2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Tested: Just a Silly Little Guy

• The Porsche Cayenne GTS got a substantial refresh for 2025.
• Small changes under the skin and more power are the key updates.
• But how does it perform? And is it the best Cayenne to buy? Let's find out.

The Cayenne's interior also gets an overhaul for 2025. Gone is the analog instrument panel, replaced with a configurable screen that lacks a sunshade. I don't personally love a digital instrument cluster, but this one does pack in some usable information. And when you're in manual mode, shifting via the wheel-mounted paddles, yellow lights flash and then turn blue as you near the V8 engine's redline, alerting you to shift.

The rest of the Cayenne's interior is typical Porsche fare and, honestly, easily the most boring part of the car. Everything is black or gray (with a few GTS-specific red accents thrown in). There's also too much piano black plastic for something this expensive. If you're buying a Cayenne GTS, consider a more creative interior specification, please.

Of course, the GTS' motor is the centerpiece here. The 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 makes 493 horsepower and 486 lb-ft of torque. It's far from the most powerful V8 Porsche makes, but it still pulls with real vigor. Even better, the thing burbles and snarls through the sport exhaust like it's been ripped from an old German DTM car. Porsche has been making turbocharged V8s that sound good for a while now, but the way this thing gurgles and snorts is bound to bring out your inner child, even if just for a moment.

But the GTS' 4.1-second 0-60 mph run doesn't exactly put it in rarefied air, even among other fast SUVs. Competition from BMW's M division, the hot-rodders at AMG and big, fast Audis like the SQ7 will either closely match the GTS or leave this Porsche for dead on a drag strip. We've also tested more than a few SUVs in this price range that hang on to our skidpad harder and stop in shorter distances from 60 mph.

The GTS' figures certainly aren't what you'd call middling — and you can attribute those grip and braking figures to the hardly SUV-worthy Pirelli stickums — but outright performance is not what the GTS is about. Instead, it's the way this SUV manages to blend everything together so neatly, without the slightest hiccup anywhere. 

Porsche has mastered the dark art of brilliantly tuned controls. A sports car's steering, throttle and brakes should all feel the same in both how much effort you put into them and the amount of response you get. The Cayenne GTS is an exemplar of this consistency. Everything you do, be it steer, stop or go, requires the same level of effort and the same amount of input to get the desired outcome. Even the automatic transmission, despite not being the quickest-shifting gearbox out there, is consistent in how it delivers gear changes and always knows exactly when to move up or down through its eight ratios. There is so little slop or delay between what you ask of the car and what it does next, and it is always so pinpoint accurate in its response, that you wouldn't be blamed for thinking you were driving a hot hatch instead.

The optional rear-wheel steering is neatly tuned and makes this 5,148-pound heavyweight turn in like a smaller, lighter car. The Cayenne GTS only feels out of sorts when you're in an oversteer situation, which, surprisingly, happens more often than you might think. Under throttle the GTS is tuned to let its rear end slide — nothing that isn't easily caught, of course. Prospective owners, beware.

When you're not trying to induce rump-sliding shenanigans, the Cayenne GTS is incredibly sharp and composed. But it also never feels clinical or boring. The Cayenne GTS wants to have fun. It's a Porsche with a sense of humor — how refreshing.  

Whether you're ripping up a backroad or lugging your bedding to the laundromat, this big red Cayenne makes every trip enjoyable, and you don't even have to be in the sportiest modes to have a laugh. So don't worry about the numbers. Don't hem and haw over the way-too-drab, way-too-gray interior. Don't fret the price tag either. If you have this kind of cash to burn and an SUV-sized hole in your driveway, the answer doesn't get much clearer.

Photos by Darren Martin