Watch: 2023 Porsche Cayenne teased getting down and dirty

Porsche has locked in a second quarter reveal for its heavily updated Porsche Cayenne line-up that will feature refined engines and a ‘semi-active’ chassis designed to broaden its breadth of capabilities on, and off, the road.

Engineers describe the third-generation Cayenne’s makeover as one of the most extensive product upgrades in Porsche’s history with more than 4 million kilometres of testing across four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise given we’ve already seen disguised Cayenne prototypes hitting the Nurburgring and Europe’s frozen north, but now Porsche has released a series of official images and even a sizzle reel showcasing the extremes of its flagship SUV’s rigorous testing regime.

There are the obligatory winter testing shots and icy drifts, but some readers might be surprised to see just how far the Cayenne is pushed off-road in the video and teaser pics with wheel lifts, deep mud, going over ground so rough that body parts touch, and even dune driving.

“A proper SUV must be able to handle difficult terrain, even if customers probably wouldn’t do this to their car in real life,” Cayenne model line director of complete vehicle Ralf Keller said.

“But they know they could. That’s a promise we honour.”

The updated Cayenne’s semi-active chassis will use dual-chamber air suspension with compression and rebound damper control and will be matched to “realigned” powertrains comprising V6, V8 and plug-in hybrid configurations.

There’s still not a whole lot to see or report regarding the Porsche Cayenne’s updated styling due to the unassuming black paint and camo wraps, but as we’ve already seen from previous spy imagery, the new model will have an entirely redesigned rear end along with squarer bumpers, and intakes similar to the current GTS and GT Turbo variants.

Executives are also promising a thoroughly overhauled cabin, more technology, next-generation HD-Matrix LED headlights and capabilities on any surface, most of which was alluded to by anonymous insiders earlier in the car’s development.

“We’re subjecting the new Cayenne to a complete and comprehensive testing program, just as if it we’d developed it from scratch,” test manager Ralf Bosch said.

Odds are the new Cayenne will make its global debut in April, and confirmed for the Australian market shortly afterwards, if not simultaneously.

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