[Auto/Moto] Driving the Porsche Cayenne S Is an Emotional Experience

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Every time I drive a Porsche, I’m immediately frustrated. It’s impossible not to sit in the perfectly considered cockpit of a car from the northern end of Stuttgart and stew about how it gets everything just right. Like how the steering column generously telescopes the wheel toward you in a carefully considered seating position (low, reclined, with plenty of thigh support.) Or how the interior is always fashionably austere and timelessly elegant. Then, once you’re on the road, how effortlessly correct everything is relative to almost every other car in its segment. Driving the refreshed and re-V-8'd 2024 Cayenne S is further proof of that concept. Stuttgart’s engineers could’ve easily phoned it in here; The Cayenne has been so good for so long. Instead, Porsche took the E3-generation Cayenne, did several thankless and invisible mechanical upgrades, subtly refreshed the interior, and critically, re-installed the V-8 in place of the disliked 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6. For an SUV, all of this effort seems bizarre. It’s a runabout, a practical object. Just give it some big screens, maybe some huge wheels, and make it spill-proof for the kids. So why go through the trouble of building a truly excellent, luxurious, and shockingly emotional SUV?It starts with the return of the V-8. Volkswagen Group’s 4.0-liter V-8 is one of the most prolifically produced engines in the world. It goes in just about every single premium model under the group’s vast umbrella: From the Audi A7 to the Lamborghini Urus, and even the Bentley Continental and Bentayga. Not only does it need to work as a powerful, somewhat efficient, emissions-friendly engine, but it also has to match a wide variety of brand personalities. Every variant I’ve driven of the 4.0-liter has felt distinct, similar only in the finest of details. Where the Audi RS7’s explosive 600-horsepower variant is a mid-range torque monster with a flatulent exhaust, the Bentley permutation is a dignified, muscular athlete. Then, the Urus is just a 657-horsepower knife-wielding murderer.

https://www.motor1.com/reviews/724021/2024-porsche-cayenne-s-review/