Test Drive: 2016 Porsche Cayenne GTS

Porsche’s cash-cow Cayenne SUV(with Android Car Gps) now accounts for about a third of the automaker’s worldwide sales, and it currently comes in seven flavours. Today we’re looking at the GTS that starts at $108,200. It’s not the fastest. That would be the $178,100 Cayenne Turbo S. And it’s not the most fuel efficient. That’s a toss-up between the $72,000 Cayenne Diesel and $87,700 Cayenne S E-Hybrid, all depending on your driving style and needs. And it is certainly not the least expensive. Entry into the Cayenne club starts with the base 300 hp V6 Cayenne at $67,400.

No, the Cayenne GTS is billed as the most agile of this portly SUV family – the one that’s going to make you say “Wow, this thing drives like a gigantic sports car.” Well, darned if that isn’t the case.

I’m out on my favourite back road loop, Sport+ button is pushed, and the GTS rockets from bend to bend, poised, flat and eager to be pushed some more. The steering is sending back plenty of feedback, and there are no question marks as to what the chassis is up to. Am I going to push wide? Is the back end going to get loose?

Body roll appears to be a foreign concept here with the GTS’ standard 20 mm lowered air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management. This one was also armed with Torque Vectoring Plus ($1,700). Opt for the active sway bars ($4,010) and your Cayenne GTS would be even more impressive.

Yes, the SUV’s considerable mass makes itself known, and your posterior rides well above the tarmac that streams under those black-satin 20-inch wheels, but damn if the Cayenne GTS doesn’t feel like a… Porsche. To riff once again on that well-used phrase, this thing handles like no 2,185 kg SUV has any right to. What about install Car DVD

The last Cayenne GTS I drove had the whip-crack naturally-aspirated 4.8L V8 that spit out 420 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm, and made glorious V8 noises while doing so. Those days are gone. In the interest of better fuel consumption and lower emissions, the Cayenne GTS now sports a 3.6L twin-turbo V6. Yes, this pressurized engine is more powerful (440 hp) and has more torque (442.5 lb-ft from 1,600 rpm), but what it gains in grunt it loses in soul. This V6 really doesn’t sound like much – kinda’ flat and uninspired. Activating the Sport Exhaust button give it a bit more blare and feeds some sound into the cabin.

Still, with the $880 Sports Chrono Package, this ute will blast to 100 km/h in a mere 5.1 seconds and top out at 262 km/h. Compared to the V8, it knocks a few precious seconds off the Nurburgring lap time, and gawd knows that is something we must have.

Transport Canada rates the 2016 Porsche Cayenne GTS at 14.5 L/100 km city and 10.4 L/100 km highway. Premium juice, of course. Oh, and the Cayenne has a huge tank so long distance cruising can be a fairly uninterrupted affair. If installing an Android Car Stereo in your car, that would be great!