Yahoo Autos 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT First Drive | SUV apex predator
LOS ANGELES — We can all agree that “Get In, Sit Down, Shut Up and Hang On” is a tired bumper sticker slogan. It’s laughably inappropriate on every beater it’s invariably attached to, but that phrase wouldn’t be out of place if it were emblazoned on the cover of the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT owner’s manual.
The Turbo GT is, in a word, a beast. It’s the vehicle that recently set a new SUV lap record of 7:38.9 seconds at the Nürburgring before anyone knew what Porsche would name it. Porsche also says the Turbo GT can rocket from a standstill to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, which is a tenth quicker than the Porsche 911 GT3, and only a tenth shy of the 911 GT3 RS. I’m sorry, what?
We admit that closed-course superlatives don’t have much real-world relevance beyond bragging rights, but they’re not kidding. The Cayenne Turbo GT demonstrated a breathtaking abundance of speed, poise, and sheer grip on a recent weekday blast along the length of Angeles Crest Highway. This mountain road is pretty much a Nürburgring loop cut open and laid out ”straight,” but over twice as long, with cliffs to the sides, and with donut skidmarks instead of rude slogans painted on the tarmac. Thing is, the Turbo GT was also a quite-livable daily driver around town on the imperfect roads closer to home.
Before we get too far, the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT will only be available in the Cayenne’s coupe body style when it hits dealers early next year. This, they tell us, is precisely why the word “Coupe” does not appear in the name of the car. If they did have Coupe in the name, they’d get people asking for a Turbo GT in the squareback body style, and there isn’t one.
It would be an understatement to say that the Turbo GT is powered by an improved 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine. At 631 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque, this engine is the most powerful V8 in Porsche’s lineup. They’ve done it by fitting new turbos with larger compressor wheels, by dropping the V8’s compression ratio from 10.1- to 9.7-to-1 and then cranking up the boost from 21 to 23 psi. There are revised intake and intercooler systems that can handle more air, and new injectors that can deliver additional fuel. Belowdecks, they’ve fitted a new crankshaft, rods, pistons and timing chain to bear up to the extra stress.
On paper, the changes amount to a whopping 90 hp and 59 lb-ft over the twin-turbo V8 that powers the Cayenne Turbo. Sure, the Turbo S E-hybrid is rated at a combined 670 horsepower and 663 lb-ft of torque, but that’s when the electrical side can participate with a fully-charged battery. On pure gasoline it’s working with the same 541 hp and 567 lb-ft V8 engine as the normal Cayenne Turbo. What’s more, the Turbo S E-Hybrid Coupe is a full 673 pounds heavier than the Turbo GT, and that extra bulk limits its best effort 0-to-60 mph acceleration to 3.6 seconds, not to mention its overall dynamics.
The end result is a significant punch you can really feel when you lay into the throttle, but it’s also very tractable, precise and ultimately responsive when you feather it through corners because of the effort put into keeping the turbos spooled up. Not in a hurry? Fine. It exhibits zero high-strung drivability traits in Normal mode. If you do happen to be dawdling and anticipate a sudden need for a burst of speed while on the move, the GT’s Sports Chrono dial has a red Sports Response button that functions like push-to-pass. Pressing it sets the transmission in the most favorable low gear for your current speed and optimizes all other systems. You have 20 seconds to act, after which it resumes your previous setting.
Big power and torque gains don’t mean much if you can’t put it to the ground or carve through corners, and here Porsche has given as much thought to the Turbo GT’s tires and suspension. The Turbo GT also rides on specially-developed 22-inch Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires, which carry a treadwear rating of just 80. The GT’s tires share the 285-mm front and 315-mm rear tread width of the 21-inch Cayenne Turbo setup, but here the profiles are 5 points lower (285/35 and 315/30) owing to the larger wheels. And the wheels themselves are wider — 10.5 inches instead of 9.5 up front and 11.5 inches instead of 11 out back. Front negative camber has been increased by 0.45 degrees to make use of the extra stick.
