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Porsche has added some spice to its Cayenne line-up – no pun intended – in the form of two GTS derivatives. The Gran Turismo Sport moniker, which first appeared on the 1963 904 Carerra GTS, slots in between the Cayenne S and Turbo in Porsche’s mid-size SUV line-up. With the price difference between the Cayenne S and Turbo being R870 000 in both normal and Coupe guise, the GTS fills this gap as a very attractive offering.
The biggest drawcard of the sporty GTS is the return of the V8 engine. After featuring a 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 powerplant in its first two generations, Stuttgart went the 3.6-litre V6 turbo route in the Cayenne GTS’ third generation in 2014.
The latest reincarnation features a 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo engine producing 338 kW of power and 620 Nm of torque which is sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed Tiptronic S transmission. The powerplant features a wide plateau of torque (1 800 to 4 500 rpm), a central turbo layout, cylinder deactivation, central injector position, shortened exhaust gas paths and emotional acoustics of which the latter turned out to be our favourite part of this car.
Porsche claims that the Cayenne GTS fitted with Sports Chrono package will reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 4.5 sec – 0.6 sec faster than its predecessor – and reach a top speed of 270 km/h which is eight km/h faster than the previous generation. As the numbers suggest, the car accelerates effortlessly which is accompanied by the intoxicating grunt of the soundtrack.
Speaking of exhaust notes, the Cayenne GTS features a specially configured sports exhaust system of which the tailpipes are situated towards the outside corners of the rear. And it gets even better in the Coupe. In combination with the optional Lightweight Sports Package, a newly-developed high frequency-tuned sports exhaust system which features two centrally positioned tailpipes is offered.
GTS models ride 20mm lower and are instantly recognisable through the standard Sport Design package which features striking accents in black. The new Cayenne GTS models ride on satin-gloss black 21-inch RS Spyder Design wheels with 285/40 rubberware in the front and 315/35 at the rear, while the LED headlights and the LED taillight bar are dark-tinted. The front air intakes, side window trims, the sports exhaust tailpipes and the Porsche and model logos on the rear are all in black.
The interior features high-quality materials with GTS logos displayed on doors, door entry sills, rev counter and head restraints. The optional exhaust system is one of many differences between the Coupe and its more traditionally styled SUV sibling. In fact, offered as the more dynamic option, the Coupe is anything but just another derivative with a slanting roof at the rear.
Exterior styling differences that differentiate the Coupe include a flatter windscreen and A-pillar, a roofline that slopes to a flow-through roof spoiler at the back plus an adaptively extending roof spoiler with spoiler lip. The Coupe also features as standard the Sports Chrono package, Power Steering Plus and a 2.16 m2 fixed glass panoramic roof. The second row of the Coupe features single-seat design which is 30 mm lower than in the Cayenne to ensure adequate headroom despite the sloping roofline.
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