Porsche Cayenne S (2024) Review

Porsche put the V8 back in the Cayenne S for 2024 and the car is transformed. The 4.0 litre twin turbo makes 468 horsepower with a hard, layered delivery and a genuinely good noise, and it turns a large family SUV into something that will embarrass sports cars on a back road. What makes it remarkable is not the speed but the control, because the air suspension, the steering weighting and the brake pedal feel are calibrated better than anything else this size, and the car shrinks around you in a way rivals cannot manage.

The cabin is superbly built and the driving position is perfect. Now the costs, and they are severe. Fuel economy in the mid teens, tyres and brakes that cost multiples of the class norm, an options list where a set of seat heaters is a line item, dealer labour among the most expensive in the market, and air suspension and cooling repairs that run into thousands out of warranty. Depreciation is steep. Everything about owning one is expensive. It is still the best driving SUV here.