I’m stuffed with peanut butter cookies (thanks, Porsche!) and still floating on the high of driving the world’s best luxury vehicles from Maybach and Lucid. Next up is my test drive of the Porsche Cayenne S, a midsize SUV that is downright common in coastal California. How can it possibly excite me after wafting in the classiest Mercedes and being catapulted down the road in the fastest EVs?
Well, this website isn’t called Mike’s Steering Column for nothing. It takes just two blocks in the Cayenne S for me to fall in love with Porsche’s mainstream SUV.
The reason is the steering, of course. The Cayenne S’s thin-rimmed steering wheel hums with conversation from the tires. I can clearly feel the pavement textures and the bump impacts from the cat’s eyes that dot the center lane. Steering feel is my driving fetish, and the Cayenne S has it in spades.
This Porsche Cayenne S is an E-Hybrid, which can go ~22 miles on electricity only. I work my way out of town in E-Hybrid mode, appreciating the calm serenity of the well-insulated SUV driving without internal combustion vibrations. The steering is light—easy to turn—and the Cayenne S rides well on thanks to its air suspension and cushy seats.
The Cayenne S has a modern interior with a curved digital instrument display, a flat navigation screen in landscape orientation centered on the dash, and a glossy black panel with HVAC controls down near my right thigh. It is the latter that I’m looking for, because the Cayenne’s cabin is too hot and I need to pump the AC.
Initially, I am let down by Porsche’s decision to use a piano black touch panel for the climate control functions. But my disappointment quickly abates when I realize that the silver bar that splits the panel is actually composed of toggle buttons that adjust the temperature and fan speed. I click down on the bar several times to set a cooler temperature and then press illuminated points on the touch panel to turn on the seat ventilation.
All of the screens and touch panels help make the Cayenne’s cabin give a clean first impression, though I wonder how the second and third impressions will be after the glossy surfaces are covered in fingerprints and hairline scratches.
By far, my favorite interior feature of this Cayenne S is its dark purple leather. Porsche calls this blackberry, and it is indeed the color of fingertips stained with blackberry juice after a day of fruit picking. I’ve never seen leather in this color before, but I would certainly look for it if I were ever shopping for a Cayenne.
I leave downtown’s commercial district and turn onto a broad boulevard. I put the Cayenne into E-Hybrid mode by twisting the little wheel found at 5 o’clock on the steering wheel. The SUV remains quiet in E-Hybrid mode, and I wonder if the engine is even running.
I twist again into Sport mode and finally hear the V6 come to life. It is making a distant grumble somewhere from deep inside the engine bay. I can tell it’s working, but it is so quiet as to avoid disturbing my conversation with passengers.
By putting the car into Sport mode, I’ve unintentionally lowered the Cayenne S on its air suspension. The suspension has five ride heights, two of which are dedicated to off-roading. The ride heights are linked to the drive modes or can be individually chosen on the touchscreen. Now that I’ve left “normal” height and entered “lower”, the Cayenne S has replaced some of the previously supple bump responses for a more planted stance on the road. The SUV also reacts to my steering inputs with tighter reactions and better body control.
I drive through the Highway 1 underpass, and traffic clears as the road heads off into the forest. This is my chance to put the Cayenne S E-Hybrid’s acceleration to the test!
I put the Cayenne S into Sport Plus, its most aggressive drive mode, and wood the throttle. The V6 finally finds its voice as it thrums hungrily to its 6.5k redline, but it is actually the e-hybrid assistance that is most striking.
The Cayenne S in Sport Plus has that immediate accelerator response that I savored in the BMW X5 xDrive50e. Any prod to the accelerator results in an immediate leap from the SUV, and the electric propulsion covers for the mechanical engine’s lethargy at lower rpm.
When whipped into action in Sport Plus mode, the Cayenne S feels sprightly, gutsy, and eager to run. It’s fast enough to put a smile on my face…and fast enough to make me consider buying a V6 Cayenne.
(This is in contrast to the Base V6 Cayenne I rented a decade ago, which had the chassis of a sports sedan but not a heart to match.)
That said, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid will not keep up with supercars. Prospective buyers who have that goal have faster Cayenne variants to choose from. This Cayenne S E-Hybrid is the little brother of the family, with the more muscular GTS and Turbo above it.
The eager engine responses, tight brake pedal, and non-stop conversation from the chassis have me longing for something my test drive lacks: Where are the twisties to test the Cayenne S’s dance steps? I expect the SUV will be a delight on curving roads, but I can’t prove it today.
I put the truck back into its E-Hybrid mode as I loop back towards downtown Monterey. The suspension and throttle response soften, though the road textures continue with delicious clarity. I am all grins.
This midsize SUV would work well as a family vehicle, as it has a generous back seat and a large trunk, too. And thanks to its top-end upholstery, passengers in the front and rear will be comfortable on long journeys.
At $138k as tested, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid is far from affordable. The BMW X5 xDrive50e offers similar power, space, and luxury, along with a more refined ride, for thousands of dollars less. For my choice of a family hybrid truckster, I would probably save the dollars and take the comfier BMW, even though it would cost me the sublime steering and chassis feedback that I can only find in a Porsche.
I’ve found the Porsche of SUVs, so is there a substitute? If I want a midsize SUV that covers ground like a sports sedan, this is my ride. But if I want a great luxury plug-in hybrid SUV, with EV range to run errands and a coddling interior, the world is my oyster. For those aims, the ultimate daily-driving machine would still be the BMW X5.
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