2024 Porsche Cayenne V-8: Back with a punch

With the 2024 Cayenne S and Turbo GT, Porsche has brought the V-8 engine back for the U.S. after abandoning the engine nearly a decade ago.
While the auto industry slowly steers away from big and thirsty engines as the electric vehicle era unfolds, Porsche has decided to embrace their power and popularity in the S and Turbo GT trims of its flagship crossover.
The V-8 is a very important American need and want in an automobile," Mike DePetro, product manager for Porsche Cars North America, told Automotive News. "We were losing consideration because we didn't have a V-8."
The 2024 Cayenne is also available in an E-Hybrid trim, with a six-cylinder engine and new electric motor.
Porsche has mechanically adapted the V-8 to be as fuel efficient as the V-6. In the S, the V-8 delivers an additional 34 hp and promises a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.4 seconds. The twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 in the Cayenne Turbo GT makes an extra 19 hp for 650 hp and propels the crossover from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds.
The 2024 Cayenne arrived in stores this summer, and we've collected some early reviews.

"In the Cayenne S, the V-8 has a fat power band between 2,000 and 6,000 rpm that's a joy to explore. Few owners will take theirs canyon carving, but if they did, they'd learn how much fun can be had locking it in third gear through a nice set of sweepers. The engine singing through the optional sport exhaust, the myriad suspension and handling improvements, the wonderfully direct steering rack… emotive indeed. It's planted and firm yet playful and baiting. Even the standard brakes will send everything inside flying towards the windshield, and they hold up to an extended run down a good road.

That said, the test car was loaded up with thousands of dollars of performance extras including PDCC, PTV+, Sport Chrono, rear-axle steering, and the air suspension. Remove those and you'd be left with something that's less composed and 0.3 seconds slower to 60 mph, but still a more engaging driver than 95% of SUVs out there. Porsche's own data shows that Cayenne buyers use their vehicles for "personal errands" above all else, and as before the Cayenne S is happy to poodle along surface streets—no weirdness from the torque converter automatic, no stress in the engine, no back-breaking impacts from the suspension. It's a luxury SUV, after all, and it plays that part around town with aplomb."

— Kyle Cheromcha, The Drive

"Want to save money up front, spend less time at gas stations, and reduce your carbon footprint? Get the hybrid. Gotta have that V-8 rumble? Get the S, or the Turbo GT if you really need an SUV that doubles as a track car.

That burble from the quad tailpipes and maybe just a bit of nostalgia for the days when V-8s were synonymous with absolute performance are the best reasons to buy the new S. Porsche binned the old high-output turbo V-6 used in the old Cayenne S because it was already at its power limit (the base Cayenne still receives the standard-output version of that engine). Between tightening global-emissions regulations and the general industry shift to electric cars, almost no automakers are introducing new V-8s these days, so get this one while the getting's good.

Otherwise, the differences in these two mid-level powertrains are surprisingly small. In addition to having roughly the same power, the PHEV and the V-8 deliver it in roughly the same way. Whether by displacement or electric motor, both shove you off the line with strong low-end torque that transitions seamlessly to a smooth, uninterrupted pull to redline. The V-6 in the PHEV even sounds pretty decent doing it. It also drives more than 45 miles on pure electric power now, enough to complete the average American's daily commute without using any expensive gas."

— Scott Evans, Motor Trend

"The Cayenne S loses its 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 in favor of a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. You read that right. It's hard to remember the last time a new vehicle received an increase in cylinders and displacement, rather than the opposite, but here we are. According to Stefan Fegg, director of the Cayenne model line, the V-6 had reached the limits of its performance potential with the outgoing engine's 434 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque. Porsche wanted to increase power for the quasi-new generation, however, which brought engineers back to the good-old V-8 to achieve 468 hp and 442 lb-ft. Sounds simple enough, but to sell the Cayenne S in Europe, technologies had to be developed to accommodate strict emissions laws. These include innovative camshaft sensors, a higher-pressure injection system and an electric wastegate, and they also aid efficiency, though official EPA numbers were not available. Those aren't found in the V-8 powered Turbo GT, which subsequently isn't for sale in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.

