Although more expensive, the three Coupe models are no quicker than their regular Cayenne counterparts. Instead, they get more standard equipment in addition to sportier sheetmetal, including speed-sensitive power steering, Porsche Active Suspension Management, and the Sport Chrono package. A glass panorama roof is also standard, its dark coloring cleverly disguising the fact the roofline doesn't sweep down from the B-pillar as dramatically as the greenhouse. Base Coupe and S Coupe models roll on 20-inch wheels, while the Turbo Coupe comes equipped with 21s and Porsche's trick tungsten-carbide coated PSCB brakes, which generate up to 90 percent less brake dust. As with all Porsches, the Cayenne Coupe options list is long and pricey. One option unique to the Cayenne Coupe is the Lightweight Sport package. In addition to visual tweaks inside and out, this package replaces the heavy glass panorama roof with a clear-coated carbon-fiber panel and swaps the standard alloy wheels for 22-inch forged items.
On the Turbo Coupe, the package also includes the addition of a sports exhaust system. Depending on which of the three variants of the package are chosen, weight saving range from 39 pounds to 48 pounds. Porsche even offers an off-road package that adds extra underbody protection and upgrades the infotainment interface to show steering angle, transverse gradient, and longitudinal incline in the rough stuff. Although it's nice to know Porsche engineers care, the reality is few if any U.S. Cayenne Coupes off the tarmac. In fact, most are likely to spend their days mooching quietly around America's wealthier suburbs. The Cayenne Coupe—capable of 151 mph with its least powerful engine under the hood—is a vehicle whose capabilities will be rarely tested. That least powerful engine is the 335-hp single-turbo V-6. The 434-hp twin-turbo V-6 in the S Coupe (pictured above) is crisper at low revs and zings happily to 6,600 rpm. It's the value choice in the lineup, though in this spec Porsche's sportiest SUV is still merely satisfyingly brisk rather than pin-your-ears-back fast.
Porsche claims the S Coupe is a second quicker than the base car to 60 mph, taking 4.7 seconds for the sprint, and is 12 mph faster with a top speed of 163 mph. With its storming 541-hp V-8, the Cayenne Turbo Coupe the real deal, however. This 5,024-pound Porsche SUV punches hard out of corners and surges ecstatically along the straights—all the way to 177 mph if you're lucky enough to live near an autobahn. The Cayenne Coupes we sampled on the winding roads of southeastern Austria, near the border with Slovenia, were all lavishly equipped. All rode on 22-inch wheels and the anti-roll system. At first acquaintance the Porsche Cayenne Coupe seems a more coherent, more concise take on the sporty SUV concept than its German rivals. It rides better than the BMW X6 and feels more agile than the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. Given Porsche's conservative approach to 0-60 times, the Turbo Coupe promises to be quicker than either the X6 M or the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63. Sporty?
It's got an intriguing powertrain: a tiny 1.4-liter direct-injected four with both a supercharger and a turbo, linked to VW's seven-speed DSG. While Volkswagen GTIs are developed and built in house by the VW mothership, the R models are the responsibility of a newly created subsidiary known as Volkswagen R GmbH. From now on, it will be responsible for all R-branded vehicles, just as Quattro GmbH is the Audi business unit developing, specifying, and marketing all the RS models and the R8. Of course, BMW has been doing the same thing with the M division for years, as has Mercedes with AMG. Because Volkswagen R is the new kid on the block, it's too much to expect its cars to be so far separated from the mainstream just yet. So the Golf R doesn't have a wide body like Ford's Focus RS, nor bespoke suspension arms. The basic chassis -- simple struts at the front and a four-link rear -- is like any other Golf.
The all-wheel-drive system has an electronic differential, pretty much like the Audi TT. And the engine is also shared with the TT S -- a turbocharged direct-injection 2.0-liter four making 266 horsepower. That's a change from the R32 predecessor that employed VW's 3.2-liter narrow-angle V-6. That six-ender sure was a sweet motor, with a delightfully alert response to every change in throttle position right through the rev-range. But it was a heavy unit, and it had also reached the end of the road in emissions compliance. The four-cylinder turbo is lighter (which benefits handling agility), more economical, and cleaner. And it goes faster. There's not a lot wrong with the character of the new engine. The torque curve is steeper, so you need to be more attentive with the gears, but use the torque well and you've got a huge well of easy corner-exit thrust. And as fours go, it makes a charismatic noise when you wind it out toward redline, while remaining civilized enough for long-distance cruising. So while it doesn't have the instant throttle response of that big-capacity six, among its peers it is pretty quick-witted.
