New Porsche Cayenne facelift revealed

Porsche has officially revealed the facelifted version of the Cayenne. The SUV, now featuring a sharper design, improved efficiency and an extensive set of standard options, has been updated due to the ever rising competition in the full-size luxury SUV segment.   

Design wise, the facelifted Cayenne gets a new look upfront with the help of a bigger grille, redesigned front fenders and the revised bumper with the airblades designed to channel air to the intercoolers for cooling. Porsche is offering bi-xenon headlights as standard on the diesel, S and S E-hybrid models. The top-spec Cayenne turbo gets high performance LEDs with the Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDSL). 

The rear -end is equally updated with the redesigned tailgate, tail lights and a newly designed tailpipes which are now integrated in the lower rear fascia. Inside, Porsche has added a new multifunction steering wheel with paddle shifters as standard. Its layout and functions are based on the steering wheel of the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar. The rear seat design has also been updated for improved comfort and seat ventilation can now be ordered as an option for the rear seats. 

Mechanically, the new Cayenne range is said to be more powerful and yet, more efficient than the equivalent outgoing models. All new models feature an improved ‘auto stop-start function plus’ and optimised thermal management. Starting with the Cayenne S E-hybrid, the model now has a lithium-ion battery and a more powerful electric motor than before. The motor, in fact, now produces 95bhp resulting in an all-electric top speed of 125 kmph. Combined with the 333bhp, 3-litre supercharged V6 engine, the S E-hybrid model has a total power output of 416bhp. 

The Cayenne Diesel gets a 3-litre, turbocharged V6 engine that produces 240bhp. It helps the vehicle accelerate from zero to 100kmph in 7.2 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 218kmph. The new 3.6-litre twin-turbo V6 engine in the Cayenne S develops 420bhp, 20bhp more than the outgoing model. Finally, there’s the high-performance Cayenne Turbo which gets a 520bhp, 4.8-litre V8 engine which allows the SUV to accelerate from zero to 100kmph in just 4.2 seconds and achieve a top speed of nearly 280kmph. 

The facelifted Cayenne will hit the showrooms in US first, followed by other markets. The car will be offered in four variants in the US: Cayenne Diesel, Cayenne S, Cayenne Turbo, and the new Cayenne S E-hybrid. First introduced in 2002, the Cayenne has proved to be quite a successful model for Porsche in many markets including India.