SPY PICS: Porsche Cayenne testing gets serious

The heavily upgraded 2023 Porsche Cayenne has been spied testing again, both en masse in Colorado and in solitude at the Nurburgring, and while there’s little new to report in terms of exterior design changes, our spy photographers have managed to get a peep inside the facelifted SUV’s interior.

From what we can see, the headline changes inside the cabin revolve around a completely redesigned centre console and gear selector, the latter of which seems to have been pinched off the current 911.

This lines up with previous intel leaked back in March by Porsche insiders, who slip that the updated Cayenne portfolio will also feature a similar powertrain line-up to the upcoming Porsche Panamera range.

Given the new Panamera hasn’t actually been revealed yet, we don’t know exactly what that will entail, but the expectation is more power, better efficiency and more electric driving range for the hybrid versions.

Still, Porsche is undeniably doing its homework because both wagon and coupe prototypes have been spotted churning out laps of the Nurburgring, each still wearing some detail-blurring but satisfyingly subtle camouflage around the lower edges of their bumpers.

There are a few extra details to be spotted for those who look really closely, namely the circular quad-exit exhaust system and the black five-spoke alloy wheels – the last time we saw the prototypes they were rolling on busy 911 Turbo-style hoops and two larger dual exhaust outlets.

Different variants? Most likely, but it’s less likely that any of the sightings are of the sporty GTS or flagship Turbo GT… those two will come later.

To take an educated guess, we suspect the cars snapped in the US are E-Hybrid prototypes, judging by the charging port cover clearly visible on the cars’ left flanks (the fuel fillers on petrol Cayennes are on the other side) and the unique alloy wheel design.

Our sources tell us the new Cayenne will debut within the coming months ready for the 2023 model year.

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