MaxLTV

I finally got my 2024 Turbo Hybrid and drove it for almost two weeks in Europe, mostly in Germany. TL;DR: It's great.

Details in random order:
First, for baseline, I put about 80K miles each on Cayenne Turbos of the previous two generations (mostly my wife, though) as family/utility cars, for my "daily" I alternate between 800HP 992 Turbo S and GT3 RS (991.2 and now 992).

It was my first hybrid, so I'll start there. I liked the hybrid part more than I expected. It improves comfort by a lot - precool is very effective, even without setting the timer for it to turn on in advance (it does have thermal glass, which helps). Basically, once you touch the door handle, it cools at full blast (much stronger than my previous turbo while idling) while also ventilating seats, so it was very comfortable to get in, even during the current heat wave. Also, driving is super smooth and quiet - there is much fewer shifts because the car just uses eboost instead of downshifting for most speed changes, and engine start-stop is imperceptible. Trunk space is reduced due to the battery, but mostly vertical space is lost, so it does not matter as much. It probably will matter more in the coupe. As a benefit, the trunk floor is about even with the threshold, so sliding bags out is easier and less likely to scratch the bumper.

Throttle response is great. I was worried that switch to single-scroll turbos would add lag. Maybe it did, but electric torque fill is covering for that. But in either case, in typical scenarios, like driving in traffic and gunning it to take advantage of a brief passing opportunity, it's noticeably more responsive than previous gen Turbo. Looking at the boost gauge, it builds boost very quickly too, and at higher speeds it maintains some boost even at steady speed. So lag is not a concern so far, even when there is zero electric range left (there is still charge in the battery for torque fill and power boost).

In Charge mode, it only gives half of electric boost, so the car is not making the quoted power... But I'm not too bummed about that - there are other modes for full power.

Another improvement I noticed was the gearbox. It was probably my biggest gripe with the previous Turbo, especially how it hesitated a lot when given more throttle at slower speed - it's as if it could not decide whether to shift to second or first (curiously, my 992 Turbo also has it, even though it's PDK). This one just goes. To me, this is huge. It did occasionally have some rougher shifts, but overall it's a noticeable improvement across the board.

My only complaint about the hybrid part was that there is no button to change hybrid mode (Auto, Charge or Hold). I often wanted to Hold some charge on the highway to have it for city driving at the destination and for precool. To avoid having to go into the menus, which is hard at 130+ MPH, I changed mode to Sport and then back to Hybrid, which brings a pop-up menu with sub-mode selection. I wonder if there is a better way.

Suspension (4WS, PDCC, 21" wheels) is very good too. Normal mode is MUCH more comfortable, especially on bad/dirt roads. German speed limits are something else - I saw 100km/h (62 MPH) on gravel roads so narrow you need to drop wheels in the grass to give space to oncoming traffic. In US/Canada it would be like 20MPH, 30 at most. So I got to test the suspension quite well. The Normal mode is a magic carpet on the highway, much softer than before, but too soft for twisty roads, but Sport is just fine - very controlled while still extremely comfortable.

I opted for club leather this time, and I really liked it. It's more supple and pleasant to touch - even kids noticed. I did not have it before, so not sure if there is a change with this generation.

The new gearshift position is easy to get used to, but the start button + hybrid's silent start got me confused about car being on or off many times. Infotainment is very responsive and boots up immediately, unlike the previous gen that took a while sometimes. But wireless carplay got dropped from time to time - not sure if it's on Porsche or on Apple. I also could not figure out how to engage active line keep or innodrive cruise control - very unintuitive. I hope it becomes easy once I learn how. Another gripe is that it starts in e-power mode and does not allow customization of that. My wife kept forgetting to change the mode and ended up wasting the charge on the autobahn, where it does not benefit nearly as much as in the city.

The new 3D parking display is great - it saved me from curbed wheels and gray hairs in tiny European garages. Strangely, the back up lines on the screen show a slightly tighter turning radius than what the car actually does (~2 inches, which matters in Europe). I had this issue on the 958 generation Turbo as well but not on the previous one. Anyway, it's not an issue once you know about it, but made for an Austin Powers moment the first time I noticed it.

The interior looks better than before. It does not feel cheapened to me. Black matte plastic is more modern-looking and more pleasant to touch than the previous shiny plastic, and the neodymium-coloured threads in the carbon fiber trim look very cool - nice touch I did not expect. I did not get two-tone interior because I did not like how it had black leather where it was coloured before, but now I'm thinking maybe I would have liked it. But probably not.

