Leaner Porker
- Published: 12/03/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Motoring
The market's most definite upmarket SUV goes into second generation with more athletic appearance and DNA.
STYLING & PACKAGING
The second-generation Cayenne has evolved mildly in exterior design in order to preserve its identity in the luxury SUV segment. New significant features are LED daytime running lights and more aerodynamic-friendly side-view mirrors.
There's also more sense of masculinity in the Cayenne thanks to a slightly lower stance than before and a wheelbase length longer by 40mm.
In order to quell criticism of weight and fuel consumption, more lightweight materials have been used to bring down weight by an average 180kg.
Interior looks more differentiated than the exterior.
In fact, this is the same approach used in the Volkswagen Touareg, a sister model to the Cayenne that's also slated to share its basic platform and mechanicals with Audi's next-generation Q7.
A more radical change in the new Cayenne is the interior which sees several influences from the Panamera saloon like the centre console housing various functions. Like in the previous Cayenne, there are the signature triangular hand grips up front.
Like in the Touareg, the Cayenne remains a five-seater promising lots of space for occupants and their belongings. Today's Q7 has a seven-seat option to match the BMW X5.
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION
Porsche is wasting no time in launching the Cayene by offering five different engines ranging from diesel, petrol to hybrid, mostly shared with the Panamera and some of it with the Touareg.
All have eight-speed automatic from the VW Group that also supplies it to Volkswagen and Audi and four-wheel-drive.
- Cayenne Diesel - 240hp 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel.
- Cayenne - 300hp 3.6-litre V6 petrol.
- Cayenne Hybrid - 380hp 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol and two electric motors backed by lithium-ion batteries.
- Cayenne S - 400hp 4.8-litre V8 petrol.
- Cayenne Turbo - 500hp 4.8-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol.
Although the S Hybrid can achieve 12.1kpl fuel economy, the Diesel is the most frugal at 13.5kpl. All motors are claimed to be more efficient than ever, thanks to the availability of automatic stop/start.
While the Turbo offers swift sub-5sec 0-100kph acceleration, Porsche could revive the faster Turbo S at a latter stage.
MARKET & PRICING
Porsche has already announced pricing for the Cayenne in Europe, although it is not final yet for those heading to Thai shores later this year. What's sure, though, is that the Cayenne will have prices basically doubling those of the VW Touareg.
Judging from the price increases in the UK, the cheapest Cayenne could see its prices rising from B10.8m to some B11.5m, while dearest would be the Turbo at nearly B20m.
Although the S Hybrid could cost between B15-16m, Thai sales are still under consideration due to service complexities and its compatibility with local driving conditions.
However, there's a chance the diesel version could come with special Euro 3 spec in which economies of scale would be boosted by demand in Russia. The Diesel could be promoted with grunt - and not fuel consumption - of the petrol Cayenne.
No comments:
Post a Comment