Porsche has borrowed from the electric Taycan sports car to give its petrol Cayenne a cabin makeover.
Although it looks similar to before, the devil is in the detail here. The transmission selector is now a stubby unit on the dashboard, and the 12.6-inch curved instrument binnacle has a range of new layouts.
Don’t worry Porsche purists, you can still have a classic-looking five-dial layout if you want. The new steering wheel is lifted from the 911 sports car, and the design of the air vents leans heavily on the Taycan for inspiration.
The transmission tunnel is now home to a new climate control pod, too. There’s still plenty of gloss black, but it’s far simpler than before.
Two big screens dominate the dashboard. A 12.3-inch touchscreen sitting in the middle of the dashboard runs the latest Porsche Communication Management software, while the passenger can now take control with a 10.9-inch screen of their own.
A film on the passenger display means the driver can’t see it on the move. Porsche says it “allows the front passenger to take the strain off the driver”; we’d say it enables backseat drivers like never before.
Other detail changes include more USB-C ports, and a cooled area to wirelessly charge your smartphone at 15W.
Porsche has previously confirmed its updated Cayenne will debut in the coming months, and there are official development photos of the crossover going through its paces.
The brand has confirmed some of the new features that will be offered. These include a new semi-active chassis, and brighter high-definition matrix LED headlights.
Externally the biggest changes will be the slimmed down headlight clusters, a revised bonnet, more aggressive bumper designs, and new tail-light graphics that stretch across the full width of the tailgate.
The third-generation Cayenne crossover made its debut in 2017, and the “coupe” variant launched in 2019.
The current car looks set to be the last offered with petrol engine options, with the next generation model expected to be based on the electric-only Platform Premium Electric (PPE), which will underpin the upcoming Macan EV, as well as a slew of models from Audi, including the Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron.
According to Porsche, prototypes for the Cayenne facelift have clocked up a total of four million kilometres, with most test vehicles completing 200,000km within a few months.
Testing locations include off-road tracks in Spain, sand dunes in Morocco, winter snow and ice in Finland, and the Nürburgring Nordschleife track.
