In automotive parlance, the letters G-T-S usually mean you’re in for a good time. And although the 2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe doesn’t carry the same gearhead gravitas as—say, a Viper GTS—it sure does put a pretty damn big smile on your face.
I hate to admit, I was a little jaded on the Cayenne leading up to this. Having sampled the base Coupe with the V6, then the Cayenne S with the V8, I was worried there wasn’t much left to say. The V6 coupe showed us the Cayenne has a great chassis, the S showed us eight is the correct number of cylinders, and now … the GTS. Turns out, it really does feel more special, more fun, and more engaging than any new-gen Cayenne we sampled so far thanks to some neat stuff it’s packing.
It starts with a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 under the hood. It’s closely related to the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 you’d find in many Audi and certain Bentley and Lamborghini products. A lot of clever ideas and solid engineering went into this new V8, which was co-developed between Audi and Porsche. Here in the Cayenne GTS Coupe, it puts out 493 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque—a not-insignificant bump over the Cayenne S. As with the rest of the lineup, the engine works with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive.
Ah, that’s where the neat stuff begins. In Porsche parlance in particular, the GTS moniker often represents the “value” pick, employing bits and pieces from higher-spec models into a less-obscenely-priced package. To that end, the GTS uses the Turbo GT’s water-cooled all-wheel-drive system, which supposedly manages heat better under hard driving that would otherwise stress the Cayenne’s diffs—say, chasing the sunrise on your favourite stretch of spaghetti-shaped backroad. The GTS also uses the Turbo GT’s front axle pivot bearings for supposedly better steering response—more on that later—and both air suspension and Porsche’s torque-vectoring rear diff are standard here. You do get a meaningful amount of racy bits underneath, but if someone at Porsche is reading this, how about centre-locking wheels?
Everything we liked about the other refreshed Cayennes we’ve tested so far is apparent in the GTS. The base Cayenne Coupe made up for its lacklustre V6 engine with a chassis offering a sense of athleticism that belied its size and weight. The S solved the problem of the base engine by tossing two extra cylinders, a bunch of extra power, and a satisfying exhaust note—on top of such a good chassis—into the mix. The GTS builds upon all of that by adding heaps of one key ingredient: fizz.
I lamented that the Cayenne Coupe lacked the fizz you’d want in a Porsche, whatever the hell that meant. Well, now I know what it means—it’s the anticipation, the excitement, the ants in your pants when you do something as simple as fire up the snarling V8 or goose the throttle around a corner, and you just know you’re in for a good time. The Cayenne GTS delivers heaps of fizz; the V8 takes on a different persona here, with a lopey idle you’d expect from an American car and a burly baseline that crescendos into a guttural bellow in the upper reaches of the rev range. My favourite part of the experience are the downshifts; the grumbling bark with each click of the paddle shifter is so very addictive.
Like other Cayennes, the GTS shrinks around you. The steering is well-weighted, surprisingly communicative, and the steering wheel is the perfect thickness. Rear-axle steering makes turn-in hilariously sharp for a brute like the GTS, and it responds with generous mechanical grip when you carry some extra speed into an on-ramp. Ride quality is maybe a bit too firm, but the Cayenne GTS is compliant overall considering its sporting intent, and wind and road noise are both well-hushed. Everything meshes well here.
Inside, the Cayenne GTS’ refreshed interior is plucked directly out of the Taycan—at least, the dashboard is. You’re dealing with no less than three displays here; the main piece is a 12.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment. It’s augmented by a 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster for the left, and a 10.9-inch display for the front-seat passenger. It seems like overkill at first, but Porsche executes it better than most. It’s all crisp, sharp, fairly easy to use, and although losing the analog tach stings, the instrument cluster can be configured to show a number of different views, including a five-pod layout reminiscent of old 911s.
But I’m used to the loss of the analog tach, just like I’m used to the new shifter. By moving it up to the upper dash, between the two screens and obstructed by the steering wheel, it opens up a good bit of extra storage, and Porsche still includes a row of switches for quick climate control adjustments—all of which finished in a very pretty knurled look. But the acres of gloss black trim and haptic-feedback controls coating the rest of the centre console, including the climate controls, is an acquired taste. Hey, I said I’m used to it all; that doesn’t mean I like it.
Otherwise, the Cayenne’s fit-and-finish is top notch, the seats are comfortable, there’s plenty of headroom and legroom regardless of where you sit, and although you sacrifice some cargo space by going for the coupe, it’s still plenty usable. Our GTS tester adds some touches you can’t get on other Cayenne trims, most notably the houndstooth seats—a fetching nod to Porsche’s past.
Price-wise, the Cayenne lineup as a whole covers a wide spread; this GTS coupe tester comes in pretty much in the middle, at $139,800 to start. Naturally, given Porsche’s tendency to nickel-and-dime you with options, our tester’s as-tested bottom line punched in at $166,870. It’s a steep ask, even in the Porsche world—we’re not so sure the tastier exhaust note and houndstooth is really worth the thirty-grand-or-so bump over the Cayenne S.
But once in a while, you’ll come across certain qualities and traits that are priceless. The 2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe has more than a few of these; the way its sense of theatre and engagement mesh with everything we already liked about the Cayenne genuinely does result in something that feels more special here. A little bit of fizz goes a long way.