Frankly, if efficiency and emissions of a V-8 can better, match or at least come close to those of a V-6, who the hell is ever going to complain? The answer is no one. There was a reason we were so depressed as V-8 after V-8 got replaced by some characterless turbo V-6 over the course of a decade-plus. Porsche/Audi's V6s were better than most, but there's still no replacing the telltale warble produced by those extra cylinders. While we await the all-new, all-electric Cayenne generation that'll arrive in the 'middle of the decade' and be sold alongside this generation-and-a-half for some amount of time, it's nice to know the gas-powered Cayenne will go down swinging."

— James Riswick, Autoblog

"Another $100,000 or so up the ladder, lies the Cayenne Turbo GT. There's no Cayenne GTS, no Cayenne Turbo, no Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid or anything else in there — it's just straight from the volume models to the supercar-slaying crossover coupe.

And believe me, it is indeed a supercar slayer – or at least as close as you'll find in a vehicle that stands as tall as an average-sized adult and weighs as much as 4.21 Secretariats. The acceleration is stunning; independent tests of the previous model saw it crack off sub-three-second 0-60-mph dashes, and the new one has an extra 19 horsepower. But even more impressive is the body control in tackling the turns; it makes even the well-composed Cayenne S seem like a Honda Accord by comparison. The Turbo GT feels downright pacific even when cranking along winding two-lane country roads at speeds capable of causing any law enforcement officers to take a blowtorch to your license in front of you.

If there's one strike against the Cayenne Turbo GT — well, assuming you don't take one look at its $200,000 price tag and immediately balk — it's that it only comes in the four-door-coupe body style. While it's certainly one of the more visually appealing members of that still-vexing class — why people choose the X4 or GLE-Class, for example, coupe still confuses me after all these years — it's still a bit of an awkward design."

— Will Courtney, Gear Patrol

"The dual-purpose suspension is also a delight when it's time to aim away from the express lanes, as I did on Highway 150 between Santa Barbara and Ojai. One of Southern California's lesser-known driving roads, Highway 150 is a challenging mix of tight, first-gear hairpins and expansive full-throttle sweepers, rising 1,100 feet from Route 101 and then falling 400 in Ojai. The hilly route presented little challenge to the V8-powered Cayenne, which exploded out of corners thanks to a razor-sharp throttle in its most aggressive setting. Porsche quotes a 4.4-second sprint to 60 miles per hour; I'd be surprised if it isn't faster.

The Sport Plus mode also ensured the transmission stayed alert and ready to downshift, either at the prompting of the accelerator or during hard braking for a corner. These automated gear changes were seemingly telepathic, but that doesn't mean it wasn't still fun to use the wheel-mounted paddle shifters at every opportunity. Convincing the car to hand over complete manual control was a bit of a challenge – you have to press down on the dash-mounted gear selector through two stiff detents, then hold for a longer time than I expected. But do so and the Cayenne's eight-speed transmission obeys all but your most sadistic whims…

As marvy as the Cayenne is, it does come with one big drawback. Prices are up across the board, with the base model rising $7,000 to $80,850 including destination. The S is $97,350, a $4,200 increase from 2023, and coupe versions of any Cayenne are between $4,000 and $6,700 more expensive than their counterparts. Admittedly, the standard adaptive dampers and longer list of luxury features blunt that price hike – Porsche says the new Cayenne is actually cheaper than last year's version when equipped similarly.

On top of its $103,750 base price, my Cayenne S Coupe tester carried an eye-watering $49,630 just in options, for a total as-tested cost of $153,380. That's way too much money for a 468-horse Cayenne. But it's possible to exercise restraint with the Porsche configurator – 20- or 21-inch wheels instead of 22s, no torque-vectoring rear differential or PDCC, and a $1,200 Bose audio system instead of the admittedly brilliant $7,000 Burmester unit. Better yet, go for the less stylish but cheaper and more practical conventional model and save six large."

— Brett Evans, Motor1.com