Admittedly, we’ve struggled to buy into the whole SUV coupe thing. Either you want a practical utility or you don’t. Ahh, if things were only that simple. Could this Porsche Cayenne Coupe be the one to finally make us believers? 

This 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe is of course based on the 3rd generation Cayenne SUV that debuted 2-years ago; and is positioned as its sportier cousin for those with somewhat fewer family needs.

This GTS is the most recent arrival into the Cayenne family, and like the rest of the Porsche lineup, slots in between S and Turbo models.  

It brings with it, new V8 power, a sport exhaust system, unique chassis tuning, and updated styling both inside and out. 

Starting with that styling, if you’re familiar with Porsche’s Sport Design package, it’s standard here on the GTS. That means lots of black trim; along with 21-inch wheels with body-colored wheel arch extensions to cover them, and red brake calipers.  

The Coupe’s steeply falling roof line features both a fixed flow-through spoiler up top, as well as a deploying lip spoiler lower down on the hatch.  In addition, you can lose the normal glass roof for a carbon fiber one, as part of the Lightweight Sport Package, if saving 46-lbs is worth an extra 9-grand in bragging rights. But, you’ll also get 22-inch GT Design wheels, and a center-mounted exhaust system.  

The black trim finds its way inside as well, with dark brushed aluminum throughout, joining black leather and Race-Tex surfaces. There’s also red seat belts and accent stitching.  

There are plenty of options for interacting with the Cayenne Coupe; the easy to use 12-inch touchscreen, a console panel with traditional and touch-sensitive controls, and of course buttons and dials on the steering wheel. 

All-wheel-drive is standard 0n all Cayennes, rear-axle steering an option.

GTS gets a standard air suspension with Active Suspension Management dampers.

Perhaps the best part of the GTS formula is what lies under the hood. It’s the Cayenne Turbo’s 4.0-liter V8. Slightly detuned here at 453-horsepower and 457 lb-ft. of torque.  

Much like its Porsche siblings over on the car side, Performance Start launches you with sheer performance brutality, not so much pushing you forward, as picking you up and throwing you to 60 in 4.2-seconds.  

This GTS Coupe is nimble, instantly responsive, and feels like driving around a jacked-up 911-hatchback.  Okay, not quite, but it performs better than any SUV needs to. 

As to the practical, the Cayenne Coupe has more than you might expect. Seats up, there’s 21.1 cubic-ft. of cargo room, which is 6.1 cubic-ft. less than the Cayenne SUV, but more than some much larger utilities. Max seat folded space is 53.4 cubic-ft. But hey, if you can’t fit it inside, buy a trailer, as you can tow an impressive 7,700-lbs.  

The Cayenne Coupe comes in the same trims as the regular Cayenne SUV, but you’ll pay a little extra for the sportier nature, with a base model coming in at $77,850; this GTS, at $111,850.  

To this point, all of the coupe SUVs from Germany have looked very similar. But the 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe not only looks more unique from the SUV it’s based on, it offers tons more performance with only a modest loss in utility. So, maybe it’s all starting to make sense to us now. Regardless, this Cayenne GTS Coupe is a joy ride that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. And, we do!