The Spiciest Pepper

Porsche's 2024 Cayenne Turbo GT could have been called the Carolina Reaper.

- MARK TAKAHASHI

2024 PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO GT 

We're all getting by with less these days, even Porsche Cayenne customers. For 2024, Porsche is reducing its nine Cayenne trim levels to four. At the top is the Cayenne Turbo GT, a 650-hp beast that puts the sport in sport-utility vehicle. It's exclusive to the U.S. market and comes only in the Coupe body style. Compared with the previous Turbo GT, the 2024 model gains 19 horsepower. Porsche claims it will reach 60 mph in 3.1 seconds on its way to a 189-mph top speed-a conservative estimate, considering we got the previous model to 60 in 2.8 seconds.

Stomp on the accelerator in Sport Plus mode, and the Cayenne Turbo GT snarls ferociously through its titanium exhaust, with pops and crackles on throttle overrun. Clearly, this isn't a typical errand runner. There's a slight hiccup as numerous systems sort out traction and the next gear change (which spotlights how spoiled we've become with the immediacy and linearity of EVs).