A bridge to nowhere-Imagine going to Sears in search of a comfortable new couch and finding.
One that uses sand in its cushions, doesn’t have pillows, uses sandpaper in place of leather, but has been modified to also work as a state-of-the-art toilet.
Or, imagine receiving a new cell phone as a gift - one which is missing several keypad buttons, weighs six-and-a-half pounds, and can only receive up to three calls a day, but has the world’s best taco shell heater as an attachment.
And like those things, the 2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.Yes, Porsche vehicles are world-renowned for their high level of performance and when the Cayenne SUV was first released in 2003, it surprised a lot of people with its excellent handling and outstanding acceleration.
But the revamped-for-2008 GTS model seems to take things a tad too far, causing the ‘utility’ in the SUV to become little more than an afterthought.The GTS sits somewhere between the ‘S’ and ‘Turbo’ in the Cayenne model lineup in terms of performance.
It uses a tweaked version of Cayenne’s V8, producing an additional 20-horsepower over the Cayenne S (for a total of 405), while both have the same 369 lb.-ft. of torque. We realize the Turbo has a twin-turbocharged V8 that produces a whopping 500-horsepower, but it doesn’t have the GTS’ lowered ride height (20 mm lower than the Turbo).
The GTS comes standard with Porsche’s Active Suspension Management system, which allows the driver to choose between offroad and performance settings, as well as different ride heights, but this just makes things more confusing.
is this supposed to be a pure performance machine or not? After trying different combinations and settings for the first few days, it was obvious the vehicle shone most brightly in its ‘sport’ setting. In fact, the latter half of our time with the Cayenne GTS was spent in Sport mode. It’s a wonder why Porsche didn’t just leave PASM off altogether, give it a permanent performance setting, and save its buyers a few thousand bucks!
Visually, the GTS gets the same aggressive front end as the Turbo (no problems there), as well as black monochrome finish on door handles, which to us looks unattractive and downright cheap. It comes standard with huge 21-inch wheels and stylish red callipers, though the actual size of the discs themselves are the same as the Cayenne S.
The Cayenne GTS interior is just as stylish as any Porsche, and gets upgraded performance seats up front, while even the two outer rear seating positions get raised bolsters, in case you have a car full of people itching to test what this SUV is capable of doing on a track.
Entry and egress is helped by the aforementioned lowered height, but hampered in the rear by a small opening and doors that don’t swing particularly wide.The rear seats can be folded to make for a nearly flat load floor, but the actual process of folding them is so frustrating you may be apt to leave whatever you’re thinking of transporting where it is.
Simply removing the headrests (required if you want the seats folded down) takes the strength of Hercules himself. You then have to fold the seat cushion forward and fold the seatback down. Oh, and if you’re of taller stature, be careful when loading things into the back. The rear hatch opens automatically, but has different height settings, so you run the risk of cracking your head against it if you’re not paying attention. As we mentioned earlier - utility is not this vehicle’s forte.
Going back to the cockpit, it’s worth noting that with Porsche’s adopting touchscreen capabilities in its vehicles for 2009, the 2008 system feels downright ancient and completely unintuitive. The six-speed manual transmission that comes standard with the GTS is smooth as butter, though shifts aren’t nearly as short as those in any of the Cayenne’s two-door siblings.
And if you want any hint at fuel-efficiency, you may want to drive in sixth gear all the time. There’s a reason why the GTS doesn’t have an average fuel economy computer in it, and it’s similar to why the makers of ‘Hungry Man’ microwaveable meals don’t put any health claims on the front of their boxes. Why advertise your products biggest weakness?.
The Cayenne GTS is safe, it can be fun, and certainly possesses Porsche’s undeniable quality and style. But it also just seems pointless as a sport utility vehicle. If you want blistering power and great handling with some added cargo space, there’s always the Turbo. If you want some decent off-roading capabilities (along with much better fuel economy!) there’s the 6-cylinder Cayenne.