From Alphabeta, Georgia: Porsche is the only company that knows how to divide its product lines properly. Look at all the different 911s. The 2025 Cayenne GTS can also be put into this type of clinical group. It costs about the same as both the Turbo E-Hybrid and the Cayenne S. When it comes to speed, it’s a lot more like the S. How much you can spend on the Cayenne and how well you know what you want are the most important things. You should definitely go with this one if it meets your needs. If not, Porsche has a lot of very good choices.
What makes the GTS different from just an add-on package for the S and worthy of its trim level? The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine is the same in both cars. This includes all the changes that were made to this generation of Cayenne, like electric wastegates, better fuel injection, variable valve timing and lift, and monoscroll turbos instead of twin-scroll turbos to make the engine run cleaner. Porsche found that it could get rid of cylinder deactivation with this new engine. The GTS model, on the other hand, has 25 more horsepower (493) and 44 more pound-feet of torque (486). It has 40 more horsepower and 30 more pound-feet of torque than the last GTS.
Along with more power, the GTS comes with a number of optional performance improvements that are available for the S. With Porsche Active Suspension Management and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus, they have air suspension. A less expensive Cayenne has a suspension that is 0.39 inches lower than the GTS’s, assuming that the less expensive Cayenne does not have an improved suspension. To make the car go faster, customers can tweak the carbon ceramic brakes, Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control, and rear-wheel steering. Those are, of course, also available for the S. There is also a Lightweight Sport Package for the Coupe that comes with a carbon fiber roof, a reworked center-exit exhaust, and less noise insulation. This package lowers the curb weight by 55 pounds. But the Coupe weighs 5,027 pounds, and the standard SUV weighs 4,956 pounds, so it’s not a light car.
The Cayenne Turbo GT’s front pivot bearings are not available for the S. These bearings give the GTS a little more negative camber up front. It also gets the water cooling device for the transfer case from the Turbo GT.
From an outside look, the Cayenne GTS is mostly made up of a few famous add-ons. The SportDesign body kit and 21-inch RS Spyder wheels are part of the package. The S doesn’t come with eight-way changeable sports seats, but the base model can have 14-way ones instead.
You’ve probably seen that it’s easy to add many of the GTS’s functions to the S. This leads to the obvious question: why not just pick up a S? The main reason is that you’ll end up spending more money and getting a little less in return. It will cost $132,095 to equip a Cayenne S with all the usual comforts of a GTS but not optional features like the cooler for the transfer case, better front suspension bearings, or more power. The GTS starts at $126,895. In a roundabout way, this means that the GTS is a pretty good deal.
You could also compare the most alike versions. For a little more than $100,000, you can get a Cayenne S E-Hybrid with more power, but it takes longer to reach 60 mph. Things would be added so that the price would go up, but it would still have more power and electric range. But that’s not the point. Let’s go back to the GTS now.
What we haven’t talked about is how it feels to drive, and holy crap, it’s great. The Cayenne is a great place to start, and the GTS is one of the best-driving SUVs you can buy at any price, thanks to its many great features. The basic SUV we used for our test came with Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control, carbon brakes, and rear-wheel steering. The boost felt almost immediate, even though the turbos were only one scroll. This Sport Plus has a throttle response that is very quick and accurate, which might be too much for driving on the street. For easy travel, Normal is the clear choice. Sport, on the other hand, is the best setting for quick responses without the extra edge of Sport Plus. Sport Plus is harder than Normal, and the suspension is set to match how the throttle responds. You could use Sport Plus every day while driving because it works so well.
It’s good that there isn’t much change between settings because the steering is so good. Even though it’s heavy, it’s still doable. It’s amazing how much feedback there is, and it’s right on the mark. The frame works well and can be counted on. When the back end took over, it did so easily and with control. There was a lot of grip. It was fun to drive the GTS on the twisting mountain roads north of Georgia. At almost 5,000 pounds, it didn’t feel heavy at all. The heavily bolstered chairs were also very helpful because they kept us in our seats and gave us great general support, which my sore back really enjoyed. Also, these were regular seats, so there’s no reason to think you’d need to improve.
Like other Cayenne models, the GTS has a nice-looking, if a bit staid, cabin with great build quality and switches. The screens are bright, and the app works well. It’s great that every switch and knob moves. Even the automatic shifter, which looks small, is made of solid, heavy metal and moves very smoothly. Inside, everything is quiet unless you want to hear the smoke. The sport exhaust lets you hear both real and fake rumbling, as well as well-placed pops when you lift the gas. When it comes to noise, the loud exhaust choice could be used more. Yet, it’s still hard to hear, like Porsche doesn’t want to seem too crazy or unexpected.
Without a doubt, the GTS is a great SUV in great form. For a few unique changes, it has all the speed features you could want, making it one of the best SUVs for drivers. If you have the coin, you can go right. If not, just about any other pepper will do.
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