2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe Review

Just over a year ago, I sold my 2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo with 134,000 miles on the clock. The regret of that decision started setting in almost immediately, as usual. But when Porsche recently offered me a loan of the brand-new 2025 Cayenne GTS Coupe, my stoke levels started to rise nearly as quickly.

The Cayenne GTS returns for 2025 powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0L V8 that lacks the hybrid assist of an E-Hybrid model. This follows up on the Cayenne S bringing the V8 back in 2024, but the GTS adds more power, lowered suspension, and other performance-enhancing options as standard. All these super-SUV upgrades still total up to a significantly more reasonable price tag than a top-spec Turbo GT, though.

Over hundreds of miles on the highway, in the city, and up into some snow, I spent 2 weeks learning what nearly 2 decades of developments does for the Cayenne SUV. Because clearly, we’ve come a long way since 2006.

In short: The GTS might not be Porsche’s most over-the-top Cayenne, but rather occupies a happy middle ground. That is, if an SUV that costs well into six figures ever sounds reasonable. Yet with even more go-fast goodies and Porsche’s quintessential handling, this Cayenne serves as another reminder of why Porsche originally set the standard for Sport Utility Vehicles.

2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe Review

Porsche Cayenne Over Time

My 2006 Cayenne Turbo held up to the years quite well, especially with some mild off-roading modifications. Keep in mind, the original Turbo’s 4.5L V8 put out 450 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque way back then. But it also proved that an SUV could simultaneously drive on-road almost as well as a 911 and off-road almost as well as a true 4×4.

Later Cayenne generations leaned more toward the “Sport” side of the SUV acronym. And the “Utility” transitioned from all-terrain confidence to daily drivability, for urban commuters and families alike. Leave the four-wheeling for the pickups, Porsche’s customer base seemed to say.

Powertrain

In that regard, the Cayenne just keeps improving. Yet surprisingly, Porsche dropped the twin-turbo V8 in all but the Turbo GT — something of a baby Lamborghini Urus. The other V8 option only came with a seriously heavy hybrid package, too. Until last year, when Porsche even more surprisingly brought back the V8 in the Cayenne S. Now, the GTS adds 25 more horsepower, plus performance-focused suspension, brakes, and weight savings.

I took the Cayenne GTS figuring that the Volkswagen AG powerplant would be a known quantity. It’s just so good in anything from an Audi RS 6 Avant to the Urus Performante.

And, in the Cayenne GTS, the exhaust note opens up a bit compared to the Audi, but still lacks the raucous nature of the Lambo. The RS 6 Avant’s 621 horsepower might look better on paper, but Porsche’s transmission tuning might well make up for the difference.

Rather than an eight-speed PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplung, or “dual-clutch”) gearbox, the Cayenne sticks with a traditional torque-converter automatic. Shorter gear ratios at the lower end, plus nice and tall gearing for seventh and eighth, allows this box to live up to both of the Cayenne’s personalities.

I loved stomping on the gas, letting that V8 wind up, and then ripping through lower gears. But the Cayenne GTS will also do 100 miles an hour at just 2,250 rpm in eighth. Theoretically, of course, since I certainly didn’t test that figure while driving down to San Diego and back, with my road bike loaded up in the trunk.

Stealth Style, ‘Bubbly’ Sound

In total, I put well over 500 miles on this Cayenne GTS Coupe. And each mile flew by with supreme comfort, on the highway but also in West L.A. Normal driving in the Cayenne’s “Normal” drive mode absorbs speed bumps and climbs up steep driveways, no problem.

I dialed in “Sport” plenty of times, too, to surgically dissect traffic — where I did notice a bit of rear visibility lost to the Coupe’s lower roofline and more substantial D pillar, though.

This popular flat, gloss-finished grey — technically, Arctic Grey — turned very few heads in Los Angeles. Other than from Porsche cognoscenti, that is, who heard the V8 rumble and saw the yellow Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake rotors and knew something was up.

I’d probably spec my GTS in a dark blue without the houndstooth seat inserts. But I also loved seeing the little hand grips on the center console, a clear homage to my first-gen.

Driving my mother and girlfriend to dinner one night, they laughed that the Cayenne GTS sounded “bubbly” more than once. Two owners of Toyota commuter cars might think that, but Porsche also made the strange choice to amp up the exhaust note with speakers on the interior. Even just idling, the deep thrumble needs no help, in my opinion.

