Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT 2022 Review

The 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is proof – if it’s actually still needed – that hyper-performance SUVs are now a very big and expensive thing.

Priced from $352,700 plus on-road costs, the first Porsche SUV to wear the GT badge lines up, dollar-wise, against such exotica as the Aston Martin DBX, Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus.

It is the most expensive Cayenne, the most performance-focused and it’s only available as a coupe.

Powered by a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo petrol engine, it is loaded down with just about every high-end chassis system Porsche has in its parts bin (we’ll delve more into that later).

Unique exterior features that give the Turbo GT away include its lightweight carbon-fibre roof, 22-inch ‘satin Neodyme’ alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber, larger outboard air intakes, 17mm lower ride height, 18kg lighter stainless-steel and titanium central exhausts and larger adaptive rear spoiler.

By the way, the test car’s Arctic Grey paint job is a $5000 option.

The interior is swathed in Alcantara, leather and carbon. There’s a 12 o’clock marking in racing yellow on the steering wheel and Turbo GT logos stitched in the back rest of the eight-way adjustable single-piece front seats (14-way adjustment is a no-cost option) and rear seats.

Standard Turbo GT equipment includes four-zone climate control, a choice of 10-speaker audio or 14-speaker Bose audio (as a no-cost option), front and rear seat heating, LED interior lighting, stainless-steel pedals and a power tailgate. There’s a 20-inch collapsible spare tyre under the boot floor.

Porsche’s sixth-generation infotainment system makes its Cayenne debut in the Turbo GT. It is accessed by a 10.9-inch landscape touch-screen and adds wired Android Auto connection to wireless Apple CarPlay. Sat-nav is embedded, as is AM, FM and digital radio and voice control.

There are four USB-C charging points, the two up front providing connectivity as well.

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT comes with a short three-year warranty and longer 12-month/15,000km service intervals. Service pricing varies from state to state.

Like many other very expensive vehicles, the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT does not have an ANCAP safety rating. In fact, no Porsche does, which simply reflects the rarefied price and sales air in which it operates.

The Turbo GT has a decent level of safety equipment without being truly impressive.

The advanced driver assist systems include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control, lane change assist including blind spot monitoring, tyre pressure monitoring, reverse and surround cameras, parking assistance and sensors, and a head-up display.

There is no driver attention monitoring and lane keep assist is yet another no-cost option.

There are front, side and knee airbags for front seat passengers and side airbags in the rear. Curtain airbags cover both rows. Pedestrians are protected by an active bonnet.

The headlights are LED and our test car came with an optional matrix set-up with Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (worth $990) that worked brilliantly shielding oncoming road users from our searching high beams.

There are ISOFIX mountings on both rear seats as well as top tether points for child seats.

The 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is the latest model from a highly successful family of SUVs that stretches back through three generations to 2003. The current range launched in 2017 and the slant-backed coupe rolled out for the first time in 2019.

The Cayenne is derived from the same core Volkswagen Group MLBevo modular longitudinal architecture as the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga, as well as the Audi Q7 and Q8, including the hi-po RS Q8.

The fundamental 4.0-litre V8 is shared with the Porsche Cayenne GTS, Turbo and Turbo S E-Hybrid, as well as various Panamera models. Audi models including the RS Q8, RS 6 and RS 7 Sportback also get access to this power unit. It’s also found in the Urus.

In Turbo GT spec, the all-aluminium DOHC 32-valve hot-vee engine pumps out 471kW at 6000rpm and 850Nm at 2300-4500rpm. That makes it the most powerful version of this V8 engine made by Porsche not assisted by hybridisation.

Modifications compared to the donor Cayenne Turbo engine include a toughened crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, timing chain drive and torsion vibration dampers, higher-flow-rate fuel injectors, larger twin-scroll turbocharger compressor wheels, a higher 1.6 bar maximum boost pressure and higher volume air/water intercoolers.

Porsche says this stuff has been introduced to ensure repeatable racetrack performance. That goes in concert with racetrack-style performance numbers. The Turbo GT rips from 0-100km/h in a claimed 3.3sec (and Porsche claims are usually conservative) and achieves a top speed of 300km/h. This makes it the quickest and fastest Cayenne.

Fuel consumption is a claimed 12.6L/100km with the aid of cylinder deactivation and automatic engine idle-stop. You’ll do worse than that by a couple of litres per 100km pressing on, better than that by a couple of litres per 100km cruising.

Drive is channelled to all four wheels via a ZF eight-speed torque-converter auto and an electronically managed multi-plate clutch aided by torque vectoring and an electronic rear diff lock. Manual gear changes can be made via flappy long paddles on the steering wheel and at the shifter on the console.

The auto has a sharper shift in even the most conservative of the three drivetrain modes (Normal, Sport and Sport Plus) and the all-wheel drive system has also been tuned for faster response to avoid wheelspin.

