2024 Porsche Cayenne Prototype First Drive: From Many Comes One, and They’re All Good

Sometimes this job entails flying across the world to drive a new car in a picturesque location. Today is not that day. Today, we're once again standing in a nice hotel's parking garage, but this time, there's no pomp and circumstance, not a whiff of formality. Everyone's dressed in shorts and T-shirts. The cars are late-stage prototypes of the 2024 Porsche Cayenne luxury performance SUV, and we've been invited to drive them alongside the engineers as they set out on another round of real-world tuning and adjusting.

It's July 2022, and we're a solid eight months away from the 2024 Cayenne's public debut during the Shanghai auto show in April 2023. The prototypes are mechanically finished—that is, barring any catastrophic weakness yet to be discovered. This exercise is about refinement, tuning the exact behavior of the powertrain, suspension, and vehicle systems. That's why Porsche is allowing us to drive, as these cars are nearly finalized.

Porsche has four of the eventual six 2024 Cayenne powertrains here: the base turbo V-6, the V-6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV), the twin-turbo V-8-powered S model, and the raucous Turbo GT with its even mightier twin-turbo V-8. Still to come are a pair of plug-in hybrid V-8s, a standard model likely to be called Turbo and a range-topper likely to inherit the Turbo S E-Hybrid title.

Over the next several hours roaming the streets, highways, and canyon roads of Southern California, one thing becomes unmistakable about all these new Cayenne SUVs: Porsche's engineers have decided exactly what the Cayenne is supposed to be. Jumping from one powertrain and trim level to another, it's obvious they've settled on a single personality, a common character that binds the whole range together.

It's the driving experience. Whether behind the wheel of the base V-6 or the Turbo GT, each of these Porsche Cayennes drives the same. Yes, the ones with bigger engines are quicker in a straight line and pull harder out of the corners, but the way they feel, the way they drive, is inherently the same. More so than any previous generation of Cayenne, each model here drives like the one next to it, just a bit quicker or slower. You could be driving the V-6 PHEV and you'd have the inescapable feeling that if someone snuck the Turbo GT engine under the hood when you weren't looking, this relative fuel-sipper would drive just as well as an actual Turbo GT.

It's in the movements, in the way these 2024 Porsche Cayennes react when you first turn into a corner and the way the weight transfers and the body rolls. It's all very deliberately and highly controlled, like a dancer—the manner in which the weight settles on the outside wheels and the suspension crouches, takes a set, and eventually releases as you exit the turn. Each Cayenne does it the same way, so much so that the driver of a base model can easily keep up with the driver of a Turbo GT who isn't using enough throttle.

This is impressive considering most of the cars here are on the standard Nexen N Fera Sport SUV tires save the Turbo GT, which gets an updated Pirelli Corsa. It's even more so when you consider there's both a standard steel-sprung suspension and an optional air suspension available on every model, yet they still share the same basic character. Sure, the Cayenne Turbo GT rides stiffer and doesn't roll as much in corners, but the way it moves just feels like a tightened-up version of the lesser performance models. You really have to flog these things to suss out the superior capabilities of the top-dog models.

This is again impressive when you consider some of the higher trims are available (and in this case, equipped) with an optional rear steering system. Porsche engineers succeeded in making the system feel so natural and unobtrusive you'd be hard-pressed to identify its presence without peeking at the build sheet. The cars with it just turn even sharper than the cars without.

This common thread is all a bit more understandable when you learn the electronically controlled dampers are standard on every model. Similarly, regardless of tire manufacturer, they all get taller sidewalls that no doubt contribute to the small improvement in ride quality across the board. Sure, the big guns have the optional Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) active anti-roll bars, but that just shows up in their increased roll resistance in high-speed cornering. Around town, some are just quicker than others, but there's no blinding compromise in driving one with a big engine.

Regardless of engine, upgrades are at hand. The standard V-6 is set to pick up an extra 14 hp for a total of 349 hp, and although the non-turbocharged V-6 in the V-6 PHEV model actually loses power (down to just 300 hp), the additional 41 hp coaxed from the electric motor more than makes up for it, pushing combined output from 455 hp previously to 470 hp. More than that, the V-6 PHEV will pick up another 47 miles or so of total driving range thanks to improvements in the battery and electric motor.

The twin-turbo V-8 in the S model is the one that's had serious work done. It's been reworked from the version that appeared in the old Turbo model, and it's fitted with new injectors. All told, it's now good for 475 hp (up from 434), and just as important, it passes the latest and strictest global emissions regulations.

It's an important distinction because the older twin-turbo V-8 in the Turbo GT does not. Porsche has of course also updated this mechanically unrelated engine with more power (though no one will say how much) courtesy of new pistons and the tuning necessary to take advantage of them. However, the company made no effort to make it comply with tightening emissions laws. As such, the Cayenne Turbo GT will now only be available in the U.S. Conversely, a turbocharged four-cylinder model will only be available in China, where vehicles are taxed based on engine displacement.

Customers will sooner notice the aesthetic updates. The 2024 Porsche Cayenne represents a comprehensive refresh of the existing car, not an all-new model. Cosmetic upgrades are predictably limited to the SUV's front and rear. At the nose, the headlights are redone to better resemble those of the Taycan EV, and the various grilles are modified to make it look less like the car is eating a hockey puck, as the outgoing model does. The taillights are likewise updated to the new Porsche standard with a single nearly unbroken bar of red light reaching horizontally across the vehicle.

The new Cayenne will continue to be offered in both traditional SUV and so-called "SUV coupe" body styles. As before, the sportiest models like the Cayenne Turbo GT will come in the "coupe" body only. In fact, one of the few prototypes we weren't allowed to drive was a V-8 PHEV in the coupe body, complete with Turbo GT tailpipes but missing the Turbo GT's spoiler above the rear glass.

The biggest changes are reserved for the interior. Here, again, the Taycan's influence reigns. If you're a Porschephile, you'll recognize all the major elements of the Taycan's dash rejiggered slightly to fit a luxury SUV space. The all-digital instrument cluster eschews a cowl thanks to a screen bright enough that it doesn't need to be physically shaded from the sun. Opposite, a screen is embedded in the dash ahead of the front passenger with a privacy filter that prevents the driver from seeing it.

In the center is a widescreen infotainment system common to newer Porsches but running the absolute latest user interface software. It's considerably less layered and more user-friendly than what older models use. Running aft between the seats is an updated center console featuring a mix of touch-sensitive buttons and physical toggle switches, the least Taycan-inspired part of the whole thing.

Whatever version of the 2024 Porsche Cayenne customers end up buying, they'll have fewer reasons to choose between them. No longer is there a distinct difference in how the various models feel that might push a driving enthusiast toward a more expensive, higher-performance version. When the new Cayennes arrive in the U.S. this summer, buyers will have to make practical, objective decisions about range and fuel economy and horsepower rather than which model drives better. Somehow, we think they'll manage.