As the least apologetic variant of an already determinedly unapologetic vehicle the Cayenne GTS is the ultimate Marmite test of your opinion on Porsche SUVs. The GTS has always stood for one of two things. Either you bought it because descriptions like 'shy and retiring' or 'Porsche purist' don't apply to you. Or, perhaps more charitably, you think 'sod it, if I'm going to drive an eff-off Porsche 4x4 there's little point in half measures.'
Fewer cylinders but a bit more power
With a bodykit and colour schemes that'd make even a Cheshire-dwelling premiership footballer blush, the GTS has always been a bit of an oddity within the Cayenne range too.
Diesels
do for the school run and Waitrose shopping trips, the amusingly monstrous Turbos for those who like to dust sports cars from the lofty perch of a 4x4 and generally flick vees at everything else on the road. Yet with its blingy looks and booming naturally aspirated V8 the GTS made a curious case for being the most focused from a driving perspective, the lone steel-sprung manual on the launch event for the first generation version a surprisingly delightful device. From behind the wheel at least.
So to the facelifted second generation Cayenne GTS, now down two cylinders but up two turbochargers and running a further enhanced version of the twin-turbo 3.6-litre V6 from the Macan Turbo. It gains 40hp over the 'baby' SUV to 440hp, a 20hp improvement on the previous V8 Cayenne GTS with torque increased by 63lb ft to 442lb ft. Enough to hack half a second out of the 0-62mph time, now just 5.2 seconds or 5.1 with the optional Sports Chrono pack. Fuel consumption improves from 26.4mpg to 28.8mpg (best case) with CO2 of just 228g/km.
Not a car for the shy and retiring then
Visually it keeps the decidedly in your face combination of Turbo front end, bodykit and black painted 20-inch RS Spyder wheels. You can have it with steel springs and PASM (with - natch - a 'sporty set-up') running 24mm lower than standard or with optional air suspension. Bigger brakes from the Turbo also feature.
Where does this leave the GTS? In danger of losing its identity a little, the previous combination of Turbo enhanced looks but beefy sounding normally aspirated V8 its stand-out feature in the Cayenne range. There's a standard sports exhaust and experience of the Porsche twin-turbo V6 shows that it's a pleasant sounding device but, performance gains or not, when downsizing comes to a car like the GTS you know the days of the big V8 truly are numbered. Saying that it's still a £20K leap from the £72,523 asking price of the GTS to the full-fat Turbo, the fact that it has much of the same visual presence (see, that's us being tactful) but at a significantly lower price offering further proof that 'GTS' is often the pick of the respective Porsche range in which it dwells.