Consider me a “performance” SUV skeptic. When I hear those two terms in such close proximity my eyes roll and I make no effort to hide my disbelief. That’s because building an SUV that offers true performance—and not just a fast time in a straight line—requires fighting against the laws of physics. Weight and a high center of gravity are the enemies of agility and handling after all.
To produce a true performance SUV requires a defiance of the laws of physics. Not hints, not suggestions. Laws.
It takes a certain amount of hubris to fight the rules that govern the physical world. But that’s exactly what Porsche claims to do with the 2022 Cayenne Turbo GT and its “track inspired character.”
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
The Turbo GT is the seventh variety of the Cayenne coupe to be offered and the thirteenth Cayenne variant overall. It drops the “coupe” portion of its name because it will only be offered in this bodystyle, and Porsche didn’t think it was necessary to add the distinction.
Porsche says that the Turbo GT was developed with “maximum performance” in mind, regarding all components of the SUV. That means the updates to the Turbo GT stretch far beyond the engine compartment. It comes with every available suspension and chassis upgrade that Porsche offers on the Cayenne, bespoke 22-inch Pirelli P Zero Corsa high-performance tires, and extensive efforts at weight shaving—though the 5,000-lb Turbo GT doesn’t fit anyone’s definition of svelte.
I picked up the Turbo GT in the morning at a studio near downtown Los Angeles, with the goal of seeing if these claims are anywhere near to being true. The only instructions at the pickup are to return it sometime in the afternoon. This is music to my ears, because I get to choose the route and I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m going on the same loop I took the new 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 on a few months prior, a mountain road that winds from 600 feet to a mile above sea level and provides a robust challenge for any vehicle.
This isn’t because I think that the Turbo GT has a chance of matching the GT3 step-for-step. As quick as the Turbo GT is (it’s actually faster from 0-60 mph by 0.1 second), it’s in a different league. The GT3’s Nürburgring time (6:55.2) is about 40 seconds faster than the record-setting time (7:38.9) put up by the disguised Cayenne Turbo GT.
Rather, I want to see if the Turbo GT can at least come close to matching the same excitement that the GT3 inspired. A public road won’t push either of these vehicles to its very edge, but if the Turbo GT has enough agility and balance in it to be in the same league, that will count as a win for the 5,000-lb SUV.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
Old-school V-8 power
Many of Porsche’s other high-performance variants have opted to go for hybrid power, but the Turbo GT goes the old school route. It features a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 like the Cayenne Turbo, but through a series of updates it makes significantly more power: 631 hp and 626 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful V-8 that Porsche offers by a wide margin.
All of that power helps the Turbo GT complete the sprint from 0-60 mph in just 3.1 seconds with launch control and for those keeping track, that’s a full half second faster than the Cayenne Turbo Coupe. For some added perspective, the Hellcat engine powered Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat take 3.5 seconds to reach 60 mph, as does the Lamborghini Urus. That puts the Turbo GT very much in its own league.
Porsche engineers indicated that there were a few reasons hybrid power wasn’t used in the Turbo GT, but the biggest one was weight. The Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid Coupe actually makes more horsepower (670 hp combined) but it’s a half-second slower to 60 mph (3.6 seconds), because that system weighs 400 lb more than the Turbo GT’s V-8 powertrain. And Porsche said that the driving dynamics of the Turbo GT were also better with a conventional ICE setup.
Activate the launch control and the Turbo GT teleports down the road, if you can find the mettle to keep the throttle pinned. If you’re not using launch control there is a moment’s hesitation at tip-in, but then the world quickly morphs into a blur around you. The all-wheel-drive system is good enough that it does this without any tire spin; it just jams all of that power right down onto the pavement. In both scenarios the speed feels free of drama, the suspension seems to absorb much of the rock back and the only signal you really get that the scenery is melting is the sound from the titanium sport exhaust, which provides a fitting soundtrack to the violence that’s happening in the engine compartment.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
The Turbo GT’s 8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission rattles off shifts nearly instantaneously and in Sport and Sport+ modes it will hold gears all the way up to redline (as it should). Sport+ also sports one more very neat party trick: When using the paddle shifters, you can preselect the next gear under braking and then as soon as the engine speed drops low enough the transmission immediately shifts. Once I got the hang of it, this made the downhill portion of the drive route a delight.
Matching the Turbo GT’s acceleration is its ability to bring all of that mass to a stop. It comes with standard carbon ceramic brakes and massive 17.3-inch front and 16.1-inch rear rotors. The Turbo GT slows with minimal drama, even braking hard from about 60 mph down to a stop there was no hint of wiggling from the steering wheel and forward pitch felt controlled even as the SUV quickly slowed to halt.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
This isn’t an SUV, someone is lying
In a major upset, the powertrain wasn’t my favorite thing about the Turbo GT—it was the handling, something I never expected to say about a performance SUV. The Turbo GT’s steering feel, balance, and seemingly endless reserves of grip are so good that it makes 631-hp play second fiddle.
