Porsche Cayenne Ultra EVO Pre-Runner Is Ready To Take On The Desert With 650 HP And 8 Extra Inches Of Girth

Sit down and think for a minute about the phrase "Singer, but for Cayennes" and how you would execute building such a machine. To simplify it a bit, Singer is known for taking every individual piece of a Porsche 911 apart, redesigning or remanufacturing that part from stronger and prettier materials, making all sorts of upgrades along the way, and putting it back together in a package that is more than the sum of its parts. And that's more or less what the folks at Cayenne Ultra and Eurowise Offroad in Charlotte, North Carolina, have attempted to do with Porsche's off-roader. By re-imagining your standard Cayenne into the Cayenne Ultra EVO, Eurowise has made the SUV faster, more powerful, more off-road capable, and arguably better to look at. 

Only sixty examples of the Ultra EVO with the carbon widebody will be made, each customized to the owner's liking. Every Ultra EVO will be imbued with the same desert pre-runner capabilities as your favorite Baja 1000 race rigs, but still have enough luxury and daily usefulness to tackle the mean streets of your city. On the plus side, if you're ever stuck in traffic, you can just cut your own path overland to get to your destination. According to Eurowise, "the Ultra EVO combines approximately 650 horsepower and 750 lb-ft of torque with an engineered carbon widebody, long-travel suspension, bespoke interiors, and private-commission exclusivity."

Based on the 958-generation Cayenne platform, like mine, the Cayenne Ultra EVO is going to be a pretty stout machine. The twin-turbocharged 4.8-liter V8 engine under the hood of a Cayenne Turbo is a great starting point for a performance off-roader, delivering 520 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque in stock trim. Eurowise adds "upgraded turbo hardware, a front-mounted intercooler, a performance exhaust system, and precision engine and transmission calibration designed to deliver immediate throttle response, durability, and seamless power throughout the rev range." 

The vehicle pictured here is the post-facelift 958.2-generation Cayenne, meaning it has a slightly different light pattern and improved components from stock. Eurowise has been building off-road Cayennes for quite a few years now, and the engineers behind this program really know how to get the most from the rig. The truck's form follows its function, with the necessary widebody overfenders creating room for the larger wheels and tires. They really poked and prodded at the bodywork here to make it look as aggressive and over-the-top as possible, but without making it look like every other pre-runner-style truck out there. 

In standard trim, the 2015 Cayenne Turbo is 78.7 inches wide, but Eurowise says its carbon widebody assembly adds a further eight inches, so it'll be 86.7 inches wide on the road. Technically, according to federal regulations for vehicles over 80 inches wide, the Cayenne Ultra EVO should have marker lights added to its widest points and three identification lights in the center of the vehicle front and rear, like you would see on a dually pickup. Being a modified version of an existing vehicle, and not a Eurowise-created VIN, means you can probably get by without the lights, but maybe adding them just in case (or because it looks cool) is a good idea.  

Eurowise worked to develop a special long-travel suspension system that doesn't just use existing Cayenne components in a half-assed manner either. This system involved reworked suspension geometry and mounting to improve upon the existing Cayenne components. Eurowise says its bespoke suspension system enhances "articulation, stability, and high-speed control in on-road, off-road, and competition environments." I would love an opportunity to rip this thing around in the deserts of the American Southwest.

What about the interior? Here's what Eurowise has to say about it:

Inside, every Ultra EVO is individually commissioned with premium textiles, technical materials, and precision finishes. Integrated electronics can manage ambient lighting, onboard Wi-Fi, navigation support, and off-road recovery systems, while drivetrain refinement, available forged engine components, and full underbody protection are designed to help the platform endure demanding use.

The 958-generation Cayenne Turbo was never a fuel sipper, delivering just 14 mpg city and 21 mpg highway, with 17 mpg combined being the car's official EPA fuel economy rating. Add a bunch of power, big heavy wheels and tires, an air-disturbing roof rack, and a giant widebody kit, and you're probably going to struggle to achieve fuel economy numbers in the double digits. Then again, if you have enough money to do something like this to your Cayenne, you probably aren't too worried about fuel prices. 

Eurowise hasn't announced pricing for the Cayenne Ultra EVO yet, and the final price will likely depend on how extreme you want to take things with your bespoke build. High-mileage used Cayennes are cheap, but good Cayenne Turbos are still between 20 and 30 thousand dollars, so I wouldn't be surprised if every single vehicle from the sixty-unit limited production run is deep into the six-figures. I got to see this prototype truck up on the lift in person a couple of weeks ago at Eurowise, and they're really using impressive stuff on this build. 

It's worth noting that Porsche was not involved in this build (nor was the aforementioned Singer), nor is it affiliated with Porsche Cars North America. These are decade-old used SUVs getting rounded up and enhanced with a bunch of aftermarket components. This is the Cayenne, reimagined by Eurowise. I'm not sure I want to go quite this far with my own Cayenne, but for those of you who do, I totally get it.