In a recent article, we talked about how Urus was a strategic move of Lamborghini that helped them to create the future Lamborghini supercars, such as their recent example the Revuelto. And similarly, Urus’s 20-year-old brother from another mother the Cayenne has helped Porsche to create some of the most precise and close to perfect sports cars, that are still modern-day benchmarks in automotive history. On 18th of April 2023, at the Shanghai Auto Show Porsche revealed the facelift of their 3rd generation Cayenne, and 3 days down the line we got the 2023 Cayenne in India at ₹1.35 crore (ex-showroom) and the 2023 Cayenne Coupe at ₹1.43 crore (ex-showroom). By the way, Porsche also revealed the 2023 Cayenne E-Hybrid, 2023 Cayenne S and the 2023 Cayenne Turbo GT as well, and they will also soon be going to make their way to the Indian market.
Talking about the visual upgrades of the 2023 Cayenne facelift over the pre-facelift model are that, it gets a new front facia with a new front bumper, a new HD LED Matrix set-up which includes 32000 pixels per headlight, which changes the throw of the light according to the darkness on the road, and help you and your fellow drive safely, without being unnecessarily on high beam, from the side there is barely any change, but gets a bunch of new alloy wheel options, from 20″ to all the way up to 22″, the rear end also has no change except the taillights, it gets newly designed taillights, looks sleeker than before with a 3D effect to them, these exterior changes may look subtle if you compare it with the pre-facelifted model side-by-side.
The main update is done to the interior of the 2023 Cayenne, you now get a fully digital 12.6″ curved instrument cluster, borrowed from the Taycan, where the tachometer dial is digital as well instead of an analog one on the pre-facelifted model, a new 12.3″ Infotainment system and an optional co-passenger 10.25″ display, which has also been carried forward from the Taycan, and it is designed to not to distract the driver on his/her side of the car, an updated centre console with new climate control setup with some physical buttons as well, which is a sensible addition from Porsche where every brand is deleting physical buttons and adding more screens, and the gear selector is now moved from centre console to the right side of the steering wheel.
With giving the Cayenne a mid-life facelift, Porsche also re-tuned the engines to pump out more power, the standard Cayenne’s 3.0L twin-turbo V6 generates 349hp, which is 15 horses up than the pre-facelift version, and torque with 50Nm gain has gone up from 450Nm to 500Nm of peak torque and the 2023 Cayenne E-Hybrid gets the same re-tuned V6 combined with a new 30 kWh electric motor, which now generates 173hp, which is a 42hp gain from the outgoing model and the total output is gone up from 448hp to 463hp, and the electric-only WLTP claimed range of the 2023 Cayenne E-Hybrid is 77-90km, where the pre-facelift was used to provide 66-74km.
Porsche has given a main upgrade to the 2023 Cayenne S, which is now powered with a 4.0L twin-turbo V8 which replaces the 2.9L twin-turbo V6, which helps the Cayenne S to generate 467hp and 600Nm of peak torque, which is 33hp and 50Nm more than the pre-facelift V6 Cayenne S. Porsche has also given the power upgrade to the facelifted version of the Cayenne Turbo GT, which also gets a more aggressive front facia too, Porsche has increased the power of the Cayenne Turbo GT from 631 to 650hp, which is a 19hp gain and it can do 0-100 in 3.1 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds quicker than the pre-facelift, and make the Cayenne Turbo GT the quickest accelerating ICE SUV ever made.
The base Cayenne will be offered with steel springs and dampers with PASM or Porsche Active Suspension Management Setup with 2-valve technology, which is obviously fitted to reduce the body roll and give you the handling of a 911. Porsche will also offer active air suspension with 2-chamber and 2-valve technology if you want a more supple and comfy ride.
