Powerfully stylish

Porsche has added to the Cayenne range with a particularly sporting and dynamic model: the Cayenne GTS.
It is tight and it's whoosh! How could Porsche have improved on something already so close to perfection?

Well, chassis and suspension were developed specifically for this model variant: this is the first Cayenne to combine steel springs with PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), a suspension concept so far reserved exclusively to Porsche sports cars.

What this means is tighter handling: more stable, leaner, meaner and a totally exciting twist on an already formidable platform.

Plus, why not add a little power while you're at it, Porsche?
Affirmative. The even more powerful eight-cylinder normal-aspiration engine with DFI (Direct Fuel Injection) is one of the main factors contributing to the impressive driving dynamics of the Cayenne GTS. But the magic facelift does not stop there.

The available power of the V8 engine is transmitted to the wheels by a six-speed manual gearbox also featured as standard on the Cayenne S.

And PTM (Porsche Traction Management) with permanent all-wheel drive ensures optimum distribution of drive power on all four wheels. When changing lanes at high speeds or when driving on a slippery surface, for example, PTM ensures a very high standard of active safety at all times.
But let's get back to the heart of the matter – the engine.

The superior V8 normal-aspiration power unit, based on the tried and tested engine already featured in the Cayenne S, ensures spontaneous power and performance at all times.
The extra power of the engine comes to bear above all at higher engine speeds, with maximum output of 405 bhp (298 kW) at 6,500 rpm, an increase over the Cayenne S by 20 bhp. Maximum torque of 500 Nm in turn, comes at 3,500 rpm.

This increase in power and torque is the result of detailed refinement on the high-performance power unit, Porsche's engineers focusing above all on the intake manifold and ensuring an even smoother, unrestricted supply of air: benefiting from the even larger cross-section of the Y-shaped air manifold, even more air is now able to reach the throttle butterfly in a smooth process, the throttle butterfly itself being enlarged in diameter from 76 to 82 millimetres (3.0 – 3.2 inches).

The Sports Button featured as standard in the new Cayenne GTS offers the driver the choice of a basic setting for optimised fuel economy and particularly sports-oriented driving qualities in the Sports Mode. This special sports setting adjusts the accelerator pedal control map and modifies the response of the engine accordingly.

A further point is that when pressing the Sports Button the driver also switches over the sports exhaust system likewise standard on the Cayenne GTS to even lower counter-pressure and activates the Sports Mode on Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM).

The Cayenne GTS comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox – that's the same transmission already featured on the Cayenne S. However, the final drive ratio on this new sports model has been shortened from 3.55:1 to 4.1:1.

Together with the more powerful engine, the GTS thus offers even better acceleration and greater agility, ensuring a standard of performance quite exceptional in its class: acceleration to 100 km/h comes in just 6.1 seconds, with the ultra-sporting and dynamic Cayenne GTS completing the interim sprint from 80 to 120 km/h in just 6.6 seconds. Top speed, finally, is 253 km/h.

But it is the feel of the handling that really surprises. For the first time the Cayenne now comes with a combination of steel springs on the suspension with PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), a high-tech adaptive damper system.

Compared with the Cayenne S, the steel springs on the Cayenne GTS are firmer and tauter, and the entire vehicle is lowered by 24 mm or 0.95 inches. At the same time camber on the front and rear wheels is somewhat more negative than on the "regular" Cayenne S, allowing the GTS to achieve even higher lateral acceleration.

To match the steel springs, Porsche's engineers have developed a special variant of PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), introducing a special control strategy for an even more sporting style of motoring. And like the PASM suspension on the other versions within the Cayenne range, PASM may be combined with air suspension also on the Cayenne GTS.

The superior standard of driving dynamics provided by the new Cayenne GTS from the start can be further enhanced by air suspension with PASM in conjunction with the optional extra, PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control), an anti-roll stability system.

This continuous, ongoing stability system limits side sway of the car in bends, providing almost complete compensation of body roll under nearly all driving conditions.
Responding very quickly to specific requirements, PDCC is indeed able, through its active anti-roll bars, to build up appropriate support forces even before the body is able to start swaying in a bend.

But it gets even better. By now you know I am a total fan of this car, and Porsche engineering in general – these people push the envelope in such intelligent, creative ways that they continually astonish!

An interesting option is to combine air suspension available as an optional extra with PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control). Incorporating two active anti-roll bars, PDCC almost completely sets off body sway in bends, improving both handling and comfort all in one.

A further option is Porsche's six-speed Tiptronic S with appropriately modified sporting gearshift points.In case the tech under the surface does not say enough about the GTS variant, the sporting Cayenne GTS is clearly recognisable at first sight. For while the front and rear end are the same as on the Cayenne Turbo, the wheel arches flared by approximately 14 mm on each side give the Cayenne GTS the most muscular look of all models in the series.

A further point is that ride height on the GTS is 24 mm or 0.95 inches lower than on the Cayenne S due to the more sporting and even more dynamic suspension.

Additionally, the new Cayenne TS comes as standard on 21-inch Cayenne sports tyres measuring 295/35 in size.
If you don't believe that an SUV can perform like a real sports car, then you must treat yourself to a test drive in the formidable Cayenne GTS.

Paolo Rossetti is a freelance writer based in Al Ain