Robb Review: Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
After testing the high powered model variant we’re still trying to catch our breath.
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I’ve never been impressed with high-performance SUVs and crossovers. They promise a sports car’s driving experience without compromising passenger space and utility, yet most are nothing more than a more powerful engine and an upgraded wheel-and-tire package splashed with a handful of obligatory cosmetic enhancements to justify a premium window sticker. While they are unquestionably quicker than standard models, and they may circle a highway onramp a bit faster, their synthetic and ungainly driving dynamics don’t raise my enthusiast pulse a single beat.
Therefore, you can imagine my scepticism when Porsche recently announced its new 2022 Cayenne Turbo GT, a range-topping model promising “phenomenal performance with a high degree of utility.” Here we go, again. Or so I thought.
Porsche followed the reveal with an eye-opening proclamation: The Cayenne Turbo GT had set a new official SUV record of 7:38.9 minutes around Germany’s gruelling Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Not only is that time faster than the benchmark Lamborghini Urus SUV, but the new Porsche crossover crossed the track’s finish line tied with the celebrated Ferrari 458 Italia and Lexus LFA sports cars. Okay, hand me the keys.
The Cayenne Turbo GT, which is only available in the sloped-roof coupe body style, is visually differentiated from its standard brethren by its GT-specific front fascia—designed to allow increased air into the engine, radiators and intercoolers—and more aggressive front lip splitter. A contoured carbon fibre roof reduces weight and lowers the centre of gravity, while black fender arches contain the wider track and unique 22-inch GT Design wheels.
At the rear, the upper decklid wing is complemented by side plates in carbon fibre, and the adaptive rear spoiler has been fitted with a sizeable Gurney flap to reduce both drag and lift. To improve exhaust airflow and the vehicle’s soundtrack, Porsche deleted the Cayenne’s centre muffler and swapped the heavy steel system for one crafted in titanium alloy, thus saving about 40 pounds of mass. Set just below the rear bumper is a pair of oval exhaust tips with notched anodized blue liners that mimic the afterburner outlets of a fighter jet.
The Cayenne Turbo GT is only available in the sloped-roof coupe body style. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
The standard four-place cabin is configured with spirited driving in mind. The eight-way Sport Seats with embossed “Turbo-GT” in the seatbacks are upholstered in leather and Alcantara, and the driver faces a thick, multifunction sport steering wheel with a racy yellow 12 o’clock centre marker. The Turbo GT also introduces the next generation of Porsche Communication Management (PCM) infotainment to the Cayenne lineup, which is now compatible with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
As expected, the Cayenne Turbo GT has been tuned to deliver prodigious amounts of power. Its twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V-8 is shared with the standard Cayenne Turbo model in the most basic sense, but the engine in the Turbo GT has been heavily modified to develop appreciably more power with new pistons, connecting rods, timing chain, torsional dampers and a unique crankshaft.
Power output jumps to 471kW and 850Nm of torque—that’s 67kW and 80Nm more torque than the Turbo Coupe. Porsche’s own conservative numbers claim that the launch from zero to 100km/h takes just 3.3 seconds. Hold the accelerator to the floor and the Turbo GT tops out at 300km/h, making it the quickest and fastest production Cayenne the automaker has ever offered.
Porsche’s multifunction sport steering wheel complements a dash that introduces the next generation of Porsche Communication Management (PCM) infotainment to the Cayenne lineup. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
To put the power to the ground, Porsche fits the Turbo GT with proper footwear. The wide wheels are wrapped in track-ready Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires specifically engineered for the mission (with “Treadwear 80” ratings, owners should expect to replace these tires more frequently than the engine’s oil). Alignment settings are aggressively configured for the track to ensure that the sticky contact patches are optimized for lateral grip and stability.
Technology is a noteworthy part of the model variant’s performance equation, so the marque has equipped the vehicle with every active system in its comprehensive arsenal. These include Porsche Active Stability Management (PASM), the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) adaptive roll compensation system, Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV+), Power steering Plus and rear-axle steering. And all these components have been specifically calibrated and adapted to raise cornering speeds, increase lateral grip and enhance stability.
The Turbo GT’s V8 engine fires to life with an eager snarl before settling down to a tempered growl. Drive with a lackadaisical right foot and the crossover is docile and well-tempered. But mash the accelerator and passengers had better be hanging on as the powerful Porsche launches like an irate Grizzly.
The twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V-8 makes 471kW and 850Nm of torque. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
The exhaust note is unquestionably angrier than the standard Turbo model, but the Cayenne’s insulated cabin means the audio track is best enjoyed by those outside the vehicle, as they can hear the twin centre pipes truly roar. (Unlike most other automakers, Porsche does not augment or pipe artificial exhaust notes through the speakers—the combustion melody is completely genuine.)
In the “O” (or normal) configuration, as dialled on the steering wheel-mounted drive mode selector, the Turbo GT is surprisingly unassuming, accommodating and extremely comfortable— despite its race-tuned underpinnings. The standard three-chamber air suspension absorbs pavement cracks, bumps and potholes effortlessly, and the eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission is silky smooth as the Cayenne runs up and down through its gears. Despite some annoying traffic, my 40-minute trek across the Los Angeles Basin was peaceful and relaxing.
Dual oval exhaust tips feature notched anodized blue liners that mimic the afterburner outlets of a fighter jet. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
Spin the dial to “S” (Sport) or “S+” (Sport Plus) to reconfigure the Turbo GT into progressively more aggressive driving modes. In those settings, the vehicle makes dozens of system adjustments, but the most obvious from the driver’s seat is the more pronounced exhaust note, livelier throttle response and fervent transmission. In these modes, however, it’s no surprise that fuel efficiency has left the conversation.
In this configuration, the Cayenne Turbo GT is a take-no-prisoners precision driving instrument that appears to have forgotten that it weighs 2260kg.
High-performance SUVs and crossovers typically exhibit increasing understeer as they reach the limit of their capability, which leaves the driver holding onto a lifeless steering wheel while listening to the outside front tire wail as its rubber tread is scrubbed off by the abrasive pavement. But that doesn’t happen in the Turbo GT.
The adaptive rear spoiler has been fitted with a sizeable Gurney flap to reduce both drag and lift. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
The vehicle feels perfectly balanced, front to rear, and its aggressive alignment—nearly 1.5 degrees of negative camber—plants the tyres’ contact patches perfectly on the road surface while the sticky rubber adheres tenaciously to the aggregate. During my drive, the vehicle’s performance computers measured cornering forces exceeding 1.2 g laterally in both directions. Those numbers are strong enough to challenge the world’s most capable sports cars.
Powering out of the corners, the Cayenne’s fully variable Porsche Traction Management (PTM) all-wheel drive expertly delivers the horsepower to where it may best be used. There is no loss of traction and not an inch of tyre slippage, just neck-snapping thrust as the four tyres pull the crossover towards the next bend. Those with sensitive derrières will notice how the rear-axle steer and torque vectoring—both assisting automatically—seamlessly work their wizardry to keep the vehicle’s trajectory perfectly on the intended line.
Embossed with “Turbo-GT” in the seatbacks, the eight-way Sport Seats are upholstered in leather and Alcantara. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
The Cayenne Turbo GT is taller than all sports cars, which affords a more commanding view of the road, but cornering is perfectly flat thanks to Porsche 4D Chassis Control and the 48-volt electromechanical roll stabilisation. And braking from speed is unproblematic and fade-free as the Turbo GT is fitted with Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) as standard fitment. It stops as well as it goes, which is also very uncharacteristic of a crossover.
My astonishment at the Cayenne Turbo GT’s performance and the enjoyment I was feeling invigorated me enough to make several runs up and down the mountain. By mid-afternoon, I had concluded that the Turbo GT isn’t just faster and more capable than every other crossover on the market, it’s better than most purpose-built sports cars, too.
Porsche claims the new Cayenne Turbo GT can cover zero to 100km/h in 3.3 seconds while on its way to 300km/h. Photo: Courtesy of Porsche AG.
Porsche has priced the Cayenne Turbo GT at just over $180,000, about $50,000 more than the standard Cayenne Turbo Coupe. While there is a significant value proposition at play (many of the expensive options on the Turbo Coupe are standard on the Turbo GT), the additional financial investment elevates the Cayenne Turbo from just being another high-performance crossover to being a bona-fide sports car alternative for a driving enthusiast.
