Of course, when you've got a big solid SUV these days, no-one expects it to be in a position to venture anywhere remotely off-piste; it's the automotive equivalent of trompe l'oeil, an optical illusion. You could take it too far and build a road-biased Porsche that looks like it could give a Land Rover a run for its money, but that would be silly.
Unfortunately Porsche did - and although the car itself might have caused furrowed brows and consternation amongst driving enthusiasts, Porsche turned it around by pointing out that they needed to pay the bills. The Cayenne sold in surprisingly large numbers, and it was overhauled for a second generation.
The latest model has a sleeker, sportier air about it, all pretence of mud-plugging ability erased. Admittedly both generations of Cayenne have had a reasonable amount of off-road ability, but you can't imagine it has been exploited very often. There are ride height and hill descent controls available if you want them, though.
The styling of the newest Cayenne is much more successful than the first iteration. The 911 elements are more overt, less awkwardly translated into 4x4 cues. It's a much more attractive and desirable car for the changes.
The Cayenne feels much more itself on the road - although having engineered the car to resist body roll and have a sporty feel, the ride is on the firm side. You can use a dashboard controller to choose between comfort, sport and normal settings, but even the comfort mode isn't particularly comfortable. The relaxing seats do make up for this somewhat.
This is all to the benefit of the driving experience though - Porsche has weaved some sort of magic with the Cayenne, making it feel like a much smaller car. It turns keenly and provides plenty of enjoyment for the driver. Ditching 180kg of weight between generations has helped considerably too.
Every Cayenne feels rapid on the move - the engines are all responsive and useable, even the slowest motor powers the Cayenne on to 62mph in a mere 6.5 seconds. There are performance petrol engines, a diesel and a hybrid option available on the car - the petrols are predictably fun, the diesel reasonably frugal and the hybrid a good mix of the two but considerably more expensive than the diesel.
The sporty, road-biased Cayenne is a much better package, and the hybrid option makes it a little more socially acceptable too.