As mentioned earlier, Porsche threw every possible chassis and suspension enhancement that it offers on the Cayenne into the Turbo GT and then further refined those systems. That means the air suspension is up to 15% stiffer, the active dampers, power steering, and rear-axle steering have been recalibrated, and the chassis control system and AWD have been redesigned to work together to relieve front axle torque load as much as possible.
That frees up the front wheels to focus more on steering and as a result, turn-in is unlike any other SUV that I’ve tested outside of the Urus. The Turbo GT’s front tires have another 0.45 degrees of negative camber to maximize the contact patch and it helps to make the nose feel light and darty, more like a sports sedan than a utility vehicle. It’s sharper than any steering I’ve ever felt in the Turbo and GTS variants of the Panamera, in another shocking upset.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
There’s a bit of a learning curve to driving the Turbo GT, most of it having to do with my own familiarity with physics. I take the first few corners with some caution, braking early and easing the nose in. This feels pretty good, but the Cayenne seems bored.
I go a little faster and test the turn-in more. It’s still bored.
I roll into a tight uphill hairpain faster than I would normally, knowing that you should not be able to throw a 5,000-lb SUV into a corner like this and come out the other side with the wheels still facing the earth. The Turbo GT finally starts to feel alive as the nose of the car tracks perfectly into and out of the corner. I feel the very first hint of body roll before the computers do their work and vaporize the imbalance. It is then that I figure out the point of all of this: this is an SUV, but you don’t have to drive it like one.
The result of all of those chassis and suspension modifications is a vehicle that defies its very nature and size. It drives like a very agile sport sedan somehow, rather than a high-riding, high-sided utility vehicle. Body roll is a figment of your imagination and the balance with which the Turbo GT performs all of its actions, no matter which axis, inspires massive confidence.
Porsche also says that since the Turbo GT sits lower than the Turbo coupe and has more grip from the tires, the torque can be shifted around more decisively. This lets you get on the accelerator pedal sooner than you’d think is possible and the Turbo GT slingshots out of corners with a scamper and plenty of noise left in its wake.
It’s an absolutely intoxicating vehicle to drive on a canyon road. Every aspect of the Turbo GT coalesces and impresses. It doesn’t deliver the same experience you’ll get in a GT3, that car’s physical dimensions give it an advantage all of the suspension wizardry in the world can’t overcome. But in terms of fun and delivering an experience, the Turbo GT gets closer than I ever thought it could.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
High performance, high cost
The Cayenne Turbo GT starts $182,150 including destination charges, a $47,300 markup over the Cayenne Turbo Coupe. The options list is also fully populated, though it’s mostly cosmetic and interior touches with all of those chassis/suspension upgrades standard.
The most expensive option on my test vehicle was its Arctic Grey paint job ($3,150), an exclusive color to the Turbo GT at launch that will eventually spread throughout the rest of the lineup. The 22-inch wheels finished in that attractive Neodyme bronze are standard, but the matching decal on the side ($560), tachometer ring ($420) and the Sport Chrono clock ($420) are not. Add on a few more technology options like a head-up display ($1,720), a surround-view camera system ($1,200), and four-zone climate control ($990) among others and we reach the as-tested price of $198,670.
Normally, the way that Porsche seems to nickel and dime with options makes me crinkle my nose a bit. But the Turbo GT is so transcendent that I saw the nearly $200,000 price tag and just didn’t really care. It’s kind of worth it.
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
The Turbo GT also introduces Porsche’s sixth generation multimedia system to the Cayenne lineup, notably adding wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, and natural-language voice recognition. I spent much of the drive focused on the Turbo GT’s awe-inspiring performance, but the new multimedia experience is a big step forward as well with shallow menus, full widescreen smartphone mirroring for both Apple and Android technologies, and ultra-fast responsiveness.
Much like I did at the end of my time with the GT3 on the same roads earlier this year, I handed back the keys to the Cayenne Turbo GT with regret. Driving the Turbo GT felt like the first time I watched Zion Williamson dunk a basketball, I thought “there’s no way someone that big should be able to move like that.” It does things on the road that something of this size should not be capable of. As the road wound down the mountain back into the city, it occurred to me that the true mark of a performance SUV is that it doesn’t feel like one. And the Turbo GT does not.
The 2022 Cayenne Turbo GT is available for ordering now and will arrive at dealerships in early 2022.
Porsche provided some coffee, a granola bar, and about six hours behind the wheel of the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT for Motor Authority to bring you this firsthand drive report.
