pete_d
Member Since: 23 Jun 2025
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 3
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Yes, I’ve just changed from a 2018 9Y0 Cayenne S to an 18 month old P550e. I’d had the Cayenne from new to 7 years and 48,000 miles, but it was a surprisingly easy decision to change.
Bad news first… As you expect, the RRS is nowhere like as involving to drive. By comparison the Cayenne felt like a sports car, whereas the RRS feels like a very surefooted, luxurious tank. The active anti roll bars of the RRS help counter the mass in corners, and the rear wheel steering adds a bit of agility, but it’s nothing like the way the Cayenne would breathe along a county road at speed (mine had rear axle steering and air, but not the PDCC active roll). The RR steering in particular is very numb; Porsche still do steering like nobody else, except perhaps McLaren.
But now the good stuff! The drivetrain is brilliant, with lovely EV / IC integration from the clever auto gearbox and motor generator combo. It’s great to have 50 plus miles of EV range around town, and when you want to press on the electric motor all but eliminates lag from the turbo lump. Ok, it weighs the same the Ark Royal, but the instant torque makes up somewhat. The RRS certainly doesn't feel slow compared to the 440bhp Cayenne, which felt like it always needed more revs than an SUV deserved, even if it weighed at least 500kg less. Economy is a pleasant surprise: the petrol consumption is about the same, even a little better, than the Porker (28-30mpg), but offsetting that with electric miles makes it much better still.
In terms of feelgood factor the RRS wins by a mile. I spec’d my Cayenne generously, with around 20k of options, but the Autobiography spec P550e has just about the entire Porsche spec list as standard, plus a few more niceties like the fridge. Things like the digital matrix headlights show how much cars have evolved in past years. I thought the matrix lights in the Porsche were like witchcraft, but these are brighter and more accurate. Too early to tell for me about reliability, but build quality seems good - my car is an early 2024 with 8k miles and it feels like new. By the time i sold it, my Cayenne had suffered saggy, bubbling dashboard leather; numerous rattles; blowing BOSE door speakers; crazed exterior trim, and those were just the things the Porsche warranty wouldn’t cover! This was my 5th Porsche and by far the worst build quality, although it was literally the first of its generation to be delivered, so perhaps i just had a bad one. My experience of Porsche dealer service is that it used to be brilliant, but more recently has been mediocre, so I’m well prepared for the JLR experience…
I would strongly recommend the RRS, especially the PHEV. I have more involving things to drive for fun, so for me it was a realisation that our family bus should be a luxurious long distance cruiser, and even better if it could also be an economical runabout in town. The fact that it can be fast and amusing when you want to treat it like a hooligan is a very nice bonus. Enjoy the search!
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Anybody get a big discount on SV Ultra Metallic? And whilst I tell myself that 23” monster wheels are silly, I do feel that aesthetically the car really needs these (Style 1075 specifically).
Wed Jul 02 2025 11:08pm
