The previous iteration of the Cayenne was something I had a go in, too, and it was really rather good. Despite all that, though, it still didn’t sit right with me. Could you blame me for being less than enthusiastic when this new Cayenne Turbo showed up one fine day, then? Thought so.

I dearly wish there was a way to describe this better, but the new Cayenne whacked the stupid off my face for having the kind of doubts I was entertaining. What you should know is that on the surface, there’s very little to tell you that it’s a new Cayenne, one of the exceptions being the slimmer tail-lamps and the LED band that connects them (love this, by the way), and those radical new PDLS Plus Matrix LED headlamps as they’re called. The platform it’s on (VW’s new MLB Evo) is one it shares with a few others in the family, but typical of Porsche, it’s fine tuned it to such a degree that you’d be hard-pressed to find any similarities. And goodness does it have an effect on the road.