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Story by Jack Baruth
The Cayenne GTS hasn’t even hit the streets yet, but when it does, the model’s primary reason to exist – the six-speed manual which appears for the first time in a NAR-market Cayenne V8 – may be missing.
Porsche has made much hay of the GTS prior to its arrival. The 405-horsepower SUV, which starts at $69,300 but easily reaches to $95,000 or more with the leather dashboard, full-length sunroof, and convenience options, was meant to fill the massive gap between the $57,900, 385-horsepower Cayenne S and the $93,700, 500-horsepower Cayenne Turbo. Mating the aggressive looks of the Turbo with a special steel-spring suspension and available six-speed manual transmission, the GTS was positioned as the enthusiast’s choice in the Cayenne family.
Dubspeed Driven’s mole within the Porsche customer base, “Deep Fox”, recently placed an order for a six-speed GTS with all the trimmings, but was surprised to receive a call from his dealer today informing him that availability of manual-transmission GTS models would be delayed until further notice, or perhaps indefinitely. The only way to retain his spot in the GTS line would be to spend the extra $3,000 and take the Tiptronic transmission. We’ll keep you posted as more information arrives, but right now it looks like the praise of the auto-journalist crowd hasn’t exactly convinced Porsche there’s really a market for a six-speed Cayenne V8.
