New Cayenne has style

I never really paid it much attention. That is, until now. While being every bit as practical as the model that went before, this second generation model is far more stylish.

Though it’s never going to look as sporty as the rest of the models in the Porsche stable, the design engineers have managed to make the new Cayenne look halfway decent with its long nose and sharply raked windscreen so that there are at least hints at its heritage.

The interior is split into definable areas with driver and front seat passenger separated by a chunky console. All the controls are easy to get to grips with, in particular the upright gearshift selector, but there is a dizzying array of buttons and dials to contend with. So many that it does become confusing the first time you get in and it’s worth spending some time with the instruction manual before setting off.

Diesel and Porsche are not usually two words that go together but the 240bhp diesel engine in the test car with its 38.3 mpg couldn’t be faulted and I like it - a lot. If you didn’t clock the badge on the rear there’s no way you could tell from the drive that it wasn’t powered by petrol.

Stop-start technology is becoming more commonplace with some manufacturers introducing it with varying degrees of success. Porsche seem to have cracked it and the system in the Cayenne is the best I’ve encountered. Coupled as it is with the Tiptronic S eight-speed automatic transmission it is a tremendous piece of kit. The engine fires up again from standstill in a heartbeat and the silky smooth changes in the box barely perceptible. Who needs a manual when automatics are as good as this.

This model is 1.9 inches longer than the old Cayenne which doesn’t sound much but that translates to a fair bit of extra boot room. There’s 670 litres at your disposal and you can increase that to 1,780 litres by moving the rear seats around.

Equipment levels are understandably high but there’s still plenty of scope to customise still further and you don’t need to stop until you’ve run out of money.

You can start of with the £44,178 basic model and, if it takes your 
fancy, add £2,000 for leather, £2,330 for the self-levelling suspension, £1,400 for 19-inch alloys, £1,100 for the unbelievably bright bi-xenon headlights and another £2,000 for the Porsche communication management system. The result, a car costing £57,190.