Hey everyone,

I currently have a 2023 Macan GTS that I absolutely love. We specced it ourselves and did Euro delivery, so it has a special personal attachment for me. It’s running downpipes and a Stage 2 tune, and it flies while sounding fantastic.

My one big limitation with it is that I can’t tow anything. I also own a GT4 RS that I drive the wheels off. I’ll happily put 1,000 miles on it in a week without thinking twice. But I really hate putting boring highway miles on it when there’s no joy in the drive.

My wife and I love road-tripping to great destinations like Sonoma or Montana, and it would be ideal to bring our dog while towing the GT4 RS. That’s where the Cayenne comes in.

I test-drove a 2025 GTS about a year ago. It was a very nice car, but the drive wasn’t as fun or nimble as my Macan. While on paper it should be quicker, it actually felt slower to me. By no means am I calling the Cayenne inferior, it’s just a different character.

I’ve seen that APR offers tuning for the current GTS and claims some seriously impressive power and torque gains. I’m curious if anyone here has gone the APR route (or similar) on a 2024+ E3.2 GTS. What’s the real-world experience been like? Power delivery, reliability, daily drivability, etc.?

On the financial side, my Macan is almost paid off, so moving to a Cayenne would feel like starting over again. That said, my wife owns a business and the Cayenne meets the weight requirements (GVWR over 6,000 lbs), so we should be able to write off a significant portion of the purchase price. There are also quite a few nice CPO GTS examples out there that have already taken a solid depreciation hit, which makes the idea even more intriguing.

Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, or advice, especially from anyone who’s made a similar jump or has tuned the facelifted V8 GTS.

Thanks in advance!

 

I went from a 2020 Macan Turbo to my current 2025 Cayenne Turbo eHybrid. It was definitely an adjustment and I missed the nimble handling of the Macan for a while. But the Cayenne is so much more comfortable for longer trips and it still handles really really well for what it is.

I have a feeling that since you have the GT4, you probably would end up with a nice balance between the two vehicles.

 

I wasnt aware APR had successfully unlocked the ECU in '24+ model Cayenne's?

 

I don’t think they have.

 

Im confident they haven't.

If they had, i'd be all over it!

 

nothing from APR for 9Y0.2

you need to bench unlock the ecu, and only people i know of doing this and can flash a tune is M Engineering

not sure if OTA updates relocks the ecu like it does on other platforms with bench unlocks

i don't think this is the kind of platform to be pulling ecu's out, would tank the resale value, most likely even brick it from being able to be traded back to the dealer, cayenne is not a tuners platform like a BMW M car for example - i'd look at buying a tgt instead if the gts isn't quick enough

 

Or just get an older Cayenne if you want to tune it. Its def. not a platform for tuners.

 

Or go a piggyback route (JB4/Racechip)

 

Or, keeping the Macan, and getting something else to tow the GT4 RS around. Especially if you have an attachment, and enjoy driving the Macan. You certainly have options.

 

Agree to disagree, I had the previous gen 2022 Cayenne GTS tuned and it was day and night performance compared to stock.

Presently have a 2025 and its somewhat lack luster. The APR tune just made it a lot more lively.

Porsche clearly left plenty on the table, and mild modifications like a tune certainly isn't overkill.

 

It does seem like the APR tune unlocks significant performance and the engine is held back in stock form to stay within the hierarchy. Whether they'll have OBD unlock or if it'll remain bench unlock only in the future remains to be seen.
I've got the same combo as you - GT4RS and just took delivery of a new cayenne GTS for family duties; still running it in so haven't pushed it fully yet, but its got plenty of mid range shove and it handles / drives a lot nicer than our G05 X5 M50i that we traded for it.
I do also have a manual mustang dark horse that I recently acquired and plan to supercharge that, so hoping that keeps my modification itch at bay for a while!

 

This?
https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...parts/EM100040