When we first tested the latest-generation Cayenne GTS SUV, we weren’t exactly sold on Porsche’s handling-orientated SUV. And the words “handling-orientated SUV” were a big part of the reason for our hesitancy, because there’s a compelling argument to say they should never be mixed. We’ve no problem with SUVs handling well or going quickly - as the Cayenne does - but an SUV that focuses on driving pleasure feels pretty oxymoronic. Or even just moronic if you want to be really cutting.
Anyway, the GTS SUV failed to win us over, so now the GTS Coupe is going to have a stab at it. With a more svelte shape and a few other minor differences, you might expect it to be the least moronic oxymoron in the Cayenne GTS range, but will it work out that way? And will it convince us of the need for such a thing in Porsche’s line-up?
What does the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe look like?
Without wishing to state the obvious, the GTS Coupe only really differs from the GTS SUV at the rear, where there’s a more rakish window and tailgate arrangement, giving it a kind of fastback-like design.
In that, it’s much the same as any other Cayenne Coupe, but it also gets all the same sporty GTS-related accoutrements as the SUV. Large, dark alloy wheels are joined by black exterior trim and red brake callipers, while the sporty suspension set-up means the car sits 10mm lower than a Cayenne S Coupe. At the back, there’s black GTS lettering on the tailgate, and you get sporty exhaust pipes finished in dark bronze as standard.
However, the Coupe differs from the SUV in two important ways. First up, all GTS Coupes get a fixed, panoramic glass roof as standard, which lets a bit more light into the cabin, while customers can also specify one of three lightweight packages. Each offers reduced sound insulation, a lightweight roof and a carbon rear diffuser, and allows the weight of the vehicle to be slashed by 25kg.
A look inside the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe
For the most part, the Cayenne GTS Coupe’s cabin is no different to that of the SUV, although the glass roof means it’s a bit lighter and brighter - useful when you’ve got black roof lining that could otherwise make it feel a bit dark and dingy.
And the GTS Coupe’s cabin could feel a bit dark, simply because there are so many black features. There’s a black, electrically heated GT sports steering wheel, black Race-Tex microfibre upholstery and black sports seats with beefier side bolsters for more lateral support. You get black metallic interior trim, too, as well as all the black plastic that comes as standard on a Cayenne.
In fairness, the Cayenne’s cabin is well laid out and well made, no matter which version you choose, so we’ve no issue with the materials on offer or the way in which they’re stuck together. It feels every inch the premium product.
Buyers may, however, take issue with the reduction in practicality that comes from choosing a Cayenne GTS Coupe over the GTS SUV. Boot space is the most obvious casualty, with the Coupe offering 554 litres of luggage space, compared with the SUV’s 656 litres. And if you try loading something too bulky, you run the risk of smashing that sloping rear window. That said, rear passenger space is remarkably untouched by the transition from SUV to Coupe, and the Cayenne is equally adept at carrying four adults in either configuration. Legroom back there is ample, and so too is headroom.
The Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe’s on-board technology
Aside from the mechanical updates, the Cayenne GTS has inherited much the same on-board technology as every other version of the latest-generation Cayenne. That means there’s a big touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard and a digital instrument cluster. They’re both very sharp and modern, but they aren’t all that configurable and they don’t feel all that special, even though they’re very competent.
Like every other Cayenne, the GTS is also available with a fleet of optional extras with which you can supplement the standard features. The optional head-up display projects vital data onto the windscreen, while the passenger display provides a kind of stripped-out version of the central touchscreen for front-seat passengers to use. That means they can watch videos on their screen while the navigation display is in use on the main display. There’s even a clever unidirectional film in the screen itself so the driver can’t see the display and be distracted by a passenger watching Home Alone 2. Other films are available.
How many child seats can I fit in the Porsche Cayenne Coupe?
It may be a GTS, and it may be a Coupe, but it’s still a Cayenne and it still has one eye on family life, which is why there are two ISOFIX child-seat mounting points in the Cayenne’s rear seats. There’s no mounting point at the front, though, and the lower roofline might make it harder to mount seats in the back of the Coupe than in the SUV, but those differences are minor. There’s plenty of space back there, and you should have no problem carrying kids of all ages.
How fast is the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe?
Despite looking a bit more streamlined than the GTS SUV, the GTS Coupe is no faster in a straight line, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pretty quick. Although it’s 30kg heavier than the SUV (unless you go for optional packages), the GTS Coupe still has the same 500hp 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine and eight-speed automatic gearbox, through which the power is distributed to all four wheels. That means 0-100km/h takes 4.4 seconds (exactly the same time as the SUV) and the top speed is 275km/h (also identical to the SUV).
Those figures make the Cayenne GTS Coupe fractionally faster than the S Coupe, which has a 474hp version of the same V8 engine, and the E-Hybrid Coupe, which uses a V6 petrol engine and an electric motor to produce 470hp. To be honest, though, all three are comparable in terms of straight-line speed, and the GTS isn’t really trying to beat its siblings on that front.
Instead, it retains the S model’s delicious V8 rumble, which the E-Hybrid can’t hope to match, and it provides this glorious sense of effortlessness that ensures the GTS Coupe feels as though it’s never really trying that hard. Combine that with a sense of stability from the all-wheel-drive system, and the GTS Coupe feels completely unflappable, while still being plenty fast enough.
The only time you might regret opting for the powerful V8 engine is when the fuel light comes on, and with an official fuel consumption figure of about 13 litres per 100km, that light will illuminate with worrying regularity. But then, if you’re prepared to spend more than €200,000 on a Porsche, do you care that much about fuel economy?
