My Cayenne base EV finally arrived (first impressions, reviews, updates)

[Moheisen(FirstEV)]

Moheisen & CHP - did you have the ac on during city driving. Not sure about Sweden but CHP in the UK you may well have !

Yes, it was on!

 

[CHP]

Yes I do all the time currently. Set at 23 degree Celsius in comfort mode with open roof. Best experience ever (excluding convertible). AC is super strong, nearly instant and airflow is optimal. Did the same on 911, they are worlds apart, well, actually didn't work on 911. I know you are getting the Coupe, you have to take a bit of teasing as you are get the better looking car .

 

[Wivenhoe]

Agreed - no opening roof or massage seats, 2 things I’ll miss from the 4S. I’m hoping there is an upside to having the variable light roof. I had a ‘chromatic’ sunroof in my Lexus RZ, drove me mad as it always defaulted to opaque and had to be reset most of the time - at least the Cayenne’s remains in the last setting.

I‘m slowly coming to terms with buying a slower car, no opening roof or massage seats but in my view a better looking more comfortable car !

 

[SGSTAN]

Did you option the sport chrono package? If yes, how does the car sound on sport plus mode? I’ve ordered the base with sport chrono but could not find any videos of the sound. I was told, only the turbo has the v8 growl, not the base.

 

[Throb]

Did you option the sport chrono package? If yes, how does the car sound on sport plus mode? I’ve ordered the base with sport chrono but could not find any videos of the sound. I was told, only the turbo has the v8 growl, not the base.

Correct. Only the Turbo has the V8. It sounds great in person from outside the car.

The other models have a V6 sound, but on my test drive a month ago, I was quite impressed by it, and it didn't seem too inferior to the Turbo.

 

[Cayven Noir]

@CHP Now that you’ve had the car for about a month, any updated thoughts? Do you still feel the Macan EV has the edge when it comes to sportiness and driving feel?

 

[CHP]

@CHP Now that you’ve had the car for about a month, any updated thoughts? Do you still feel the Macan EV has the edge when it comes to sportiness and driving feel?

I would say so. Car is bigger, slightly heavier and driving position is higher. Feels more comfortable and suspension is brilliant. Car get's sharper in sport, but from recollection 4S was more fun to drive. Macan has this hot hatch feeling which you don't get in Cayenne. Best to ask @Wivenhoe as he just swapped his 4S.

 

[Wivenhoe]

I have had 2 fairly rapid and long drives since collecting my base Coupe yesterday. I totally agree with CHP's thoughts. The car is definitely a far more luxurious car and the base model doesn't have the 'performance' feel of my Macan 4S. I am very happy with the grunt in the Coupe as I am not looking for a 'performance' drive, comfort is my priority and it certainly satisfies that.

I think the main difference between the 4S and Coupe is the take off acceleration. It may be less noticeable if launch control in Sport Plus was used in the Coupe, but I don't bother with that. I don't know if CHP will agree, but I think the 0.7s difference is entirely in the take off as once the Coupe gets moving the acceleration is comparable. This is why I think Launch Control would lessen the difference but without a doubt the 4S and Coupe are entirely different drives. I've said a few times on here, that I thought the £ 18k differential for less than 1 second acceleration to 60 mph was too much to justify. The RAS is a must in my view as it makes the Coupe feel much smaller than it is - the turning circle becomes less than the Macan's !

Suffice to say, I select Comfort mode when I get in the car and not Sport Plus.

 

[mirto]

@CHP can you comment more about the interior quality compared to your Macan? When I checked the Macan EV, it wasn't really an upgrade compared to my I-Pace when only taking interior (build) quality into account. Did you feel moving to the Cayenne was definitely an upgrade?

 

[Wivenhoe]

@CHP will no doubt give his impression. For what it is worth I changed my Macan 4S for a Coupe. I had leather in the 4S but not full. I think the Cayenne is in a different league - the finish is better, the 14 way seats are more comfortable, the screen far more usable and the feeling of more space is very noticeable. I previously had a Range Rover and I think the Cayenne is definitely as well built and finished.

