Porsche has released details of its new GTS-badged Cayenne, and while the dark-tinged recipe is familiar, there's plenty to talk about, including the return of a V8 engine to the badge and the first time the Cayenne Coupe has been offered as a GTS.
SUV or Cayenne Coupe
A year into the life of the new Porsche Cayenne Coupe, its fans will now, for the first time on this body style, have the option to go for the GTS specification. Both it and the regular Cayenne GTS get the expected Porsche Sport Design exterior design package with lots of black detailing. You'll find it on the model lettering, side window trim, front bumper and exhaust outlets. Meanwhile, the LED headlights and rear lightbar have been darkened, and the standard alloy wheels are the satin-gloss black 21-inch RS Spyder Design. Behind those are big steel brakes as standard, with red calipers. Naturally, Porsche Surface Coated Brake (PSCB) and Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake (PCCB) are optionally available.
Flick through the image gallery and you might spot that there's a difference between the exhaust systems fitted to the two body styles. The standard sports exhaust is the quad-pipe arrangement you can see on the red Cayenne GTS, while that fitted to the Coupe is a new optional system featuring two centrally-mounted oval outlets. It will be available for the Cayenne GTS Coupe and Cayenne Turbo Coupe only, as part of the Lightweight Sports Package.
Special GTS interior
Inside, the Cayenne GTS models get model-specific sports seats with extra side bolstering, eight-way adjustment and GTS logos on the headrests. More GTS branding can be found on the outside of the front doors, the door entry sills and the centrally-positioned rev counter. Elsewhere, dark-brushed aluminium trim and Alcantara set the cabins of the GTS versions apart from the rest of the line-up. The suede-like material is found as standard on the doors, centre console, seat centre panels and headlining, though of course you can optionally add more of the stuff. It's also worth considering upgrading to the GTS interior package, which adds extra detailing in either Carmine Red or Crayon (light grey), such as for the stitching and seatbelts.
Behind the black lipstick
As ever with a GTS model, Porsche has given the Cayenne a suitable technical upgrade to go with its broody aesthetic overhaul. The big news is returning to V8 power (the previous Cayenne GTS used a V6). The Cayenne GTS uses a development of the Cayenne Turbo's twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre unit. In GTS tune it produces 460hp and 620Nm of torque (that's 20hp and 20Nm more than its V6 predecessor), enabling a 0-100km/h time - regardless of body style - of just 4.5 seconds when the Sport Chrono package is present. The eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission sends power to all four wheels, with Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (an electronically controlled differential, essentially) fitted to the rear axle as standard.
By default, the Cayenne GTS cars sit 20mm lower than other versions on steel springs. Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM - i.e. adaptive damping) is included in the price and it's promised to be a sporty set-up. Air suspension, rear-axle steering and active roll stabilisation are all optional.
GTS for everyone
Porsche has now opened the order books for the Cayenne GTS, with first deliveries late in the summer. It joins the relatively new Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 and Macan GTS in the existing line-up, and it can't be long before we see a 992-generation Porsche 911 GTS.