While there is a wide assortment of SUV’s on the market these days, there are some that stand out head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, this class segment has almost as many choices available as a Chinese buffet!
Whether you’re talking about smaller compact SUV’s or medium-sized 5 passenger ones, consumers have a plethora of choices, and it can be overwhelming unless you’re on the market for a luxury SUV. Let’s take a look at two big rivals on the SUV market and see how they compare head to head: Porsche Cayenne verse the Land Rover Range Rover Sport.
Based on 10 important attributes, these rivals will be compared head to head so potential buyers can sit back and enjoy the fight... or, drive, more aptly. They will be judged on price, horsepower, performance, style, off-road ability, speed, towing capacity, fuel economy, reliability, and most luxurious interior.
10 Best Price: Porsche Cayenne
Starting with price, specifically, the MSRP, since that’s the most consistent number available. The winner between these 2 luxury SUV’s is the Porsche. With an MSRP of $65,700, the Cayenne is a less expensive vehicle. But that doesn’t mean they skimp on features. It is a Porsche, after all!
9 Horsepower: Porsche Cayenne
The Cayenne boasts 335 horses under the hood, while the Land Rover puts out 254 when the pedal is to the medal. Clearly, Porsche wins again in this category, but let's see how it stacks up against the performance side.
8 Performance: Porsche Cayenne
According to US News' test drive, the Cayenne once again inched ahead of the Range Rovers Sport. They ranked the Porsche's performance at 9.3 out of 10! When you consider their pedigree for sporty race cars it totally makes sense. The Cayenne was able to embody the essence of a traditional 2 door "ultimate driving machine". But was Porsche able to hold down the relentless off-road prowess of the Land Rover?
7 Off-Road Capability: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
While the handling of the Porsche is described as athletic, the Land Rover Range Rover Sport has high capabilities both on and off-road. With a four-wheel-drive system that rivals only Jeep, this SUV took the cake in off-road capabilities. And, to top it off further, this year's Range Rover has a feature that measures the depth of water when you just have to go through it! While that may sound just a bit excessive for the average consumer, this is definitely a nifty little feature for those actually planning on doing some off-roading with this beast.
6 Style: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
While most of these attributes are objective, an important aspect of an automobile is aesthetic. Each of these vehicles has a unique and appealing sense of style. However, there's only one that finishes on top. The Land Rover, with its boxy-yet-sleek, smooth lines, along with the honeycomb grille, make it the most handsome. The Cayenne's design looks more like a Panamera that was stretched out into an SUV. While most of us appreciate Porche's uniformity, the Range Rover Sport looks more attractive. Again, visual appeal is tough to quantify, especially when it comes to cars, so this may still be up for debate among some consumers.
5 Acceleration: Porsche Cayenne
You can't compare these two luxury performance SUVs without mentioning its acceleration. While both of these vehicles are no tortoise on the road, Porsche appears to have drawn from its racing DNA to launch the Cayenne from 0-60 mph in a whopping 3.6 seconds! To be fair, Land Rover's numbers are yet to be released for 2019, but 2017 stats are 5.1 seconds. Realistically, however, there's no reason to actually need this much power unless you're racing for pink slips in a back alley.
4 Towing Capacity: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Outside of drag racing, these vehicles are usually used for towing and utility. Whether you're towing your boat or just a trailer full of your kid's stuff off to college, tow rating can tip the scale when deciding on which one is most desirable. Land Rover wins in this category with a rating of over 7,700 lbs. verse Porsche's measly 1,600 lb rating. Of course, that may not be a deal-breaker if towing capacity is low on your list, but it's still noteworthy since these should be utilized as an SUV!
3 Best Fuel Economy: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
If towing is not in your line of interest, but good fuel economy is, we have good news; while there is a clear winner for best miles per gallon (mpg), both SUV's actually achieve well in this category. The Rover, as it's called for short, boasts 22 mpg's city and 28 highway, while the Cayenne is slightly more thirsty coming in at 19 city and 23 highway. Of course, these numbers are from the manufacturers, so real-life mpg's will vary. Also, note that the Rover's engine is diesel, so fuel will cost more according to where you live.
2 Most Reliable: Porsche Cayenne
There are many reasons to consider a luxury sport-utility, some of which we listed above. However, most people don't consider how reliable the truck is. You may not think this should be at the top of your shopping priorities list, but consider the cost both in time and money. According to US News, the Rover is ranked a lowly 2.5 out of 5, while the Porsche is only a bump above that scoring 3.5 out 5! These scores are shockingly low for such high priced trucks.
1 Most Luxurious: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Finally, the most luxurious SUV head to head, pound for pound is not an easy thing to declare. Both come with standard features like leather-wrapped steering wheel and seats, keyless start, and rear parking aid to name a few. But the Land Rover Range Rover pushes ahead—if only by a hair—with driver lumbar support and seat memory to avoid conflicts with other drivers' preferences. That may sound like a silly metric when talking about an SUV, but, when it comes to interior luxury, these two are basically neck-and-neck.