Widely updated Cayenne gets an impressive interior revamp and, even in bottom-rung form, doesn’t want for relative driver appeal.
The ‘new’ Porsche Cayenne isn’t quite all-new: as the kids might put it, “because reasons”. Its maker is currently investing in both an all-electric Cayenne to sell alongside this one (due in 2026), and an even larger all-electric SUV to sell alongside that (the ‘K1’, due in 2027). It’s also about to deliver its all-electric new Macan, in which it’s been investing for even longer than either.In other words, it’s shovelling cash into a scenario that might leave a rapidly diminishing place for a traditional, combustion-engined SUV; but is also still to really test the market’s appetite for any of its new zero-emissions offerings (save the Taycan, of course). Right now, the company accountants could well be taking it in turns to breathe.Understandably, it’s sought out a little pragmatism where it can, by ekeing out the lifecycle of the current ‘E3’ Cayenne. The first-gen car lasted eight years; the second-gen Cayenne a little less; and this one will have served for more than a decade come the time that Stuttgart has it slated for retirement.So this is the Cayenne that Porsche refers to internally as ‘E3 II’. It’s a wide-ranging technical facelift. To be fair to Porsche, it contains at least as much material change as plenty of full generational model renewals: overhauled V6 and V8 engines, new suspension hardware, a pretty much all-new interior, and a couple of all-new model derivatives thrown in for good measure.Additional reporting by Piers Ward
