The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Fantastic handling
- Stellar twin-turbo V-8
- Digital cockpit
- Dizzying options
- Improved emissions…
Dislikes
- …but still poor fuel economy
- Expensive and more expensive
- Climate panel could use another pass
- Customizing the cluster requires patience
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne bridges the next-gen electric Cayenne with a digital architecture and blistering performance.
What kind of vehicle is the 2024 Porsche Cayenne? What does it compare to?
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne puts performance into a mid-size SUV package. The largest Porsche competes with other luxury crossover SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, BMW X5, and Jaguar F-Pace.
Is the 2024 Porsche Cayenne a good SUV?
Porsche’s bestselling vehicle gets better for 2024. Sold with V-6, V-8, and plug-in hybrid powertrains, the 2024 Porsche Cayenne proffers a bounty of performance and a wealth of advanced features, but it’s inefficient and expensive, muting its TCC Rating to 7.2 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2024 Porsche Cayenne?
The significantly updated Cayenne sports a new look, a modern interior, upgraded powertrains, and the return of the V-8 to Cayenne S models.
The Cayenne’s basic shape remains, yet the refresh embraces both classic 911 cues and futuristic elements of the electric Porsche Taycan. Sold in both muscular SUV and sinewy Coupe body styles, the 2024 Porsche Cayenne sports new headlight and taillight signatures, more prominent fenders that house eight different wheel choices, and more color options to suggest that no two Cayennes will look the same. Customization abounds inside, too, with three digital displays stretched across the dash, replacing analog dials and reorienting the cockpit in a more user-friendly environment.
With suspension upgrades, as well as three powertrains revised to meet emissions standards without foregoing Porsche performance, the 2024 Cayenne has a dual nature that’s never dull. A heavily modified 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 makes 468 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque, which is 34 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the old V-6 in Cayenne S models.
The base Cayenne has an updated 3.0-liter turbo-6 that now makes 348 hp and 368 lb-ft, improvements of 13 hp and 36 lb-ft. We’ll update this review when we test it.
The E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid mates that engine with a new electric motor that boosts output to 463 hp. A larger 25.9-kwh battery pack replaces the former 17.9-kwh unit, which should increase the electric range beyond the 15 miles of its predecessor. EPA ratings have not been finalized.
A Turbo E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid model best balances the Porsche pedigree for performance while still being practical. Pairing the twin-turbo V-8 with the larger battery pack and uprated motor results in the most powerful Cayenne ever, making 729 hp and 700 lb-ft. It should be good for at least 25 miles of tailpipe-emission-free driving, or it can hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
The range-topping Cayenne Turbo GT, sold exclusively in the Coupe body style, hits that mark in 3.1 seconds. It’s not sold in European and most Asian markets due to emissions regulations, and output increases 31 hp to 650 hp. It hits a top speed of 189 mph, which is almost how much it costs when you add three zeros.
Compared to the BMW X5 and the Mercedes-Benz GLE, the Cayenne tends to be smaller inside, with about six cubic feet less cargo space on average. The Coupe trims that even more, but the panoramic glass roof standard on the Coupe allows plenty of headroom for two adults in the rear or up front.
The Cayenne hasn’t been crash-tested and likely won’t be due to its low sales volume and high price. Standard driver-assist features include automatic emergency braking and active lane control, but Porsche charges extra for basics like blind-spot monitors and adaptive cruise control.
How much does the 2024 Porsche Cayenne cost?
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne costs $80,850 to start, including a $1,650 destination fee. Coupe body styles add $5,100. It comes with matrix LED headlights, adaptive dampers, 20-inch wheels, wireless smartphone charging, a 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity.
The Cayenne E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid costs $93,350 (Coupe adds $4,000), while the Cayenne S runs to $97,350 (Coupe variants get a big upcharge of $6,400). Porsche has not announced the return of the Cayenne GTS yet, but the Turbo E-Hybrid costs $151,400. The Cayenne Turbo GT returns with equally breathtaking performance and pricing: It costs $197,950.
