Porsche Cayenne GTS: For Those Who Love To Drive
PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS
TAKE THE TIME
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: Ilario Villani
The brake pedal run has lengthened, the whistle of the pads that rub to the big discs is getting stronger and I have absolutely no intention of diminishing the pace. This way, it seems like a scene taken from a late ’80s American movie, where shortly afterwards the car in question will make a very scenic as destructive jump. But since I’m not at the wheel of General Lee and unfortunately I’m not even distant relative of the Dukes brothers, I start thinking that maybe it’s better to listen to those mechanical rumblings and accept the fact that more than two tons of weight always play an important role, every time I get close to a corner and I play a poker game with good fortune, always trying to brake later and harder. Of course playing with the weights has a very important role when it comes to an SUV and since the horsepower and torque are a lot here, putting the Cayenne in the right way can really make you feel in a sports car, ready to be pressed to the seat while you launch yourself right into the next curve. Then I realize that the seats are too good to be ruined by the breakfast gobbled by the photographer and my other passengers, so I seriously have to lighten my right foot and getting the chance to cool down the brakes and my hot spirits. Too bad, because it seemed that I had found the right pace for exploiting correctly the what is most likely the best SUV ever built.
Not a standard one, not even the most powerful Cayenne Turbo or even the mad Turbo S, but the GTS – three letters very dear to every “Porscheist” and that give out the best tribute to driving pleasure, thanks to small but important works on the balance and all the useful driving feedbacks. The XL size Porsche SUV, although it is not meant for the track (at least as its first or second task) can do pretty much everything and is able to combine two strong personalities in a unique one offering to the lucky driver a polyvalent experience. In short, drive it as if your mother was in the passenger seat and it will be a tireless and comfortable kilometers grinder, treat it the hard way and it will keep you entertained, despite some minor and insignificant little defects. Defects? Which defects? The 8-speed Tiptronic gearbox, for example, which plays a great job in city traffic, but seems slow and rude when you tweak every possible switch toward the sportier mode and it, undaunted, continues to tug when downshifting, resulting in a loss of that adrenaline spike that the generous torque had just put on the table. As mentioned, a negligible defect given that if you use the GTS like a battering ram, you end drying your bank account before you realize you need a protest march against Tiptronic – much smarter to drive with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on your conscience, abusing the 6-cylinder only when you don’t have other choice. Exactly as required by the road from Borgomanero to the top of Mottarone for example, or like the one that winds from Piedimulera to Macugnaga, or as in the mountains above the Principality of Monaco, or … well, I may have figured out how I ended the brakes – Porsche try to understand, it’s not my fault if you make SUVs that ask to be driven like Carrera S!
The first impact with the Cayenne GTS is standard stuff as it usually happens with all the flagship models from Stuttgart: a triumph of elegance that goes to blend perfectly with the muscles of the GTS body kit that delineate the more angular forms at the front, on the sides and the rear, where the new bumper fits perfectly with the four tailpipes. Sports exhaust as standard, valves shall always be open and suspension regulation in “I do not care about off road” mode – everything is ready to move the shift lever to D and go. Each cold-engine start is a real pleasure, and thanks to the excellent sports seats in leather and Alcantara (I loved alcantara, but now it has become a real disease!) allow you a very low seating position that lets you realize that you can constantly dare something more than usual. You immediately get in tune with the GTS, every question has always a prompt response and the exhaust crackles accompany each release following a prodigious acceleration. The 3.6cc V6 delivers 440 horsepower and has a torque of 601Nm that part very low to run until the V6 puts into play the full power out of its chest. What a beast. The Cayenne GTS weighs 2 tons and nearly 200 kilos, but doesn’t care about the laws of physics and pushes strong as a pure sports car, whether you push heavy starting from standing still (and in that case, the partial fuel consumption becomes something grotesque) whether you opt for a constant pace, perhaps like the one you could keep on German Autobahn, venting your weekly stress and touching 260 per hour easy as drinking a glass of water. But if its motorway ability does not represent a miracle, something that leaves you stunned is the handiness with which you can poke your GTS through corners, whether they are slow hairpins, fast corners or bends that recommend to wear a helmet . There’s absolutely no insecurity – brakes are strong and front-end grip is impeccable, while the back follows like a faithful dog. There is no trace of uncertainties and everything further increases the safety that the driver feels the moment approaching the limit – his own and that of the car. Taking the time and it is difficult to accept the fact of reducing the pace, it’s almost like the road has never been so fast on the sides, especially looking at it from a few centimeters of height more than usual. And while driving pleasure is an absurd bedlam, you’re pampered and at peace as a supreme Tibetan holy man thanks to the four way climate control, heated seats with massage, one of the best navigation systems on the market and any other useful and essential gadget for the modern motorist.
