By Drew Johnson
Wednesday, Aug 11th, 2010 @ 2:00 pm

Having accounted for an astounding 280,000 global sales in its seven short years on the market, the Cayenne is the most important vehicle in Porsche ’s lineup.

Understandably, there is a lot of pressure on the German automaker to get the second-generation of the Porsche of SUVs right. Curious to find out if Porsche had managed to keep the Cayenne’s winning recipe, we decided to check out the 2011 model at the Barber Motorsport Park just outside of Birmingham, Alabama.

Think of the Cayenne as 911 meets desert racer. The Cayenne is a rare concept: Equally at home on the off-road course as it is on the race track. Most owners are content with pavement pounding, of course, but Americans’ lust for SUVs has seen phenomenal growth in a segment that barely existed 10 years ago.

Today, the Cayenne finds itself facing some pretty stiff competition. Buyers now wanting a super SUV can cross-shop the Cayenne with the BMW X5 M, BMW X6 M, Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged, Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG , Infiniti FX50 and the upcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

Although the new Cayenne doesn’t shatter the model quite like the original, we’re still amazed when we come across a lumbering SUV that can handle the twisties like a sports sedan and then tackle the worst Mother Nature has can throw at it. Only the Range Rover Sport comes close to the Cayenne in that regard, but even the mighty Land Rover falls short of the Cayenne’s on-track prowess.

Reshaped
Following Porsche’s design philosophy of evolution rather than revolution, the second-generation Cayenne is a natural progression of the original’s looks. While the Cayenne’s overall shape remains, everything looks a little neater and a little more Porsche-like on the 2011 model, with clear ties to the Panamera sedan. The end result can be likened to a fun house mirror, with the 2011 model appearing more compact that its predecessor, despite gaining 2-inches in over length.

The Cayenne’s interior looks fairly similar to its Panamera stablemate, albeit with enough unique styling cues to differentiate the two. Like the Panamera, a high center console gives the Cayenne’s cabin a decidedly cockpit-like feel, with the shift knob right where you hand naturally falls. The Cayenne’s navigation system is flanked by two air vents that mimic the ute’s front fender lines.

Continuing the theme put in motion by the first Cayenne, the new model features two grab handles on the center console, with four more on each door. Those handles proved equally as useful on the track as they did off-road.

As with any modern Porsche, the Cayenne features excellent seats, offering enough comfort for a cross-country trip while still providing the support and grip needed for an on-track romp. Back-seat passengers are spoiled even more, thanks to the 1.6-inches gained in the Cayenne’s wheelbase.

The Cayenne S’ interior isn’t a bad place to spend some time, but the Cayenne Turbo’s cockpit is where you really want to be. Opting for the Turbo model adds a leather covered dashed and an Alcantara headliner, giving the Cayenne’s interior a far more up-scale feel. Of course, Porsche offers more option configurations than any reasonable buyer could count, so you can be assured that your Cayenne looks nothing like anyone else’s – if you have the cash.

As sporty and fast as the old Cayenne?
Oh yes, and just about anywhere you want to go, too. The Cayenne S comes with a 400 horsepower version of Porsche’s 4.8-liter V8, routing power to all-four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Burry your right foot in the shaggy stuff and the Cayenne S will take off with plenty of gusto, launching the 4,553 pound SUV from 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. The Cayenne Turbo makes the scenery whiz by even faster, with its 500 horsepower propelling the Cayenne from 0-60 in just 4.4 seconds.

If you have the kind of self restraint to stay off the long pedal, the Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo actually return fairly decent fuel economy. The EPA says you can expect to see 16/22mpg in the Cayenne S and 15/22mpg in the Cayenne Turbo.

Save a few bucks and you can take home a standard Cayenne, which comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission and a V6 rated at 300 horsepower. Our testing was centered around the eight-cylinder Cayennes; the V6-powered base model will not be available until later this year.

In standard guise, the Cayenne S is noticeably softer than the Cayenne Turbo model, due to its conventional suspension and 18-inch all-season tires. The base Cayenne can still hold its own around the race track, but it’s more like riding an athletic rhinoceros rather than a pure thoroughbred.

The Cayenne Turbo all but solves the Cayenne S’ shortcomings with a standard air suspension and beefier 19-inch all-season rollers. The Cayenne Turbo exhibits near-neutral handling – reverting to slight understeer at the limits – and instills the kind of confidence that shouldn’t possible in a vehicle of its size.

But if you want the perfect Cayenne, you have to order the Turbo with Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) and carbon ceramic brakes. Although much more technical than we can explain on these pages, Porsche’s PDCC system essentially eliminates body roll through a multitude of sensors and hydraulic motors. Porsche’s PTV Plus is even more impressive, virtually eliminating understeer by slightly braking the inside front wheel while simultaneously sending more power to the outside rear wheel. As an added bonus, the PTV Plus grants a third setting in the Cayenne’s off-road program, allowing full locking of the rear differential.

Opting for the ceramic brakes nets a much better pedal feel, not to mention the ability to do lap after lap without any sign of brake fade. We were able to get the Cayenne Turbo’s pad to smoke pretty good (see our image gallery) but never lost any confidence while on the track.

While most Cayennes won’t face terrain any harsher than the Starbucks parking lot, we just had to test Porsche’s claim of the high-performance ute’s off-road chops. After traversing a tough off-road course, we came away quite impressed with the Cayenne’s two-track toughness. The Cayenne handled everything we threw at it without breaking a sweat, and its hill decent function worked like a charm. The Cayenne isn’t quite up to the Range Rover Sport’s off-road level – lacking exterior cameras and a few other features – but the Porsche definitely isn’t a one trick pony, feeling just at home on the race track as it is on the two-track.

Leftlane’s bottom line
While some Porsche faithful may still object to the concept of a Porsche SUV, the Cayenne is hard to argue against – as its sales numbers prove.

The Cayenne manages to seamlessly blend the best attributes of a sports sedan and a pure off-roader, while packaging it all with a handsome exterior and thoroughly luxurious interior. There may be cheaper options out there – especially when considering the Turbo model – but nothing delivers in all facets quite like the Cayenne.

Words and photos by Drew Johnson.

2011 Porsche Cayenne S base price, $63,700.
2011 Porsche Cayenne Turbo base price, $104,800.

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