2012 Porsche Cayenne - Quality Review

The 2012 Cayenne is, first and foremost, a Porsche, and the interior reflects that. Materials, trim, and fit and finish are all top-notch. It's also passenger-focused, though that comes at the expense of some cargo space.

The front seats are very supportive and comfortable throughout the Cayenne range, positioning the driver at a comfortable height, with visibility improved by the not-too-high beltline. The rear seats are roomy as well, with the ability to slide fore and aft more than six inches, plus seat back angle control.

Those spacious rear seats don't fold completely flat, however, making the already somewhat small cargo space that much less useful. The Hybrid doesn't give up any of the precious cargo area, however, by stowing its battery pack where the spare tire would normally be.

When equipped with the Porsche Adaptive Suspension Management (PASM) air-suspension system and Porsche Dynamic Chassic Control (PDCC)--both of which we recommend--the Cayenne is incredibly flexible in adapting to the driving surface and the driver's desires. Comfort, Normal, and Sport modes allow the driver to dial in just the mode they want, while sharpening or softening the responses of the throttle and transmission as well as the suspension.

Porsche's button-focused control scheme might seem busy at first, but it escapes the complexity of screen-based, joystick-controlled systems like BMW's iDrive and Audi's MMI.