What does over 1140bhp and 1106lb ft feel like in an electric SUV from one of the world’s most prestigious performance brands?
Well, if you just get in and drive it about in Comfort or Normal mode, it feels incredibly civilised. Almost zen-like, actually. There’s tyre noise from the enormous 22-inch Michelin tyres but almost no motor whine, wind noise is subdued and you breeze along, trying not to be tempted by the ‘push to pass’ button.
Activate launch control, mash the brake pedal and accelerator and the launch control mode activates in a delightfully understated Porsche manner. Given the madness you’re about to unleash, it feels there should be sirens and flashing lights and big warning triangles, but the Cayenne just shrugs and gives a deliciously nonchalant mode warning on the driver’s display before, well, accelerating really fast.
I remember when I first drove the Nissan GT-R and did a full launch, it felt like the world detonated. Big noise, big vibrations, big drama. Huge, memorable, laugh-out-loud moments, even as you prayed that the grinding noises from the gearbox were supposed to be happening.
Oddly enough, the actual power delivery of the Cayenne Turbo reminds me of the GT-R’s. It’s a touch more subdued than the Taycan and feels as if it has been tuned to be a bit more linear to suit the car’s posh family runabout nature, so there’s a bit more nuance to it. But predictably, the Cayenne just feels nauseatingly rapid. Not undramatic, but it’s so easy that it’s almost underwhelming, even as you try to persuade your stomach to unclench itself from your spine.
In more normal modes, the Cayenne’s throttle response is pleasantly responsive yet easy to modulate, and while the Taycan has more feelsome brake response, the Cayenne’s (whether you’ve added optional ceramics or not) are still some of the best brakes of any performance EV.
After all that, the standard Cayenne Electric’s 468bhp and 0-62mph time of 4.8sec sounds almost weedy, but in practice it’s a muscular and serene thing to drive that offers 90% of what the Turbo can do for a lot less. It would be our choice of Cayenne, although there are aspects of what the Turbo offers – beyond just its performance – that will probably still make it a popular choice.
The regenerative braking is controlled via the screen, which is less useful than if it were on steering wheel paddles, and in the fixed level it’s very mild to the point of being almost a bit pointless. It’s intended to mimic normal engine braking but feels a touch lighter than you might expect. That fixed level is increased in Sport Plus mode, which feels more natural in most circumstance, so it would be nice to have that option in the other modes.
There’s also the adaptive mode, which allows the Cayenne to coast freely when there’s no traffic or will smoothly cut in when necessary. You can turn the regen modes off altogether, too, and the brake pedal relies more heavily on regen than ever before, so tou will still be getting efficiency benefits regardless of your preference.