Where is the 2024 Porsche Cayenne made?
In a VW Group plant outside Bratislava, Slovakia, where the all-electric Cayenne will be built.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Styling
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne wears the Coupe body style like a sport jacket, the SUV like a bomber jacket.
The curvier ends of the Coupe model best reflect the Porsche DNA, but the chunkier SUV remains more popular, earning just a point here. The revamped interior earns another two points for launching the Cayenne into the digital age while still upholding its analog performance vibe. It’s an 8.
Is the Porsche Cayenne a good-looking SUV?
It will never be an icon like the 911, but the Cayenne stakes its spot in a field teeming with look-alikes. Unlike other luxury SUVs with coupe models, the Cayenne Coupe better fits Porsche proportions, even if it sacrifices some cargo room.
Up front, matrix-LED headlights stitch the sides of the domed hood. More prominent fenders house wheels ranging in size from 20-22 inches, and the horizontal bar of the taillights appears to protrude more. Twin dual exhaust pipes emerge from the center of the Turbo GT, but they’re no longer tipped in chrome due to European environmental restrictions.
The interior reorients the Cayenne and aligns it more with the electric Taycan. The hood protecting the cluster from glare has been flattened. Porsche adopted an anti-glare filter from the Taycan that acts like polarized sunglasses to eliminate reflections in the new Cayenne. Porsche swapped out the analog dials and replaced them with a 12.6-inch digital cluster offering up to seven views; they’re crystal clear and loaded with navigation and performance data, but can’t quite match the user friendliness of an Audi or the breadth and depth of the latest Mercedes interface. A 12.3-inch touchscreen with larger icons seems to broaden the dash, and the front passenger can zone out to an optional 10.9-inch touchscreen blocked from the driver’s view.
That passenger dash space is covered by the same black cover with or without the touchscreen, limiting material options. Grab handles flank the center console, which has a new haptic climate control panel and less clutter than its predecessor. But the panel could use a bit more refinement to match the rest of the interior; push the heated seat button, for example, and the whole panel flexes.
The gear selector moves up to the dash to the right of the steering wheel, and the start button sits left of the wheel. It’s neater, cleaner, and more reliant on digitization, but the analog Sport Chrono clock remains an option.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Performance
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne proves that performance need not be sacrificed for utility.
The 2024 Porsche Cayenne doubles as a luxurious crossover cruiser and an antidote to SUVs that seem allergic to road feel and driving fun. Gobs of power, unlikely handling, and sports car-like steering all coexist in the comfy confines of the Cayenne. All grades but the base Cayenne earn two points each for acceleration and handling to a 9 here.
Is the Porsche Cayenne 4WD?
Yes, all-wheel drive is standard. The Cayenne has a tow rating of 7,716 pounds.
The 2024 Cayenne comes with steel springs and multilink front and rear suspensions with new two-valve adaptive dampers, but Cayenne shoppers likely will consider the available air suspension. The adaptive dampers vary the compression response to better match the inputs, so at lower speeds there’s more connection between driver and vehicle, and at higher speeds it mutes the road for a more refined, luxurious ride.
There’s also more of a difference between Normal, Sport, and Sport+ modes, and the air suspension can lift most Cayennes to 9.6 inches of ground clearance. Porsche says the Cayenne can ford up to 20 inches of water, except for the E-Hybrid, but it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to off-road a Cayenne with its wheel and tire setups.
Also standard across the lineup is an 8-speed automatic transmission that’s Porsche smart. It reacts more telepathically than other vehicles as it shifts earlier in Normal mode but lets you dig deeper into the revs in Sport modes. Under heavy throttle the Cayenne can lift like a rear-wheel-drive car.
Torque distribution between the axles is always changing, and the Cayenne’s poise in and out of turns, especially in the Cayenne S model with the air suspension, makes it feel much lighter than it is. Steering on the heavier side counters that, and the wheel feels great in the hands, even without a flat-bottom design typically used in sports cars.
How fast is the Porsche Cayenne?