I think a test drive would convince you it is certainly in the same if not better than I-Pace

 

[CHP]

@CHP can you comment more about the interior quality compared to your Macan? When I checked the Macan EV, it wasn't really an upgrade compared to my I-Pace when only taking interior (build) quality into account. Did you feel moving to the Cayenne was definitely an upgrade?

For sure it’s an significant upgrade. I had a Panamera as a loaner and I think this is the car closest to the interior feel and quality. Everything feels more luxurious and solid. Never liked the centre console of Macan despite extra leather I have optioned. If you like the interior of Panamera, you will be very happy with Cayenne. The glass roof is large so even with all black interior it doesn’t look to dark.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Ditto as per above posts that Cayenne’s interior is a major step up (or two) above our Macan EV Turbo.

 

[mirto]

Thanks all. We almost bought a young used Macan EV a couple of months back, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't justify the money we'd have to spend. When spending this much, it has to be a proper upgrade. Talking about driving dynamics and charging curves to my wife who was sitting in the passenger seat, did not impress her

I hope to test drive a Base and S with PAR soon, so I can feel the difference myself. Making the decision between a relatively good specced Base in a few months or a fully loaded S in 2 years or so will be difficult. I'm hoping this one will last me 10+ years. A Turbo won't depreciate enough in 2-3 years I think, nicely specced ones are 230k euros here.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Smart wife.

The rest of my post is just some opinions and thoughts: FWIW.

My wife and went to our local dealership having pre-configured a Macan GTS with everything. It was a $150,000 build (USD). And yet on the way over we talked about how our current Macan EV Turbo (which we bought for $25K under MSRP for our 1,538 mile CPO — and in superb condition)) would be nicely replaced by the Macan GTS at tens of thousands less than the Cayenne EV S we would buy (keep thinking of those mega potential MAcan GTS savings). But one minute inside the Cayenne EV at the dealership and it was clear that even a Macan GTS, totlally optioned, still would have a second-rate interior compared to even an entry Cayenne EV. The Cayenne EV Turbo we saw at the dealership (showroom only) was literally a ZERO option vehicle.

May I suggest respectfully that unless you are a track person, that super expensive PAR might not be desirable, certainly not unless you already set as your higher priority options both RAS and PTV+. That is unless ride comfort is your # 1 priority. (For us, great handling, steering, and braking is why we massively pay up for a Porsche.)

The Cayenne EV benefits from two years of further Porsche Engineers learning and IMO since our Macan has PTV+ and RAS and corners extremely well (I have some track time), and as it does not have PAR, why would a two-year-advanced/improved Cayenne EV need PAR to be at least as capable as our very good handling Macan without PAR is.

We are fortunate that we do not need to place our order now and thus are waiting for an already-scheduled, late September Cayenne S test drive, one which does not have PAR but does have RAS. That will be our major decision maker on whether we spend $7,790 (USD) price on PAR. Perhaps we will come back from that test ride concluding PAR is now a must (compared to now when it is not on our “S” option list).

I keep re-thinking that every Cayenne Turbo out there that Porsche handed to the auto-media reviewers, had PAR — and yes 80% loved the car, but how much of that loving it was just to the delightfully instance power level it had. Some reviewers however came back preferring the Cayenne version they drove without PAR compared to the other one they drove which had PAR.

$7,790 is a massive stepping stone toward an “S” upgrade. Just my opinions/thoughts FWIW.

 

[mirto]

Good post, thank you. You might be right, but since this will be my first Porsche and I hope it'll last me years, I want to get it right. The thing with PAR is, it's unique to Porsche and it's lauded by almost all reviewers. I have no idea if the cost is justifyable and I don't know if a test drive will be good enough to make up one's mind.
It won't be a deal breaker if a nicely priced and specced Base comes my way, but it sure would be great to have it.

RAS is a must have for me considering the size.