First drive: Porsche's 631bhp Cayenne Coupe prototype review

The great thing about four-wheel steering is that it not only helps improve agility at speed but also provides added manoeuvrability at lower speeds. It’s a blessing in urban driving situations, helping to provide a relatively tight turning circle and general ease of use.

As we reach more open roads, it’s the twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre petrol engine that comes under focus. There’s a wonderful tractive nature to the reworked V8; power delivery is smooth and, despite added turbocharger boost pressure, comes without any discernible lag. With a fleeting nudge of the throttle pedal, you’re already well on the way to triple figures.

It’s further up the rev range, though, where the detailed changes to the engine really make their presence felt. The mid-range punch is ferocious, firing the four-seater along with all the intensity of a much smaller, lighter supercar on a wide open throttle. It pulls harder, and with added enthusiasm, than the 542bhp version of the same engine.

Hit Sport mode with a stretch of clear autobahn ahead and the acceleration is nothing short of relentless. The wind buffeting is quite extreme up around those speeds, but increased downforce and enhanced airflow courtesy of the larger rear spoiler and diffuser promote outstanding straight-line stability. The experience is enhanced, too, by the exhaust note, a deep growl that grows harder in intensity and volume all the way up to the 7000rpm redline, from the new model’s standard titanium exhaust system.

The carbon-ceramic brakes are brilliantly effective at hauling the big SUV down from big speeds and, later on, during hot laps of the Porsche driver training circuit at the Hockenheimring. There’s some initial vagueness at the top of the pedal's travel until proper heat is built into the discs. But once it is, the new Porsche stops as securely as any 2200kg-odd SUV has any right to.