Pros

• A brawny V8 provides über amounts of torque
• Traction that’s better than super-glue
• Big brakes take away speed faster than your can Labrador woof down a bowl of mac-cheese
• A lot tougher than it looks
• Porsche Active Suspension Mechanism (PASM) and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDDC), combined, work harder than James Brown at the Apollo.

Cons

• The Bose audio system is so weak that the engine and exhaust note sounds better when singing at high revs
• Slurps more gas than Ludwig at Octoberfest

Verdict: The Cayenne is no Miles Crane when it comes to power, refinement, and the ability to get dirty with the other off-roaders in the neighborhood.

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So, the long rumored hybrid version of Porsche’s Cayenne SUV is becoming more and more of a reality.

The German automaker says the Cayenne Hybrid S will offer V8 power with four-cylinder efficiency, and according to the numbers, they’re probably right. The Cayenne Hybrid S will use 3.0L V6, provided by corporate sibling Audi. The Audi mill cranks out 333 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque, not bad in and of itself, but when you add in the electric motor part of the hybrid drive train, you get another 52 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to get the Cayenne Hybrid S from 0-60 in 6.8 seconds.

In spite of all this high-performance, the Cayenne Hybrid S will put out 20 percent less CO2 emissions than its gasoline version, which is good enough to qualify it as an ULEV II. There’s no official fuel economy figures just yet for the Cayenne Hybrid S, but early reports suggest the SUV could hit 32 mpg on the highway, which is 10 mpg better than the V6-powered Cayenne.

Porsche also pointed out that the Cayenne Hybrid S will be capable of traveling up to 1.2 miles on electric power alone, and that using electric power alone, will make it all the way up to 86 mph.

Source: LeftLaneNews

Much rumored, and much hoped for by lots of greenies as well as people with a green bent that also like to show off, Porsche has started up production of its Cayenne diesel. And this comes after two years denying it would ever build a diesel because they are “incompatible with Porsche’s image.” Ironic, no?

The new production line is happening at Porsche’s state of the art Leipzig factory. The oil burner is the same 240 hp 3.0L V6 TDI mill used by Audi in the Q7, and Volkswagen in their Touareg. Both are headed for the US market. The Cayenne? Well, Porsche ain’t saying just as of yet, but you’d have to think they would want to bring it here. Especially if the CAFE standards get raised, since the same power unit was used by Audi in their Audi Mileage Marathon, and they got an average of almost 29 mpg over nearly 3,000 miles from New York to Denver. Not bad for a big truck.

Anyway, at the moment, Porsche is only offering the Cayenne diesel in Europe where it will be priced from €47,250, which is around 70,000 dollars US, which is to say, not cheap.

Like Porsche Cayenne buyers every worried about such trivialities.

Source: AutoBlogGreen

Paris Motor Show news from Porsche. All of the major auto manufacturers are working hard to squeeze better fuel economy out of their line-up. Porsche may be a luxury brand, but their customers are also conscious of the steep gas prices and our dependency upon foreign oil. Now you can have your cake and use less fuel according to Porsche. I’ll have to dig further and find out how much of an improvement the new generation of engines, all with DFI, have moved up in fuel economy. The official press release (with photos) is below the jump, but doesn’t mention any numbers with regards to how much the reworked engines have improved.

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