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Porsche has carved a niche for itself in the luxury SUV segment with its Cayenne range which has become a firm favourite, particularly with expat mums and dads on the Saar school run.
After taking the new Cayenne Sport for a spin, it is easy to understand why it has become so popular. Rarely have ‘power’ and ‘smooth’ combined so well, meaning that every minute spent taming this beauty was a pleasure.
The focus for this model has clearly been centred on making the car look sportier than previous iterations, which has been achieved with a much sharper design. In particular, the bonnet, front body and air blades feature sleek lines and voracious curves that give the vehicle a classier look.
Under the bonnet, the excellence you would expect from a Porsche is guaranteed as standard, but this time there’s a bit of extra oomph. The 420bhp, 3.6-litre V6 bi-turbo engine roars into life with remarkable response, and with acceleration from zero to 100km/h taking just 5.5 seconds, it’s fair to assume that the days of pesky lane grabbers storming ahead of you at traffic lights are gone.
As always, driving is most fun when you are actually doing it yourself, and so flicking the gear stick into manual mode allows you to take advantage of the eight-speed tiptronic transmission, adjustable by the comfortable paddles behind the steering wheel.
Considering the size of the engine, the Cayenne is surprisingly light on fuel. This is due to the all-new coasting function and advanced stop-start procedure, plus optimised thermal management with active cooling air flaps feeding directly to the engine.
The infotainment system is accessed by a 7-inch colour touchscreen mounted on the centre stack and features a myriad of options. Admittedly, it is a touch too confusing at first for the more casual driver, but with a little bit of exploration it should be easy enough to get to grips with.
Packed with a CD player which can load up to six discs, radio featuring an FM twin-tuner and 30 memory presets, internet, Bluetooth connectivity, GPS, maps and USB input, everything you need is just a few presses away.
Seats feature electronic adjustment and a memory system (accessed by a button on the side panel) which means you do not have to spend precious time readjusting everything if you car-share.
The smooth, leather-wrapped steering wheel has a multifunctional design with volume control, radio and telephone functions. One of the dials on the dashboard is also digital and can display various settings or even display the local map. At first this feature is really cool, but with only a very small roll button to adjust the display and use the zoom controls, it’s overly fiddly when driving at high speeds where snappy navigational decisions are required.
The steering wheel also packs optional heating, but judging by past experiences with leather interiors, this will be a forgotten feature in the Bahrain summers!
The air conditioning certainly won’t be, though, and thanks to dual climate controls, the driver and passenger won’t have to argue about fan settings.
Safety is a paramount feature in modern cars, and the new Cayenne introduces various features. The Porsche Stability Management helps to stabilise the vehicle in hazardous scenarios, with electronic sensors continuously monitoring speed, direction and velocity of the car while increasing or decreasing traction based on road surfaces.
Furthermore, B-Xenon headlights and daytime running lights ensure that the car is visible at all times, while Porsche Active Safe cruise control utilises a radar sensor to monitor the road up to 200m ahead of you, ensuring that if a car ahead suddenly slows, your car will brake or slow the engine naturally.
Remarkably fun to drive, particularly using the paddle shifters, the Porsche Cayenne Sport is a comfortable, smooth, safe and technologically-packed car. Although a few features on the infotainment side are a little confusing and require some trial-and-error, overall this model would be a classy asset.
The Cayenne Sport is available starting from BD33,500 and is available from the Behbehani Brothers Porsche showroom in Sitra or call 17459911 for details.
