Black-top Cayenne expands range

Porsche has released the final details of its "most sporting" and road-focussed Cayenne yet. The new Cayenne GTS will retail Down Under for $153,500; almost $20K more than the Cayenne S which currently makes up around 50 per cent of sales. It will arrive in Australia after March next year.

Porsche anticipates sales for the GTS will come from buyers of other models in its line-up, but says it is not worried the new offering will 'cannibalise' earnings from the Cayenne S nor disgruntle owners of the top-flight Turbo model which sells for $200K-plus.

Porsche says ideally the GTS will attract buyers from manufacturers offering performance-oriented wagons including the likes of BMW and Audi.

The GTS is equipped with the naturally-aspirated direct-injection 4.8-litre petrol V8 used by the Cayenne S but endowed, in this case, with a further 15kW for a total of 298kW. Torque is 500Nm.

The increase comes in part due to an enlarged throttle butterfly diameter (from 76 to 82mm) enabling more efficient supply of air for the intake manifold. The dry-sump engine now makes max power at 6500rpm.

The extra power comes at slightly higher fuel consumption than Cayenne S's, claimed as 13.9lt/100km compared to 13.7lt/100km and higher CO2 emissions (332gm/km).

The Cayenne GTS stands out from its slower siblings, wearing the Turbo's bolder front-end styling, side-sills from Porsche's Sports Design-Package and featuring 14mm-wider wheelarches over new multi-spoke 21-inch alloys with low-profile road rubber. (Even the Turbo only gets 19s standard!)

The GTS comes with Porsche's active suspension system (PASM) for damper control as standard. Australian-delivery models will come with air suspension while overseas versions are offered with steel springs.

There's less pretence of offroad ability (hence the 21-inch wheels) and ride height for the GTS is lower than the S. With air suspension, ground clearance in normal mode is 195mm (compared to 215mm).

Consequently the GTS's wading depth (535mm) is reduced as are approach and departure angles: 29.7/23.3 compared to 31.8/25.4 for the Cayenne S. The system still offers two offroad levels raising the GTS 56mm for a maximum 251mm ground clearance.

Porsche's chassis control system incorporating active anti-roll bars with hydraulic swivel motors front and rear will be offered as an option. In standard trim, the GTS has slightly more camber front and rear than the Cayenne S and the front anti-roll bar is stiffer; the rear's softer aiming for what Porsche calls a more sporting behaviour.

The GTS uses 350mm ventilated brake discs with six-piston monobloc aluminium fixed calipers at the front and four-piston monobloc aluminium fixed-caliper brakes with 380mm discs for the rear.

The GTS offers a 'Sport' mode which interfaces with suspension, engine/transmission and the exhaust system. When activated the mode reduces ride height by 9mm, enables more revs before upshifts and, in European market versions at least, activates a bypass valve in the sports exhaust system to allow a throatier note.

The Cayenne GTS comes with Porsche's six-speed Tiptronic S transmission as standard in Australia but will also be offered with a six-speed manual. The final drive ratio has been shortened for the GTS, from 3.55:1 (as used by the V6, S and Turbo models) to 4.1:1. The shorter transmission ratio is applicable for both manual and tiptronic versions.

Porsche claims the GTS with tiptronic will dispatch the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.5sec and takes 7.8sec to make 120km/h -- a full second faster than the S model.

The Cayenne uses an electronically controlled multi-plate centre differential to tune the front/rear torque split as determined by traction conditions. In normal conditions the split is a rear-biased 38:62. The all-wheel-drive system interacts with Porsche's Stability Management (PSM) which is also standard equipment.

Marks of distinction for the GTS include a neat vented rear spoiler as a no-cost option, exclusive badging and exterior colour options (GTS Red, pictured, and Nordic Gold) and sports seats front and rear. The rear seat in the GTS is bolstered for two passengers (as opposed to the conventional bench of the Cayenne S). It will accommodate (and has belts for) three occupants but with some compromise to the middle position.

GTS comes with Alcantara leather and aluminium interior trim, and thick, leather-trimmed steering wheel. The front seats are electrically adjustable to 12 settings.

Porsche Cars Australia anticipates the GTS will help grow overall Cayenne sales by 10 per cent.

Cayenne sales reached 562 units in the first full year of availability in Australia in 2004 and this year is on target to top 500 units once again. The model accounts for one-third of Porsche sales worldwide and is a decided cash cow for the sportscar marque, making a "significant contribution to corporate profits".

The Cayenne is also a "door-opener" for Porsche to burgeoning SUV markets such as China and Russia. Significantly, the model has helped a turnaround in these places where the brand was, according to Porsche's official statement, "hardly or not at all represented just a few years ago".

Last week's Portugal launch of the GTS included further details of the 'production' version of the Cayenne Hybrid, which Porsche says is recording consumption of less than 9.0lt/100km in testing. Porsche representatives also confirmed the long-awaited four-door gran tourismo Panamera was on schedule for 2009 release.

A spokesperson for the company's sales and marketing interests also suggested another Cayenne model could make the line-up. "We can't exclude the possibility of other variants," said Porsche factory reps at the launch.

"We are happy with the four available but we will also wait and see."

Visit the Carsales Network again for our upcoming review and more details for the Cayenne GTS.