Driving the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe
For all the GTS’s power and performance, straight-line speed is not really the point. Instead, this car was designed with handling in mind. So Porsche has fitted adaptive air suspension as standard, lowering the ride height by 10mm compared with the Cayenne S in the process, while other suspension and steering components have been lifted or derived from the new Cayenne Turbo GT - the flagship performance model that, unlike its predecessor, is not available in Ireland or the UK.
In truth, all Cayennes drive incredibly well considering their size, but the GTS noses slightly ahead of the E-Hybrid and S models thanks to Porsche’s chassis tweaks, and the extra stability of the Cayenne Coupe accentuates that improvement. If you speak to Porsche’s engineers, they’ll tell you the SUV versions of the Cayenne are slightly stiffer than the Coupe, and therefore slightly better to drive when you’re flat out on a racetrack, but on the road, the Coupe feels more planted. The lower centre of gravity and the fractionally wider rear end make it feel a little more stable in corners and less like an SUV than the regular Cayenne.
Even in the most comfortable setting, the Cayenne GTS Coupe’s steering is linear and precise, while the big body feels controlled. There’s no sense of it lurching around over bumps or when you tip the car into corners, and while there is a small amount of lean in bends, it’s still fractionally better than the already brilliant Cayenne E-Hybrid Coupe.
Up the ante with the driving modes and the GTS Coupe just gets better and better, with Sport Plus mode buttoning the car down almost completely, ensuring there’s truly little body roll in the corners, no matter how hard you push it. It’s very impressive stuff.
But there’s a catch, because while Porsche’s GTS-specific chassis tweaks have made a small improvement to the way the Cayenne drives, they have also damaged the ride quality slightly. One of the remarkable things about the Cayenne S is that it glides along the motorway like a luxury saloon, then still handles brilliantly (albeit fractionally less brilliant than the GTS). But while the GTS is perhaps five per cent better in the corners, it’s about 10 per cent less comfortable on the road.
In fairness to the GTS, the ride is still impressive at speed - particularly given the car’s sporty intentions - but bumps such as cat’s eyes and potholes reveal a slightly firmer edge that you just don’t experience in the Cayenne E-Hybrid or Cayenne S. And when you get to lower speeds, for example around town, the GTS’s ride comfort feels more brittle and jagged than its siblings, with a little more of a thump when you hit an imperfection.
That said, that’s really just a reflection of how good the lesser Cayennes are on the road, rather than an indictment of the GTS. As is so often the Porsche way, all the cars are brilliant, but some are fractionally more brilliant than others. So, if you buy a Cayenne GTS Coupe for the looks and attitude, you’re going to love it. Few big SUVs feel as assured on a country road. You can’t quite hide the Cayenne’s bulk, but it is incredibly well managed. And if you go for the optional all-wheel-steering system, it’s even quite manoeuvrable.
It also has incredibly good brakes, as long as you avoid the optional ceramic composite braking system. We tried those, which are designed to prevent the brakes from ‘fading’ when they get hot, in the GTS SUV and came away distinctly unimpressed, but our GTS Coupe test car was fitted with conventional steel brakes, which were far better. Less abrupt and much more nuanced, they still possess immense stopping power, but they’re easier to modulate and adapt to.
How safe is the Porsche Cayenne Coupe?
Euro NCAP, the European independent safety organisation, has yet to put the updated Cayenne through its paces, but we wouldn’t worry too much about its credentials. The old Cayenne, which has very similar architecture, managed a top five-star rating, with particularly impressive adult occupant protection, so we’d expect the new model to be equally safe. Not least because it comes with a fleet of standard safety systems including lane-keeping assistance and autonomous emergency braking. Porsche has left out a few goodies, such as blind-spot monitoring, which we’d like to see included as standard, but it is available as an option, alongside adaptive cruise control that maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead.
How much is the Cayenne GTS Coupe in Ireland?
The Cayenne GTS Coupe comes in at just over €210,000, which makes it roughly €5,000 more expensive than the GTS SUV we tested in the summer. Admittedly, you’re getting a less practical car for the money, but you’re getting a car that suits the GTS styling upgrades more successfully and doesn’t charge you much more for the privilege. And it gets fractionally more kit, too, thanks to the inclusion of a panoramic glass roof.
However, the GTS Coupe is still around €30,000 more expensive than the S Coupe, which is only 26hp less powerful and fractionally more comfortable, while the E-Hybrid Coupe, which is only 30hp down on the GTS Coupe, is more than €100,000 cheaper. The GTS, therefore, is quite hard to justify.
That said, you do get a fair bit of equipment, including the 21-inch alloys, black exterior trim and red brake callipers, suspension upgrades and the part-leather upholstery, as well as dark metallic trim and Race-Tex microsuede accents. You get the digital instrument cluster, reversing camera and keyless entry as standard, too, as well as climate control and the massive central touchscreen.
The reasons you’d buy a Cayenne GTS Coupe
In many ways, the Cayenne GTS - whether in Coupe or SUV form - is a very good car. It’s great to drive, yet it’s still practical, and it performs well without being too obnoxious to look at, but... Now the Cayenne S has a V8 engine, the noise is not the selling point it once was, and other versions of the Cayenne are more comfortable and little less enjoyable to drive. Yet while neither of the Cayenne GTS models we’ve driven makes much sense in a purely objective way, the Coupe somehow suits the car and its compromises more aptly, and while it may not be the Cayenne for us, we can’t help but admire its myriad talents.
Ask us anything about the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe
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