I’ll be the first to point out that the 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is nonsensical overkill for most consumers, yet there is a niche of discriminating drivers who are pursuing unconditional superiority in terms of impeccable engineering, faultless driving dynamics and record-setting performance. For those discerning few, Porsche has decisively delivered excellence. And I’m finally impressed.
The 2022 Porsche Cayenne GT is now available to order in Australia, with prices starting from $336,100 (excluding on-road costs). Porsche Australia expects local deliveries to commence during the fourth quarter of this year.
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Show Stopping Fun
Robb Report Australia and New Zealand teamed up with Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance in late February to celebrate a weekend of fine motor cars on Cockatoo Island.
Robb Report Australia & New Zealand and Citizen Kanebridge, the new private members’ club brought to you by this masthead’s publishers, offers exclusive access to magical experiences and unrivalled networking.
This year’s Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance on Cockatoo Island did not disappoint. Our invited guests—including speakers Gerard Doyle, General Manager ASX Refinitiv Charity Foundation; Ant Middleton, the British adventure and TV personality turned hydration-drink disruptor and owner R3SUP; and Lex Pedersen, CEO of automotive investment firm Chrome Temple—enjoyed unlimited access to the three-day event and an elegant sufficiently of Champagne, wine and whisky, as well as an exquisite catered lunch inside the Citizen Kanebridge Private Members’ Lounge. They enhanced their experience by VIP transport to and from the mainland via superyacht.
The British-born event, which also has iterations at Pebble Beach in California and Hampton Court Palace in England, once again teamed up with the world’s most prestigious marques (among them Aston Martin, Bentley, Brabus, Genesis, Lamborghini, McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Porsche), to display their latest supercars alongside the pageant of owner-driven vintage vehicles.
On Sunday, Robb Report’s Editor-in-Chief Horacio Silva treated guests to a special preview of the winners of this our annual Car of the Year awards, showcased in our coming March 2025 issue. Our lips are sealed.
To learn how to become a member of our exclusive new community, visit Citizen Kanebridge.
Thank you to the following sponsors: Whisky and Wealth, Jacob & Co, Wine Selectors, Mulpha, Jackson Teece, Young Henry’s and Resup.
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Patron’s New Ultra-Premium Tequila Is a Reposado Blend That Punches Way Above Its Age
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In the whisky world, an age statement represents the minimum age of the liquid that’s in the bottle—in other words, a 10-year-old scotch may have liquid much older than that in the blend, but 10 years represents the minimum age. When it comes to tequila, there are also rules in regards to how it has to be labelled based on maturation, and like whisky that depends on the youngest liquid in the blend. The core of El Alto is an extra anejo tequila (the exact proportion isn’t revealed), meaning it was aged for a minimum of three years. But master distiller David Rodriguez decided to blend some anejo (aged one to three years) and reposado (two months to one year) tequila into the mix as well, making this an expression that is defined as reposado instead of extra anejo even though it has some ultra-aged liquid in the blend.
According to the brand, 11 different types of barrels were used to mature the tequila in El Alto, with the majority being hybrid barrels consisting of American oak bodies and French oak heads—each type of wood is thought to impart different flavours into the spirit. “The tequilas that harmoniously come together in Patron El Alto are a result of selecting the finest 100 percent Weber blue agave in the highest parts of Jalisco, Mexico, a territory known for producing the sweetest agaves,” said Rodriguez in a statement. “We took four years to focus on only the best of the best and perfect the bold, sweet flavors of this expression the right way: naturally.”
This type of multi-aged tequila seems to be part of a growing trend, with a few other brands releasing similar high-end expressions including Cincoro and Volcan de Mi Tierra. Perhaps it’s a way of stretching supplies or a tactic to get consumers to dip their toes (or tongues, preferably) into another luxe tequila, a category that is growing every year.
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Umit Benan silk jacket, silk shirt, and linen trousers, all prices upon request; Dolce & Gabbana suede loafers, $1600; Girard-Perregaux 38 mm Laureato Sage Green in steel, $23,954.
Brunello Cucinelli linen shirt, $1500; Loro Piana linen trousers, $908; Zenith 37 mm Chronomaster Revival in steel, $13,987.
Anderson & Sheppard cotton jacket, $4,421; Gabriela Hearst cashmere turtleneck, $1,430; Louis Vuitton cotton jeans, $2n138; Tod’s suede sneakers, $1438.