It goes from quick to $200,000 in 3.1 seconds.
The base Cayenne has an updated 3.0-liter turbo-6 that now makes 348 hp and 368 lb, improvements of 13 hp and 36 lb-ft. It hustles from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds, unless it’s equipped with the Sport Chrono package that comes standard with the Coupe. It shaves the sprint down to 5.4 seconds.
The sweet spot in the Cayenne lineup comes in the form of the Cayenne S. Porsche ditched the V-6 in favor of a heavily modified 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 making 468 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque, which is 34 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the old V-6 in Cayenne S models. Porsche said it couldn’t improve the V-6 performance and meet emissions regulations, so it turned to the new V-8 that better limits emissions and fuel consumption in high power situations.
Those situations result in a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds or 4.4 seconds with Sport Chrono or the Coupe. The Coupe is where it’s at.
2024 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid
The E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid mates the updated 3.0-liter turbo-6 with a new electric motor that boosts total output to 463 hp and 479 lb-ft. It outspecs the Cayenne S, but the Cayenne S feels quicker, even with the E-Hybrid’s 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds. At 5,348 pounds in SUV form, it weighs 474 pounds more than the Cayenne S and the extra weight can be felt in turns.
Its sophisticated power delivery system remains mostly unnoticeable to the driver, optimizing electric power around town and engine power while cruising, and unifying them both when called upon. Various modes let the driver dictate power delivery, such as Sport mode for optimal performance between both or E-Charge mode that uses the engine to charge the battery while cruising. The 8-speed automatic remains in use for electric or engine power, and it also responds well to inputs: if you’re motoring along in EV mode under 50 mph and hammer the throttle to pass, it’ll downshift the transmission a few gears as the engine kicks on.
The E-Hybrid is a cleaner option for the Cayenne, and adds more practicality around town without sacrificing much performance.
A 25.9-kwh battery pack replaces the former 17.9-kwh unit, which should increase the electric range beyond the 15 miles of its predecessor. It now has an 11-kw onboard charger that lowers the charge time of the larger battery to 2.5 hours.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid
Porsche promises the best of both worlds with the Turbo E-Hybrid: Drive around town for errands without burning a drop of fuel, or hit that favorite canyon or track for blistering performance. Paired with the twin-turbo V-8, it uses the same battery pack as other E-Hybrids, but it defaults to electric power from its more potent 130-kw motor (from 100 kw in the outgoing Cayenne E-Hybrid). It’s more powerful than the Turbo GT, but because it weighs nearly 700 pounds more in Coupe form than the GT and because it rides an inch higher, it doesn’t catch up until the Turbo GT until the quarter mile mark of 11.7 seconds, one-tenth slower than the GT. Outside of the drag strip, it’s the comfier, quieter, cleaner, and better Cayenne as an everyday driver.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
We haven’t tested the top of the Cayenne lineup yet, but the upgrades promise gut-busting performance, even more than its predecessor. Sold only in Coupe form and standard with the adaptive air suspension, rear-axle steering, sport exhaust with titanium pipes, and carbon-ceramic brakes, the Turbo GT now flexes a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 making 650 hp and 626 lb-ft. In Sport+ mode it launches from 0-60 mph in just 3.1 seconds on its way to an 11.6-second quarter mile. It has a ground clearance of 6.8 inches, versus 7.8 inches for the other Cayenne models.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Comfort & Quality
The largest Porsche is not all that large, but it’s plenty roomy for passengers.
The 2024 Cayenne Coupe trades some cargo room for sexiness compared to the Cayenne SUV, but in any form it fits four adults just fine. Porsche loads it with sound deadening material and enough suspension modes to suit most tastes and most roads. The charm lies in its attention to detail in a cabin best equipped with Neodyne, the brand’s copper-like metallic trim with visible screws that contrast the dark leather and black trim pieces. The fit and finish earns it a point, as do comfortable front seats, roomy rear seats, and reasonable cargo volume. It’s a 9.
