In Qatar in few days: Porsche Cayenne 2015

By, 2014-11-11

> Porsche recently unveiled a pair of new Cayenne SUVs: the 2015 Porsche Cayenne GTS costing a toppy QR 420,000 and a new entry-level Cayenne dipping under the QR 350,000 threshold.

Both sporty off-roaders will be shown in public for the first time at the Los Angeles Motor Show on 19 November 2014 and go on sale simultaneously.

Porsche Cayenne GTS (2015): in detail

Stuttgart rolls out GTS models across its range nowadays, from 911 to Panamera, Cayman to Boxster. Maybe not the 918 Spyder, though. It’s a familiar recipe, adding extra equipment and sporty engineering details as the Porsche Sports Exhuast and PASM adaptive dampers from higher-echelon models but at a more affordable price.

So there’s a 3.6-litre bi-turbo engine in place of the old GTS’s V8. This is downsizing in action, folks - and that means you’ll lose some woofle in the name of cleaning up its act in public.

Power leaps by 20 horses, though, to 434bhp and there’s a colossal 443lb ft thanks to forced induction: that’s enough to guarantee 0-62mph in 5.2sec, half a second faster than the outgoing V8 Cayenne GTS.

This is the second Cayenne GTS offered in the SUV’s short life - the first arrived in 2007 - and they’ve proved popular to date. Porsche says that 11% of all Cayennes sold are the GTS model, showing that not everybody wants a diesel 4x4 at this rarefied end of the market.

Spot the new 2015 Cayenne GTS by its Turbo-look front end, show-off red brake callipers, more contoured side sills, wheelarch extensions and 20in RS Spyder alloys.

Porsche Cayenne (2015): the entry-level SUV

Bottoming out the revised SUV range is the new Cayenne powered by Porsche’s 3.6-litre petrol V6. Naturally aspirated, it delivers 296bhp and Porsche quotes a more modest 7.7sec 0-62mph sprint (0.2sec faster than before).

This is the less profligate side of petrol Cayenne ownership, although its cleaner 215g/km CO2 and 31mpg still look at odds with the carbon-obsessed zeitgeist; most Cayenne buyers in the UK will surely pick the Diesel, with its wallet-welcoming 43mpg/173g/km.

More generous standard equipment offered on the base Cayenne, says Porsche, includes an eight-speed auto transmission with stop-start, bi-xenon headlamps, LED day-running lights, multi-function steering wheel and a powered tailgate.