TRIPLE-FILTERED PERFECTION

The Porsche Cayenne is widely regarded as the SUV that properly added ‘sport’ to ‘utility vehicle’. Sure, it was beaten to the monocoque punch by the appearance of both Mercedes ML and the firstgeneration BMW X5, but it was the 2003 Cayenne that really got driving enthusiasts juices flowing (not least because of the way it handled, belying its considerable mass when on the move) even if the very self-same enthusiasts weren’t as enamoured with the Porsche’s somewhat challenging exterior looks.

Save for its little brother, the Macan, bursting onto the scene to rapturous applause for its impressive dynamics in 2014, the exalted position as the SUV all of Porsche’s rival manufacturers aim to emulate has been the Cayenne’s stomping ground for the past seventeen years – so much so that engineers behind Aston Martin’s first-ever SUV, the recently launched DBX, freely admit the Cayenne is the SUV they most want their creation to drive like. Factor in knowledge that the third-generation Cayenne sits on the Volkswagen Group’s superb MLB Evo chassis and you’d think the largest Porsche SUV would be head-and-shoulders clear of every other competitor vehicle in terms of chassis poise and driver reward.

That hasn’t turned out to be the