Porsche’s hen that lays the golden egg, the commanding Cayenne with a dashboard full of screens, has been revamped. Most versions will now get a green license plate, but there’s a rebel in the range that’s bucking the downsizing and electrification trends: the Model S. As an off-road coupe, we sampled the new model with a buffalo-powered V8 capable of speeds of up to 273 km/h on-road German fast.
Over the past 25 years, devout Porsche fans have taken up arms more than once, and many of them have long since removed the posters from the room’s walls. It all started with water cooling, then SUVs came in different sizes, even diesel, then many hybrids arrived, and nowadays the hottest German company has switched to electric cars, and is among the first companies to adapt to any fleeting or permanent fad. It seems that the speakers are not like those who have money in their pockets and are willing to spend on Porsches, because more than 300,000 cars were sold last year – so there is no doubt about the manufacturing methods.
Interestingly, the brand’s best-selling vehicle is the Cayenne, which accounts for nearly a third of total production volume (even ahead of the cheaper Macan), and large SUVs are not a rare sight on local roads, especially around affluent residences. Although it’s not a completely new model, having been introduced six years ago, meanwhile, as far as our current test drive is concerned, it’s a wrinkle-free overhaul: this year, both the exterior and interior design have been updated, and to a large extent. “Sophisticated style” is what Porsche says about itself, and I can’t really argue with it, a model built on VW’s modular longitudinal engine platform is really unusual.
The success of the X6 has not gone unanswered
Moreover, our test car is the flat-roof coupe version, which the Stuttgart brand introduced four years ago with the current (third) generation Cayenne, and of course, just like traditional SUVs, it has now received everything updates. BMW introduced the five-door heavy-duty off-road sports coupe segment (X6), and after seeing its success, Mercedes-Benz (GLE Coupe) and Audi (Q8) couldn’t stay out of the party either, and even adopted the recipe into smaller segments. Performance-oriented Porsche would have been foolish to stay out of the new fashion wave.
There is no doubt that luxury SUVs with a length of about five meters are very aggressive vehicles, often arousing hatred from small people. An army of Octaves and Ceeds escape recklessly from the inside lane of the highway. In this genre, we were surprised that the hot green-painted Cayenne test car did not look aggressive at all in real life (and, of course, it is not intended for the first time either), and the goal seems to have been not to please personalities with questionable brutal design, but to attract corporate executives and investors with The most refined tastes.
The shape is still reminiscent of the first generation Porsche SUV introduced twenty years ago, but of course the new rear light bar or the front pair of LED matrix headlights are now distinctly modern. Interestingly, this facelift was the first time that the design team had some angles in mind: the front end and the two headlights received more defined edges and lines, while the proportions remained distinctly sporty. At the rear, the spoiler remains, which automatically pops out depending on speed, and a separate diffuser-like feature has been installed between the two (real, of course) exhaust tips in the tried-and-tested S version.
Both the driver and passenger get a separate screen
Porsche cars have always been distinctive – beyond the private driving experience, of course – in the way they combine modern and classic style. The skill of the designers was also essential, as they had to rethink the instrument panel in line with the expectations of the time: the classic unit of five circular instruments (part digital, part analogue) was replaced by a curved display. One thing that has remained old is the classic stopwatch in the center of the counter that comes with the Sport Chrono package.
This is a bold innovation, and although the five-meter display can be extracted from it in digital form, and the quality of the display is also impeccable, it unfortunately shines somewhat in the sun, because no shadow has been placed on it. Good news that The angled center console buttons rest on your hand, and there’s a mix of physical and tactile switches. I was surprised when my son started pressing the piano lacquer element in front of his mother-in-law’s seat, and then I had to realize that this is completely normal: for an additional fee, a screen is placed in front of the passenger, where he can adjust music and navigation to his liking, and even watch videos while driving.
To prevent this from distracting the driver from driving, a special filter has been placed on the screen so that nothing can be seen from the driver’s seat. It is enough to console you that YouTube is also played on the central screen in standing mode. But what about the available space? It’s also excellent for taller passengers in the front, as the four-person-tested design is the perfect solution, so everyone gets a well-shaped seat. Of course, the rear section of the coupe is slightly darker than in the traditional SUV version, and headroom has also been reduced, but the sporty look comes with sacrifices, and it is no different from other brands.
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