Supportive front seats covered in a leather blend come with heaters and power adjustments, but we’d be tempted by the optional body-hugging Sport seats with 18-way power adjustments. Massaging seats are also available.
Rear passengers aren’t neglected either. Five can fit in the SUV, and the Coupe’s 2+2 rear console divider can be swapped out for a middle seat at no charge. Either way, four adults fit fine, even in Coupe models with a standard panoramic sunroof.
The choice in body style affects practicality behind the 40/20/40-split rear seats. Vertical space is limited in either model, but the SUV has 27.5 cubic feet of cargo room versus 24.3 cubes in the Coupe. With the seats folded down, it measures to 60.3 cubic feet in the SUV and 53.0 cubes in the Coupe.
The smart placement of the Cayenne E-Hybrid battery pack under the cargo floor only costs it about 1.2 cubes with the seats up or about 5.1 with the seats down. The floor isn’t flat with the seats down, however.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Safety
Porsche charges extra for driver-assist features such as adaptive cruise control.
How safe is the Porsche Cayenne?
Like those that came before it, the 2024 iteration of the Porsche Cayenne hasn’t been crash-tested by the NHTSA nor the IIHS, and it likely won’t, so we won’t assign a score here.
Outward vision is good out the front but gets progressively worse over the shoulder to the rear of the vehicle. That’s compounded by Coupe models and their tiny rear quarter windows that make a porthole between the rear pillars.
Porsche includes automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and parking sensors, but it skimps on other driver-assist features by making them optional, even on the $200,000 Turbo GT. Adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitors, and a surround-view camera system all cost extra. Many of those features come standard on mainstream SUVs.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Features
Better equipped, the 2024 Porsche Cayenne comes in expensive or more expensive grades.
ince the 2024 Cayenne will be sold alongside the fourth-generation electric Porsche Cayenne expected for 2026, it has to be so modern as to be ahead of its time. That’s why Porsche equips it with a layered 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster with up to seven configurable views, and all kinds of performance and vehicle info therein. A 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity and charging also comes standard, as do conveniences such as keyless start, heated power front seats, and two USB-C ports. Options ranging from night vision to raging sound systems fulfill Porsche’s luxury pedigree, but even basics such as a heated steering wheel can cost extra on top models.
Standard and optional features, as well as the infotainment system add up to an 8, with a point just missed for Porsche’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty with one scheduled maintenance trip.
Which Porsche Cayenne should I buy?
The biggest price driver for the 2024 Cayenne is less about features and more about performance. The Cayenne S Coupe with the air suspension strikes the right chord of performance and luxury for about $110,000, and Coupe models come standard with a panoramic sunroof and the Sport Chrono package. Upgrading from 20-inch to 21-inch wheels costs at least $1,400, while richer leather upholstery demands another $4,000 or so. The Cayenne can get expensive quickly, but that’s the tradeoff for getting exactly what you want.
How much is a fully loaded Porsche Cayenne?
The Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe starts at $197,950. The top of the line doesn’t stop there: typical luxe features such as a heated steering wheel, cooled front seats, and adaptive cruise control each cost extra, so expect to pay at least $200,000. For all the goodies, a 2024 Cayenne Turbo GT nears $220,000.
2024 Porsche Cayenne Fuel Economy
Revised powertrains result in less emissions from the 2024 Porsche Cayenne.
Is the Porsche Cayenne good on gas?
The AWD SUV received powertrain updates to curb emissions and meet stricter pollution standards in global markets; those standards are why the Turbo GT won’t be sold in Europe, India, and many Asian countries. In the U.S., the EPA had not finalized testing as of press time.
The changes to the engines might not move the needle from the 2023 Porsche Cayenne, which peaked at 17 mpg city, 22 highway, and 19 combined with the base V-6. That would qualify as a 2 here.
The Cayenne E-Hybrid might be Porsche’s chance for eco-salvation. The larger battery pack and drive system favor electric power, and the range well exceeds the 15 miles of the outgoing model, but we don’t yet know if it’s enough for most daily commutes.
