If ever there was a car hit by the ugly stick, the Porsche Cayenne was it. Sure, it must have seemed like a great idea at the time; "let's graft our familiar 911 nose onto a large SUV." Did it not occur to anyone in Porsche Design that this in fact wasn't a great idea?

Still, from a slow start, the Cayenne has become a raging success and now one in every two Porsches sold is a Cayenne. Who'd have thought it? Far from resting on its laurels, Porsche has chosen to facelift the Cayenne after only four years. The press release proudly proclaims "the new, attractively designed Cayenne..." OK, maybe that's the marketing department getting carried away, but the new front-end doesn't look too bad. Unfortunately the entire styling budget went on the front; the rear is unchanged save for a roof spoiler (and being Porsche it probably really does work) and rear bumper diffuser (likewise). There's just something about the back of the Cayenne that isn't quite right. And I'm still not sure about that gaping hole at the front of the Cayenne Turbo either - small vehicles are in danger of being swallowed whole!

Being unpleasant to look at never harmed the Cayenne's sales figures and you have to assume that being less ugly won't either. This being Porsche, of course it's not just a cosmetic facelift; the engines get uprated as well. The entry level Cayenne sees its engine size increase from 3.2-litres to 3.6-litres and power increased by 40bhp to 290bhp, dropping the 0-62mph time in the process from 9.1 seconds to 8.1 seconds.

The Cayenne S benefits from the addition of direct petrol injection, VarioCam Plus valve control, and a bigger 4.8-litre V8 engine. This ups the power to 385bhp from 340bhp and 0-62mph comes down to 6.6 seconds (from 6.8 seconds).

Of course, you can imagine early series 1 Cayenne Turbo owners saying they too need more power. Well, some of them must have done because they've not been left out either. The twin-turbocharged V8 engine now joins its German compatriots Mercedes and BMW as fully fledged members of the 500bhp club! This drops the 0-62mph time from 5.6 seconds to an almost unbelievable 5.1 seconds. For two tonnes of 4x4 for goodness sake!

Thank goodness the Cayenne Turbo has been fitted with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) - it's going to need it. And just to make sure, you can also have Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC, an anti-roll system), Porsche Stability Management with Brake Assist and Advanced Trailer Stabilisation (presumably so you can tow your yacht at three figure speeds?). The Cayenne Turbo also now comes with dynamic bend lighting (where's the Japanese style acronym for that one?).

The new revised Porsche Cayenne range goes on sale in February 2007, but will first be displayed at the Detroit Motor Show in January. We'll be there.

Trevor Nicosia - 13 Dec 2006