The independent front and rear aluminium multi-link suspension employs height-adjustable three-chamber air suspension that has been made more rigid in all three modes, while the front dampers are also firmer.

The system is aided by Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), which is an active anti-roll system. Electromechanical Power Steering Plus (lighter at low speeds) is complemented by four-wheel steering.

In search of more cornering bite, the front track has been widened and the front wheel camber increased.

The chassis and drivetrain can be tailored to suit your preferences via the touch-screen and a dial hung off the steering wheel. In the centre of this dial there’s a red ‘Sports Response’ button that delivers maximum drivetrain kick for 20 seconds at a time. Bit of fun.

There’s also an off-road mode available but we didn’t go there.

The comprehensive dynamic package is completed by massive 440/410mm (front/rear) ceramic composite discs with 10-piston monobloc callipers up front and four-piston callipers at the rear.

The Cayenne Turbo GT measures up at 4942mm long, 1995mm wide and 1636mm high. It has a 2895mm wheelbase and weighs in at 2220kg, making it the heaviest non-hybrid coupe.

There are big performance tickets on the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and not just because it is a bullet in a straight line. It has also claimed the SUV lap record at the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife at a pretty darned impressive 7:38.925 time.

There were no such record-setting pretensions when we set out to sample the new Cayenne GT. In fact, past experience has prompted a bit of caution.

Sure, vehicles like the Audi RS Q8 and BMW X6 M are tremendously fast and capable, but there is still a sense of top-heavy weight and sophisticated digital assistants helping out.

The Cayenne flings just as much electronic trickery at the issue as any of its rivals. In fact, it specs up oh, so closely with the RS Q8 we tested in 2021.

But the difference in driving is in the detailed tuning. The Cayenne GT simply feels more cohesive and together than the Audi. All the doo-dads meld together with the help of the car’s digital brain to deliver the entirely convincing illusion that you are doing a great job of the driving.

The engine is an obvious star. It’s so wide-ranging, so deep and so liquid in its responses it could be Sydney Harbour. It makes a beautiful noise – all meshing valvetrain and intake rush – complemented by that crackling, vociferous exhaust.

A flat-out blast is a thrill. Never have I so anxiously waited for the next overtaking lane. Press the throttle, millisecond pause, gears down, squat, squirm, GO!

Jeez, it’s good and so are the auto and AWD system channelling all that pulling power to the Pirellis and the road.

But for all its ferocious appeal, the engine takes a back seat to the Turbo GT’s chassis.

The four-wheel steer produces pin-sharp and rocket-fast turn-in responses, the PDCC keeps the car eerily flat at silly speeds, the tyres are clamped on the road and the brakes slow the car at an astonishing rate when required.

It is the defeat of logic. This car should not handle this well. Having said that, a low, light well-driven sports car with a compelling power-to-weight ratio would still see it off anywhere but in a long straight line.

Back in normal world, were we commute and dawdle about, the Cayenne Turbo GT is more at home than you might expect. The engine and gearbox don’t lack for civility and in Normal mode the suspension system is acceptable on Aussie roads.

Dial it up and bump and shudder becomes more obvious. Those huge tyres can’t help but tram-track a bit as well.

The most obvious downside of all that high-performance capability is a heaviness to initial steering effort at highway speeds. It’s just when making very minor corrections and it does get a little wearing on a long run.

The seats, space and storage within the cabin are all very much in line with what an SUV delivers, rather than the compromises found in traditional Porsche GT models such as the Porsche 911 GT3.

About all that’s recognisable is the five-dial instrument panel with that big analogue tacho sitting slap-bang in the centre. There is an enormous amount of information and settings that can be found via both the touch-screen and dials. It will all take a while to learn.

There are only two seats in the rear and, unlike other Cayenne coupes, a three-seat bench is not available as a no-cost option.

Despite the sloping roof, the rear seat delivers adult-friendly headroom as well as knee-room and legroom. But it is a bit enclosed due to the small side windows and single-piece front seats.

The boot has plenty of space, expanding from 549 litres to 1464 litres with the rear seat folded. Access is aided by the ability to collapse the air springs and lower the load height.

The 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT lays convincing claim to being the most complete and compelling hyper-performance SUV drive yet launched.

Looking at the list of constituent parts, there’s no evidence of breakthrough spec or tech, it’s just Porsche has gelled the package together with its usual precision and passion. This car is not only capable, it’s communicative.

It’s still no Porsche 911, but then a 911 isn’t anywhere as functional or liveable as this.

Of course, the Cayenne Turbo GT is also ridiculously expensive and therefore very much the preserve of a very fortunate few who could ever afford to buy it.

If that’s you, then enjoy. It would be hard not to.

How much does the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT cost?
Price: $352,700 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 471kW/850Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 225g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested