While we are patiently waiting for the debut of the facelifted Porsche Cayenne later this year, the automaker teased us with photos and videos of the SUV during cruel development testing in extreme weather conditions. According to Porsche, this will be one of the biggest product updates in their history, including changes to the exterior and interior design, better tech equipment, a significantly revised chassis setup, and upgraded powertrains.
Our spy photographers have provided plenty of photos showing lightly camouflaged prototypes of the 2024 Porsche Cayenne, but this is the first time that the Zuffenhausen-based automaker publishes official footage of the soon-to-be-updated SUV.
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The current third-gen Porsche Cayenne was originally introduced back in 2017, making it six years old this year. This is probably why Porsche went for a significant upgrade, with the development testing process being very similar to that of a new generation model.
Test manager Ralf Bosch said: “We’re subjecting the new Cayenne to a complete and comprehensive testing program, just as if we’d developed it from scratch”. Real-life testing took place in the sand dunes of Morocco, off-road areas in Spain, US motorways, the demanding turns of Nurburgring Nordschleife, and the icy cold tracks of Finland, alongside virtual simulations.
The automaker mentioned updates in the powertrains but didn’t get into specifics. However, in the official video, it is revealed that the plug-in hybrid variant will get more power and a larger battery pack. The chassis of the SUV has received “major revisions” from engineers at the Porsche Development Center in Weissach, targeting a “wider range” between on-road performance, long-distance comfort, and off-road capability. The new semi-active chassis includes a dual-chamber air-spring suspension setup that can easily adapt to different types of terrains and driving scenarios.
As described by Ralf Bosch, Manager of Testing for the Cayenne Product Line, “A proper SUV must be able to handle difficult terrain, even if customers probably wouldn’t do this to their car in real life. But they know that they could. That’s a promise we honor”. Judging from the footage, the 2024 Cayenne will be quite capable off the beaten track, as it was tested on mud, sand, snow, and rocks.
We have pretty much covered the exterior changes in our scoop stories. Porsche detailed the new HD-Matrix LED technology on the headlights which can be twice as bright compared to the current units, and showed us the fancy LED graphics on the full-width taillights. Other portions of the bodywork including the bumpers have also been redesigned, but in typical Porsche fashion, the result is more evolutionary than revolutionary. The aforementioned upgrades apply to both the regular Cayenne and the Cayenne Coupe.
Interior changes include an “extensively digitalized display and operating concept with enhanced connectivity functions” hinting at the new and probably larger infotainment screen and instrument cluster. We guess that the same treatment will be applied in the next Porsche Panamera and other models from the future lineup.
Porsche said that the facelifted Cayenne will launch globally this spring.
