Porsche Cayenne interior
You won’t find any cheap plastics or scratchy trims in the Porsche Cayenne’s exquisite cabin. But, then again, you won’t find it with Android Auto smartphone mirroring, either…
Style
The Porsche Cayenne’s interior feels more like it belongs in a low-slung sports car than a high-riding SUV. There’s a broad, sweeping dashboard and a very tall centre console which make you feel quite cocooned in the front seats.
The Porsche Cayenne’s huge central infotainment system is one of the sharpest in the business and looks absolutely fantastic. In front of the slick leather-trimmed steering wheel you’ll find two extra screens and, rather unusually, a conventional rev-counter – something of a Porsche signature these days.
All the switches you’ll regularly use are either made from cool brushed metal or come with a glossy glass-like finish. There isn’t a single cheap-feeling or scratchy plastic to be found in the Cayenne’s cabin and even the mirror cover on the sun visor comes with a soft-close action like a posh kitchen cabinet. The solid metal shift paddles on the steering wheel are a particular highlight, and the optional extended leather pack for the dashboard is another very nice touch.
The Porsche Cayenne’s cabin is packed with tech, but it still comes with a few neat old-school touches to help it stand out – like the analogue rev counter and key-like starter switch
- Monthly
- £748*
- Used
- £57,000
Infotainment
Every Porsche Cayenne comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display nestled neatly in the dashboard. Through this you’ll control most of the car’s onboard functions – from tuning the stereo to tweaking the adaptive suspension settings.
The screen responds pretty much instantly to your inputs but it doesn’t buzz or click like the screens in an Audi Q8 to let you know you’ve pressed the correct icon. This doesn’t make any difference when you’re parked, but it means the screen isn’t particularly intuitive to use when you’re driving.
Thankfully, the menus are logically laid out and you get two rows of physical shortcut buttons down on the centre console to help you quickly access most of the system’s main features. There’s a scroll wheel too – just like you get in a Mercedes GLE Coupe – but it’s absolutely tiny so isn’t all that easy to find without taking your eyes off the road.
The climate control switches are much easier to locate, however, and they’re a doddle to use compared with the Audi Q8’s rather awkward touchscreen heating and ventilation controls.
Not quite as slick as in the Audi, however, are the Porsche’s two digital driver’s displays. Sitting either side of a conventional rev counter, these two screens are pin-sharp but their two-piece layout means they can’t display sat-nav directions quite as clearly as the larger one-piece displays you get in the Audi Q8 and Range Rover Sport.
That said, the Porsche Cayenne’s central display is so big won’t have any trouble checking for upcoming directions. The maps themselves come with gorgeous high-resolution satellite imagery and they respond almost instantly when you swipe and pinch to pan and zoom.
Programming an address is a doddle too, and you can even write in whole postcodes using your finger on the touchscreen rather than using an on-screen keyboard. This works brilliantly if you’re left-handed but feels a little strange if you’re not.
If you’re not a fan of the Porsche Cayenne’s built-in sat nav you can use the standard Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring feature to use a selection of your iPhone’s apps through the Cayenne’s screen instead. It’s easy to connect your phone, but the CarPlay menus don’t quite fill the Porsche’s huge touchscreen so you end up with a rather unsightly blank patch to the left of the display. Unfortunately for users of Android phones, you can’t get the Porsche Cayenne with Android Auto.
- Monthly
- £748*
- Used
- £57,000
*Please contact the dealer for a personalised quote, including terms and conditions. Quote is subject to dealer requirements, including status and availability. Illustrations are based on personal contract hire, 9 month upfront fee, 48 month term and 8000 miles annually, VAT included.