You might very well turn your nose up at the prospect of a high-riding, diesel-drinking Porsche, but you might just lower it again when you hear that such a vehicle could cost as little as £13,500, crack nearly 40mpg on a long jaunt and provide a more than agreeably luxurious driving environment.
The second-generation (958) Cayenne – lighter, less offensively styled and more efficient than the original – is what you might call a lot of car for the money these days, particularly in its earlier forms.
That £13,500 would buy you a 2010 model with the Volkswagen Group’s 3.0-litre diesel V6, packing 245bhp and 406lb ft for a 0-62mph time of 7.6sec and a top speed of 136mph – hardly figures that would worry the Carrera GT with which it shares some facial features but more than enough to instil confidence in the left-hand lane of an autobahn.
Performance aside, you might consider the acres of tan leather, the Bose sound system and the dual-zone climate control fitted to this particular example as an incentive to take the plunge into cheap Porsche ownership, and there’s the added bonus that the Cayenne’s relatively staid underpinnings will remain a mystery to all but the keenest-eared.
And the fun doesn’t stop there: this is by far the most dynamically engaging diesel-powered SUV you will find for the money. If you’re feeling particularly flush, there was the much spicier Diesel S with a 4.1-litre V8 that boosted output by 145bhp yet managed to almost replicate the entry-level oil-burner’s impressive frugality.
Of course, diesel is hardly the universal fuel of choice that it used to be in this segment (it accounted for 80% of Cayenne Mk2 sales but is no longer even an option on the current Mk3 any more), so let’s consider some of the other powerplants on offer.
The most exciting is the top-rung twin-turbocharged 4.8-litre petrol V8 that endowed the Cayenne with up to 562bhp and 590lb ft in hot Turbo S form and won acclaim for injecting ludicrous performance into the bargain without notably diminishing daily refinement.
You will have to make a good deal more fuel stops, of course, but then you can make up for lost time with a 0-62mph time of 4.0sec and a top speed of 176mph.
There’s also a hybrid powertrain for the more economically minded to consider. Pre-2014 examples pair a supercharged petrol V6 with a 46bhp electric motor for electric-only running at speeds of up to 37mph, but with economy figures not dissimilar to the generally cheaper diesel, it’s not our pick of the range.
The plug-in hybrid powertrain ushered in with the 2014 facelift brought welcome usability and performance enhancements, boosting EV range from a paltry 1.6 miles to a decent 22 and official CO2 emissions dropping from 193g/km to 79g/km – which reduced the VED rate from £295 per year to nothing.
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