Yahoo Autos 2021 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid Interior Review | What $12,190 worth of options gets you
It can be easy to be dismissive of Porsche interiors. Sometimes the standard cabin feels like an afterthought compared to performance. That's fine, I've told myself, just think of Porsche as a sports car maker rather than a luxury brand. You're paying the big bucks for a super-dynamic car or SUV. And, sure, you can get a swank interior in a Porsche, but you're going to have to pay rather dearly for every little bit of it. What do you expect from a company that regularly strips its vehicles of sound deadening and uses nylon door pulls in order to make its cars lighter and more agile?
When this 2021 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid slunk into my driveway, I expected either a fairly spartan interior, or one optioned to high-holy-hell with an equally lofty sticker price. What I got, to my surprise, was something in the middle, with a nice chunk of luxury without sending the price tag to stratospheric heights. The Cayenne E-Hybrid starts at $83,150 with $1,350 in destination fees included. The final sticker price on my tester was $101,650. By Porsche standards, that's actually reasonable.
Some of the added options were functional, like the rear-axle steering ($1,620) and adaptive air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management ($2,170). Others addressed exterior styling, like the Moonlight Blue Metallic paint ($800), 20-inch Cayenne Design wheels ($1,720) and the deletion of Acid Green accents ($0). The rest of the upcharges address the interior either partly or in full.
The Black/Mojave Beige leather interior was $4,180, and replaces the standard black interior with a richer two-tone leather that covers more of the interior surfaces. It's an expensive upgrade, to be sure, but it goes a long way in turning this sporty hybrid ute into a proper luxury vehicle. The ventilated front seats cost another $850. The smartphone compartment with wireless charging is an extra $690. The Premium Package ($6,470) adds more interior goodness, like ambient lighting, a Bose surround sound system, panoramic sunroof, 14-way power front seats with memory and heated front seats. Also included in the Premium Package are more functional features like auto-dimming mirrors, Lane Change Assist (fancy lingo for a blind-spot warning system), comfort access (opens the power liftgate with a kick motion), Power Steering Plus (speed sensitive power steering), and LED headlights with automatic range and cornering adjustment. Porsche added in a complimentary smoking package to make it feel especially European. That wraps up the options list on this particular Cayenne.
So let's take a look around.
The front and rear seats are inviting, and the panoramic sunroof combined with the lighter leather upholstery makes the cabin feel bright and airy.
The rear seat was happy to accommodate my son's high-back booster seat. Furthermore, I was perfectly comfortable in terms of legroom when sitting behind my own seating position. I'm 6-foot even with long legs, for what it's worth. The reinforced seatbacks are great if you've got a kid swinging his legs around behind you.
If you're going to use the lower LATCH anchors to install a car seat, you're going to have to find a place to stash the plastic covers. Don't lose 'em!