Finding Traction

That well of V8 power loves to break free in Sport Plus mode, too. Once I headed up into the mountains to play around on a wet day, the revised GTS alignment helped the steering feel properly at home.

I also fiddled with PSM (Porsche Stability Management), but the conditions started to get a little sketchy. So, I kept the traction control interventions in the mid-level Sport mode to let the computer save me from totaling the $160,000 SUV.

Then up into the snow, I switched into full “Off-Road” mode, which clearly changed things up. Not to mention that, given the Coupe’s lower roofline, the Cayenne definitely looks best with the air suspension all the way pumped up. Just a few inches of snow on dirt trails provided a bit of soft cushion, but the adaptive sway bars and dampers also performed surprisingly well, given the massive 22-inch wheels.

A set of Pirelli Scorpion all-season tires also held up quite admirably, even as temps dropped below 30 degrees. I never felt too much slip and slide — unless I wanted to — and the confidence of the Cayenne’s full-time all-wheel drive just left me absolutely stunned. The whole chassis just clamps to the ground and is so well-built and glued together.

Cayenne GTS Flaws

Of course, as much as a Cayenne GTS Coupe might live up to Porsche’s reputation, no car is perfect. Most importantly, the auto stop-start function activated far too often, well before I came to a stop. This caused some awkward moments while trying to park head-in, when the engine shut down and I lost power steering.

The same thing happened while switching from drive to reverse, for example, while parallel parking. I eventually learned to dip into the menu screens to turn off stop-start every time I power cycled the car.

Porsche’s new gearshifter on the vertical dash proved fairly intuitive, and it selects drive and reverse with a satisfactory clunk. But, it doesn’t illuminate at night and can blend into the dark dash directly next to the bright touchscreen. This took a long adjustment period, even more than the new push-button start to the left of the steering wheel.

I also found myself baffled that the Cayenne let me adjust the vehicle’s air suspension ride height via push-buttons in the trunk, but not drop the back seats to load up my bicycle without pulling levers on the lower seat cushions of the second row. And, cruise control stopped working regularly, possibly due to all the ash (and then snow) in the air in SoCal. Blocking the instruments used for adaptive cruise also turned off the emergency braking functions.

2025 Cayenne GTS Pricing

For those who think a Cayenne GTS Coupe packed with so much tech sounds too advanced for its own good, that’s not entirely inaccurate. And all the digitalization no doubt adds to this Cayenne’s $159,615 price tag as tested.

A “base” Cayenne GTS Coupe starts at $129,500 meanwhile, or just about 20% less. Personally, I’d skip the Coupe and stick with a full-size to get a bit more storage capacity, since this is a big SUV, after all.

Plus, the PCCBs cost around $10,000 and brake almost too well. Then there’s the nightmarish thought of getting a piece of gravel stuck between a rotor and a caliper.

And do I really need the Lightweight Sport Package (including the carbon-fiber roof) to save 55 pounds? Probably not worth the money for a 1% diet.

Rear-axle steering also helps with that size, especially in parking lots. But, I’d skip it to reduce complexity and save a few more bucks.

Then I start to consider whether the additional 25% versus a normal Cayenne S matters so much, too. Especially since the suspension tuning on the S is also spectacular.

Still, as well as the single-turbo Cayenne V6 that debuted last year — at more like $86,000 — drives, I don’t think I could drop down that far (in a hypothetical world where I don’t own three 1990s Mitsubishis, anyway).

The revived V8 seems best, if only because it helps to cement the Cayenne as the bigger, burlier, better brother to the Macan. And yet, even this spectacular Cayenne GTS Coupe serves as something of a reminder why the Macan is the bestselling vehicle in Porsche’s history.

2025 Cayenne GTS Coupe Review: Conclusions

The Cayenne GTS Coupe boasts the perfect amount of power in a modern SUV, without any hybrid componentry to add weight and complexity. It even seems cheap — compared to a Turbo GT or Lamborghini Urus, anyway.

More seriously, even if nothing is ever perfect, Porsche got about as close as possible in the GTS. Such a sensational combination of power, handling, and quality proves why Porsche still reigns supreme among automotive enthusiasts.

For my lifestyle — which includes hauling bulky outdoor gear and car parts — a non-Coupe makes more sense, without a doubt. And, if you plan to do even any mild off-roading, like forest roads to campsites, a more standard selection of options will probably look more attractive. But for anyone who simply loves driving SUVs, the 2025 Cayenne GTS Coupe might just be the true one-car solution.