Porsche launches Cayenne Coupé, prices start at £62,129

The new Cayenne Coupé, on sale now from £62,129, retains the sporty SUV-ness of the original but is lower and gets an all-glass roof and fastback rear end for a much more dynamic look. Purposeful and elegant, asserts Porsche. At last! 

The latest in a now crowded market of high-performance SUV Coupés, Porsche’s BMW X6 rival joins the regular Cayenne in a newly expanded range. Two versions have so far been announced: that temptingly entry-priced version, powered by the 340PS (335bhp) petrol V6, and the Cayenne Turbo Coupé, starting at a whopping £104,729. Both come in around £6,000 more than equivalently engined non-coupé versions.

As that huge price difference between the two models indicates, there’s a chasm in performance between the pair, with the 550PS (543bhp) V8 Turbo chalking up 177mph and 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds, against the V6 car’s 150mph and 6.0 seconds. There’s no diesel version, and won’t be, and as yet no hybrid either but we can assume that’s coming.

What do you get with the Cayenne Coupé apart from the change in looks? A massive, fixed all-glass roof is standard, or you can have a lightweight carbon-fibre roof if you don’t like living in a fishbowl. The Cayenne’s active aerodynamics are developed for the Coupé to include a new adaptive rear spoiler, just below the tailgate glass, which extends by 135mm (5+ inches) at speeds over 56mph.

Boot space is just as flexible as the Cayenne, even with a 20mm lower roofline, with fold down rear seats and at 625 litres, maxing out at 1,540 litres, meaning boot space is only around 150 litres less than the taller one.

You get four seats as standard but a three-place bench is available as a no-cost option for those who need a fifth perch. In either case the rear seats are set 30mm lower than in the Cayenne, to maintain enough headroom in the back. Up front, behind the slightly more raked back windscreen, are new eight-way sports seats with, as in previous decades, integrated head restraints; you can even have your seat inserts in classic Porsche check fabric.

Option packages, majoring on weight-saving, include not only the carbon-fibre roof but also new 22-inch diameter GT Design alloy wheels, Sport Design styling features and carbon and Alcantara interior trim.

The Cayenne, into its third generation now, has been a great success for Porsche. But with the Cayenne Coupé adding good looks to the five doors and four-wheel-drive recipe, Porsche’s SUV looks to be on the brink of a whole new chapter.