Since its launch over a decade ago, the Porsche Cayenne has been a controversial vehicle. It sells in droves and does wonders for Porsche’s bottom line, but some will always question whether an SUV can be a “real” Porsche. Tuners seem to have embraced the Cayenne, at any rate.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, noted Porsche tuner TechArt decided to apply its talents to the Cayenne Turbo S. This model features a 4.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that pumps out 570 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque in stock form. That’s not bad for a vehicle that will probably spend most of its time on school runs, but TechArt wasn’t satisfied. Its Magnum Sport Cayenne Turbo S is a car for the power mad.
The tuner found a way to squeeze an additional 150 hp and 88 lb-ft from the V8, for a total of 720 hp and 678 lb-ft. That was achieved through changes to the turbochargers, exhaust system, and engine control software. TechArt also tweaked the oil and coolant systems, and added a performance air filter.
Despite the extra power, the TechArt Cayenne Turbo S does 0 to 62 mph in the same time as a standard Cayenne Turbo S with the optional Sport Chrono package: 3.8 seconds. However, the tuned version will get up to 193 mph, while the stock version tops out at 176 mph.
Performance isn’t the only thing TechArt tried to improve. Beauty is not one of the standard Cayenne’s traits, and the TechArt styling changes don’t really help the SUV in that area. A new body kit certainly helps the Cayenne stand out in a crowded parking lot but if anything it’s even less pleasant to look at than before. The interior gets an equally extroverted two-tone treatment, with lots of carbon fiber trim to boot.
TechArt offers tuning packages, wheels, body kits, and other accessories for just about every Porsche model. That includes lower-level versions of the Cayenne, such as the non-S Cayenne Turbo, Cayenne GTS, and the Cayenne Diesel, which hasn’t been available in the U.S. since Porsche was implicated in the Volkswagen diesel scandal in late 2015.