Porsche cayenne

FOR ANYTHING TO succeed, it has to live up to its description. A funfair should indeed be fun, an ice rink icy and a sports SUV… well, you see where we’re going here.

Fortunately for Porsche, its Cayenne sports SUV has never struggled to live up to the ‘sports’ bit of the description.And now it’s been given a range of updates to keep it fresh against rival models.

Arguably, the most significant changes to the Cayenne – and the sleeker Cayenne Coupé version – are under the bonnet.This will be the last generation to run on petrol before an all-electric model replaces it, and the engines have been given more power than ever so they go out on a high.

At the top of the performance tree is the Turbo GT, which comes in Coupé form only and is ridiculously quick for any car, let alone an SUV. Its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 now has 650bhp, and can officially dart from 0-62mph in just 3.2sec – faster than the previous Turbo GT and the rival Lamborghini Urus.

At the more sensible end of the range, the entry-level Cayenne’s turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine now produces 348bhp.The 4.0-litre V8 in the next model up, the Cayenne S, is now turbocharged for 468bhp, giving it a 0-62mph sprint time of 4.8sec, which is quicker than the rival Mercedes-AMG GLE 53.

For the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version – called the Cayenne E-Hybrid – Porsche has given both the electric motor and the 3.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine more power, for a new total of 464bhp. Perhaps more importantly to PHEV buyers, the latest E-Hybrid has been fitted with a bigger battery (25.9kWh) for a longer electric-only range. It can now officially travel for 52 miles without using any petrol. That’s farther than the Volvo XC90 T8 (up to 43 miles) but is still beaten by the Range Rover Sport P440e (up to 70 miles).

All Cayennes now come with adaptive suspension as standard, so you can stiffen the set-up for a sportier feel at the touch of a button. Air suspension, which is standard on the Range Rover Sport, remains an expensive option on most Cayennes.

For all the engine changes, the refreshed Cayenne and Cayenne Coupé don’t look radically different from the previous versions. Not everyone will spot that the rear number plate on non-Coupé cars has moved from the tailgate to the bumper, for example.

If you look carefully, you’ll see there are tweaks to the front bumper, a new rear light design and widened wheel arches for a sligh