Canali wool, silk, and linen tweed blazer, $4,011; Thom Sweeney silk shirt, $876; Paul Smith mohair trousers, $908; Church’s patent-leather loafers, $1,768; Parmigiani Fleurier 40 mm Tonda PF Micro-Rotor No Date Golden Siena in steel and platinum, $40,675.
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There was a period when Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos found it hard to hold on to a watch. The prominent collector and dealer often would post pictures on social media of the uncommon, sculptural timepieces she purchased for herself. But every time, clients of her eponymous jewellery gallery—New York City’s Mahnaz Collection—would hound her into selling them.
“They found those photographs, and they are just diligent in bothering me,” she says with a laugh, adding that some would simply persist until she changed her mind about letting them go.
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Photographed by Janelle Jones/Styled by Stephanie Yeh
Ispahani Bartos knows something about legacy. Born in Bangladesh—when it was still called East Pakistan—she grew up in a culture steeped in traditions of wearing and appreciating jewellery. She recalls her grandmother giving her earrings made from yellow gold, turquoise, diamonds, and Burmese rubies at age 7. (Too young to wear them, she put them on her dolls’ ears for safekeeping. Both were lost when her family fled the violence of the country’s 1971 revolution; the ship carrying their belongings, she says, was sunk by an enemy carrier.)
When she was a teenager, her mother gifted her one of Omega’s Grima-designed watches, which she still owns. That early introduction to rare design influenced her own collecting journey, which turned into her full-time job when she opened her gallery in 2013.
Photographed by Janelle Jones/Styled by Stephanie Yeh
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Penfolds Saves Best For Last with Show-Stopping Release with Creative Partner NIGO
Penfolds has just dropped their limited-edition 65F by NIGO Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, a mouthwatering wine you need to nab now.
Though Penfolds holds many wonderful wines in its star-studded suite, their latest collaboration with NIGO is earmarked as a sure-fire collector’s item.
Retailing for $395 a bottle, the Penfolds 65F by NIGO is expected to sit snugly alongside the likes of Grange and Bin 389 as a standout single-vintage wine connoisseurs will vie for in years to come.
This prize wine isn’t just delicious and highly collectible, it looks the part. It features branding by artistic director and creative visionary NIGO, the founder of cult streetwear brands A Bathing Ape and Human Made, a pal of Pharrell Williams and current creative director of French fashion house Kenzo. For the box and packaging NIGO was inspired by the towering 65-foot chimney that prevails over Penfolds South Australian home, Magill Estate.
Penfolds archival material served as NIGO’s inspiration for the inclusions within the gift box and on the wine label. A chalkboard wine tag with coinciding chalk pencil pays homage to the chalk boards used in the original working winery at Penfolds Magill Estate and allows the opportunity for personalisation of the wine if used as a gift. The bottle label features a design which takes inspiration from the pressed bottle labels from the 1930-50s, and the tissue paper wrapping the bottle has been adapted from the Penfolds logo style used in the early 20th century. NIGO’s signature playful design style is emphasised with a chimney smoke wine stopper.
Inside it’s a classic embodiment of the way South Australian winemakers blend cabernet sauvignon with shiraz to stunning effect.
As a result this wine has a mouth-watering palate with plenty of fine grain tannins and silky mouth feel. A nose enriched with spicy nutmeg, cardamom and cassis is layered over blueberry compote and lush fig on a palate. There’s lots of blueberry soufflé, gamey tones and just a hint of fennel seed, with more complexity to come as the years fly by.
All the base wines were sourced from grapes grown in South Australia’s top wine regions of Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. And while the 65F by NIGO Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is being released now, it will continue to reward cellaring for years to come.
Penfolds first announced NIGO as its Creative Partner in June 2023, with the global release of One by Penfolds. This was closely followed by the launch of Grange by NIGO (the first takeover of Penfolds flagship red wine) in February 2024, followed by Holiday Designed by NIGO in October 2024.A classic for the ages.
Penfolds 65F by NIGO Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2021 is available globally from Thursday 27 February 2025 (RRP AUD$395.00 for 750ml). Available via Penfolds.com, at select Dan Murphy’s stores nationally and select independent retailers.
