EXTRA SPICY; Porsche gives the red-hot Cayenne Turbo S even more fire.

Byline: NATALIE NEFF

Just a few short years ago the notion of a Porsche-engineered and -branded sport/ute challenged the sensibilities of even the most cynical car enthusiasts. The vaunted sports car maker-sire of such gloriously pure driving machines as the 911-building a... truck? It was a notion not to be entertained, theoretical mumbo jumbo promulgated by poppy-smoking auto-industry analysts, a bad joke unfurled like a cyber-hantavirus on the Internet. Except that it wasn't.

Today the idea of a Porsche-badged truck hardly raises an eyebrow, its reality made all the more palatable by its impeccable execution. The Cayenne has proven itself more than worthy of donning the Stuttgart shield. Fears that the ute would look, feel or drive like a reskinned Volkswagen Touareg-with which enthusiasts knew it shared a platform and development-quickly fizzled once the automotive press logged any time behind its big, grippy three-spoke steering wheel.

The Cayenne S exceeded expectations, from power, handling, build and appointment perspectives, while the Turbo blew them away. And if the V6-driven base Cayenne-with its decidedly non-boxer, VW-sourced engine-lured closeted hecklers out into the open when it rolled onto the scene awhile ago, the jeers were of a more muted variety than those voiced at the Cayenne's genesis.

Sales prove the formula successful, with more than 125,000 Cayennes sold worldwide since production began near the end of 2002. In fact, after initially projecting an annual output of 20,000 units, Porsche quickly had to revise those estimates in response to demand. Production reached 40,000 at its peak. Porsche says the Cayenne makes up almost half of all its production and is the best-selling model ever. And Americans particularly love it: The factory in Leipzig, Germany, cranks out upward of 150 units per day, a full 40 percent of which make their way stateside.

If any doubt yet lingers in the minds of the motoring public that the SUV and sports car can be one and the same, the quiet launch of the Cayenne Turbo S this past January should quash that doubt once and for all.

From appearances, only the most detail-oriented car geeks will notice the subtle differentiations between the Turbo S and lesser Cayennes. Its 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 275/40 performance rubber are the biggest telltales, while out back two pairs of oval exhaust tips and chrome tailgate badging give away the vehicle's identity, as might the sole paint color unique to the Turbo S, Marine Blue Metallic.