Porsche's Updated Super SUV Is a Sight to Behold

Porsche is giving some of its existing models a facelift, and the Cayenne is one of them. The goal for models like this is to remain competitive for a few extra years until the brand can make a new one with a gas engine. While the outside may look similar, the company had better have some notable changes happening under the hood and in the cabin.

The CarBuzz spy photographers first captured the Cayenne's facelift during late winter testing. Now it's been spotted by the CarBuzz team in much nicer weather and the more scenic environs of Germany. The updated GTS model was spotted last time around, and this time it appears to be the Cayenne Turbo.

The changes are subtle, but they're there. The running lights, for a start, have been altered. The prototype has lights that are completely straight along the edges, while the current version's have slight cutouts top and bottom in the center. The twin-bar grille of the current model has been replaced with a single-bar grille.

Porsche has camouflaged the headlights slightly, using stickers that hide the edges. Expect some revisions, but they will be small ones. Changes at the rear appear to be similarly small, though some tape on the Porsche logo and near the bottom of the bumper suggest some alterations there as well.

Get a good look, because this Cayenne might disappear in the blink of an eye. We can't see much of the interior, but the lack of a cover on the dashboard suggests it won't be getting any changes either. One interesting thing to note, though, is that the digital dash is turned off. The speed indicator is on a separate testing gauge, so Porsche could be working on a new look for the screen's software.

This car doesn't have the acid yellow brake calipers of most Porsche hybrids, but it does have the charger door on the driver's side. That makes it the Turbo E-Hybrid, the most powerful of the Cayenne gas SUV models. The current one makes 729 horsepower from a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and electric motor.

Here's hoping that Porsche is planning to get some extra power out of it in place of making more substantial appearance changes. The Cayenne Turbo GT, only offered as a Coupe, makes 650 hp from the same engine, 59 ponies more than the Turbo E-Hybrid. So there is room to roam.

Porsche, like some other automakers, had expected the electric vehicle push to go much more quickly than it has. The company introduced the Cayenne EV last year, and it was intended to replace the gas model entirely following a similar move with the smaller Macan.

Porsche is far from abandoning combustion engines. Just look at what's coming.

That plan has since been reversed, and now the company is working on a new generation with gas power. Former CEO Oliver Blume said that the Cayenne will offer gas as well as electric and hybrid models "into the next decade".

It's rare to see an automaker like Porsche scramble, but that's clearly what it is doing. The Cayenne, Macan, and 718 models have suffered from the EV transition, and Porsche's resources have been stretched extremely thinly.

The third-generation Cayenne first went on sale in 2018, making it practically ancient. Especially for a high-dollar performance vehicle. But the tiny changes you see above aren't the only update since the last decade. Porsche gave the Cayenne a serious working over for 2024 that replaced the dash and nose and upgraded the engines. Against that background, these tiny cosmetic differences aren't quite such a big problem.