The mileage was great too - even in Charge mode on autobahn, where the gas engine does extra work to build up the charge in the battery, it had better mileage than previous gen Turbo at similar speeds.

European delivery experience was great too. Porsche driving instructor to my wife: "Have you driven on the track before" My wife: "Yes, on the track, then off the track, I've done it all."

I dropped it of in Hamburg to get shipped to the port, and one week later it's still at the same spot we left it, which is disappointing, though. Can't wait to get it back.

daveo4porsche

great write up - thanks!!!

I love the SUV in hybrid form - and until you've experienced it the auto-start-stop & seamless blending of EV/ICE power and the in perceptible transitions between the two motors and blending is just simply amazing…wait till you get it home and can charge it in your garage elongating the the times between fill ups…

my current tank of gas is 1/3rd gone - 827 miles - and my last fill up date was june 3rd…at this rate I think it could be mid-august before I need another gas station visit…

congrats on your new SUV - they are a great vehicle and I'm glad to hear Porsche continues to chip away at the software angle and making things better…now if they could only embracing retrofitting software to previous models rather than making me buy a whole new vehilce to get the new software versions…that would be epic.

again great write up!! thanks! and enjoy!

retom

Very good write-up. Thanks.
It coincides with my observations. I've had the Cayenne TEH Coupe for 3 months and I have already made 5k km, of which over 1k km only in electric mode. In EV I manage to achieve a real range of 72-76 km.
So far, apart from minor issues (which I repaired myself), the car has been trouble-free. Generally, I am satisfied with the car, but I also have a few disappointments that I did not expect in a car for this money. I will describe them in more detail with photos someday.
BTW, the new V8s have a mono-scroll turbos to reduce turbo lag.

radctt1

Thanks for posting. Great write up. Enjoy your new ride.

DC1960

2 weeks ago I got an S E-Hybrid and echo what you say. Re tge innodrive at first I thought it had been missed off, but after 1700kms I found it in settings. You have to go through car settings and on the lane keeping, speed sign recognition click on the little gear in the bottom of the PCM and change speed sign recognition to automatic. Then when you resume it should automatically speed up and slow done according to speed sign recognition and then thr same with terrain and junctions.

MaxLTV

I wonder what the disappointments are. Mine so far are very minor, like why there is no 110V/220V electric plug anywhere? I've seen it in other plug-in hybrids. Also, the noise from the brake pedal is a minor annoyance. It's very quiet on my car, but it should not be there at all. Bridgestone tires are also a question mark. I know the latest gen Michelin, Pirelli and Conti all-seasons are brilliant, but could not find any reviews of the latest gen Alenza. They are quiet, which is good, but not sure about the rest.

Regarding turbos - usually, it's the other way around, and twin-scroll is to make them more responsive. But with all the new technologies, who knows. I'm just happy the throttle response is better and gearbox is more responsive too.

Among other things, I like how effective electric regen is at slowing down the car. My front brake rotors were still not fully broken in and had machining marks still on them after 1300km.

ENCT

Great to hear the good reviews, now I just need my car. Keep the reviews coming.

retom

What are my disappointments? The topic is quite extensive and, as I wrote, I will describe it in more detail later.
My previous car was an Audi SQ8. This car and the Cayenne share the same platform, have many common components including the same engines and both cars are also produced not only in the same factory but also on the same production line.
Here are some examples of my Cayenne MY2024 disappointments:
- no headlight sprinklers
- no windshield sprinklers integrated with the windshield wipers
- no engine hood soundproofing mat in V8 models
- no illumination of external door handles
- no electric trunk blind
- no glove box on the left side of the steering wheel
- no armrest adjustment
- reduced interior ambient lighting
- no physical buttons for basic frequently used functions
- reduced trunk lighting. Reflectors in trunk lid instead of lights.
- inability to tilt the rear wiper in the SUV model
- no rear window sunblind
- PCM much worse than Audi MMI. Inability to create shortcuts to important functions.
- worse TPMS showing only tire pressure. No information about tires temperature
- Burmester sound system worse than B&O Advanced in Audi
- Audi is better soundproofed inside despite the frameless windows
- worse assistance systems
- no double window opening buttons in the rear doors

All above are details but are disappointing especially that there is a common VAG technology which could be simply also sheared and Cayenne is 20-25% premium priced vs comparable Q8.

Additionally, in the Cayenne, the interference of accountants is visible too often for a car in this segment. Here is just one example:

Cayenne steering column. No cover.