But I do not mind about bluetooth connectivity or storage compartments, all I feel is enchantment towards all of those driving feedbacks that the chassis gives me. The pace is relentless and I am conductor of a concert that I don’t want to end – if only € 100 were able to put more petrol in the tank … In a flash, days have flown away (and savings too) and from the winding mountains I find myself on the beautiful coastal roads in Liguria, where a sky naked from clouds plays hide and seek with a clear and bright sea. The chassis is in Sport Plus but the brain is in a relaxed mode and the Cayenne GTS peacefully slips in late summer traffic. We pull over and while the photographer captures the moment, I live a fragment of deep reflection, where I browse all the latest days spent behind the wheel, and I inevitably end up with my mind to the fact that shortly thereafter Auto Class Magazine will celebrate its 50th issue (the very next month). It will not have the look of a supercar, but this GTS has been able to conquer me for a particular reason, which is nothing else but the spark that every cars enthusiast is looking for – it has left its mark because it did overshadow everything, the roads, the landscapes, the weather and also the boring feeling of the Tiptronic ‘box. It has been able to make me live the most important aspect in life: good precious moments. It made me lose track of time, just when my driving rhythm merged with its desire to infuse security and allow me to push me where I did not think was possible. This is not to say that it has a proper soul or that Porsche has drawn it on a Ouija board, but I think we’re facing a magnificent vehicle, entertaining and full of those sparks that fill our days and that are able to create such vivid moments to be kept in our personal scrapbook. It may seem little, it may seem like a principle of professional dementia, but I assure you it is like this. And so you find yourself looking for the perfect angle, the best light, the ultimate place to pay tribute to this object that is giving you so much, almost like wanting to repay a kindness to it and to convey that you are also able to offer something special that it will not find anywhere else. But it doesn’t become a challenge, but rather a growth path, an inner search that makes you observe the working years with maturity and awareness, with the humility that there is always something to learn and that you should always go further, for being able to give something different, something that deserves to shine on its own. Porsche does it every time it presents a new model or just a facelift one and we at Auto Class, in our small way, we try to do it every month with each new issue and the affection that our readers show us fills our hearts with joy and satisfaction, because it shows us that we are doing a good job and that we are going the right way. Shooting is finished, it’s time to get back on board, a look to the fuel gauge and thankfully I have enough petrol to get home relaxing. This time our emotions pick the pace and they want to move away smoothly. It knows how to do that too, but I had no doubts. If I could keep it with me for a few more days, I’m sure I would have ended up giving it a name, and instead it went back home, because its task is finished with me, but was awaiting some colleague that will have the good fortune to open his eyes and live my own beautiful moments spent in its company.
PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS (2015-)
Layout – front-engined, all-wheel-drive
Engine – V6 cylinder 3.604cc
Transmission – 8-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 440 hp @ 6.000 rpm
601 Nm @ 1.600-5.000 rpm
Weight – 2.185 kg
Acceleration – 5,2 sec.
Top Speed – 262 kph
Price – from € 104.400