Audi steering column with cover.

MaxLTV

Interesting. Luckily for me, I do not have any need for any of these and would not even notice if they are there or not, besides more physical buttons for some things. I like quiet cars for long trips, and tire noise is my biggest complaint about the 911, but when I cross-shopped with RS Q8, and it did not seem quieter than the Cayenne, which is very quiet. In fact, the loudest noise I hear from it is that terrible artificial noise electric cars make at low speeds. It's louder than the gas engine, which is nonsensical - stupid Canadian regulations. I wish I could disable it or at least tune it down, but it's illegal and potentially a liability issue if something happens.

By the way, the naked steering column is a Porsche thing and is that way on 911 too, to make it easier to left foot brake with more space. It's less relevant on Cayenne because there is enough space either way, but I think it's kind of cool. I do left foot brake to practice left foot sensitivity for racing.

Needsdecaf

Great writeup, a Cayenne Hybrid is truly a wonderful do it all vehicle.

Your wife will get used to shifting out of EPower, I have little doubt. It took about a week for my wife to get used to the hybrid and now she manages it quite well.

Agree with you on having to go into the screen menus to toggle between the various hybrid modes is a complete faff. There really should be a better way. Fortunately I don't switch out of hybrid auto most of the time, but occasionally I have switched it to charge and it is really annoying to do that.

Will echo what Dave said, once you get it home and start plugging it in, that's when it really gets fun. Our lowest MPG tank in the last 12 months was 29.4 and that's when we went on a PCA tour that had us do nearly 250 miles, about 40% of which was in Sport Plus keeping up with a bunch of sports cars. Otherwise the average has been in the upper 80's and the current tank is 102. Best tank of the last 12 months was 90.5. Yes, we still pay for electricity of course, but that's cheap where I live (although so is gas, lol).

Enjoy!

silversurfer6

Almost 12k and 10 months in wife's base e-hybrid. So far so good.

I am glad I read @Needsdecaf and @daveo4porsche posts about the porsche hybrid tech and did not get here the Cayenne S. It is pure joy and a complete different experience using it in pure E-Power mode and then the integration with the ICE engine is really transparent and give you the best of both worlds.

daveo4porsche

my sympathies for your dissatisfaction with your vehicle - when paying as much as we all do for Porsche complete satisfaction is not just a goal but a requirement - but I will note there is not a single thing on this list that has anything to do with the vehicle being a "hybrid" - it's all general comments about the current/historical state of all 2024 Cayenne's regardless of "trim level". This set of feedback is universally true across the entire Porsche Cayenne Hybrid and non-Hybrid product line…

I also doubt there will be any "joy" in the future on these comments as the issues you are noting are either endemic to the brand or represent a major trend in vehicle design…it would seem to me Porsche is not your chosen brand going forward - I'd love any updates on your next vehicle purchase and where it meets or falls short of your expectations.

retom

I don't buy a cars based on the badge on the hood and I'm not a Porsche fanboy because this is my first car of this brand. I paid over 250k Euro for my fully optioned car in the EU and I have the right to expect a certain standard for this money. As I wrote, I am generally pleased with the car because it drives great for a heavy SUV, but I am also disappointed with many visible signs of cost savings in this car. Probably 99% of users will not pay attention to these savings, but I am in this 1% of car freaks who treat cars also as a hobby and pay attention to details. I simply believe that "noblesse oblige" and the class of a vehicle is evidenced by the details and the manufacturer's care for them. Both I and probably many of other Cayenne owners paying such money for a car would easily pay 1-2k Euro more for options that Porsche has omitted to satisfy their accountants and shareholders.

What will my next car be? I don't know, we'll see what the future brings. but today I would probably consider Audi RSQ8 Performance.

PS. As you will notice, the description of the car posted by the OP contains many elements related not only to the hybrid version.

daveo4porsche

perhaps the new forthcoming "lux" SUV from Porsche will address some of your feedback - it will be interesting - Porsche has clearly stated it will be a level "above" Cayenne in terms of luxury - it is interesting to me to note that the Panamera has optional rear sunshades which is one of the items on your list…

we'll see how this evolves.

silversurfer6

This will probably be a huge car but I guess there is demand and will try to get customers from Ranger Rover and American cars. I guess for that car Porsche must understand that luxury and features should be equal to driving experience or even above it.

Personally I would get it only to use it in weekends with the family for trips where boot space is needed. I even find the Cayenne too big to drive in the city. That said a lot of people think opposite to me and like to drive very large cars.