Lighter look for Porsche's big hitter

BY ROB MAETZIG

An all-new slimmed down version of the Porsche Cayenne has entered the New Zealand luxury vehicle market, as Rob Maetzig backgrounds.

Whenever new- generation vehicles are launched, it's usual for the car companies concerned to say that weight increases have been kept to a minimum.

That's because the new models are always bigger than the model they replace, and carry more standard specification. So they are almost always going to be heavier than before, despite the best efforts of the engineers to use materials and design and construction methods aimed - as they say - at keeping the weight increases to a minimum.

So it's very unusual to have a new vehicle arrive that is substantially lighter than before. But that's what luxury manufacturer Porsche has achieved with its second- generation Cayenne SUV.

Thanks to a whole raft of weight-saving initiatives, particularly use of new lightweight materials and construction techniques, the weight of the Cayenne's body-on- white (the basic body) is a remarkable 111 kg lighter. And once everything has been installed into the various models, the new versions are up to 185 kg lighter than the Cayennes they replace.

That's a brilliant achievement, and it is entirely in keeping with a nice new slim-line look that the Cayenne boasts, despite the fact the luxury SUV has actually grown in size.

"A bigger car that weighs less, and with more powerful engines that consume less fuel - we think that will be an appealing package," said European Motor Distributors Ltd's Porsche sales and marketing manager Greg Clarke at a media briefing in Auckland last week.

He expects the Cayenne will account for at least half all Porsche sales in New Zealand, thus continuing a sales trend established right from the start of the first-generation Cayenne's career in this country in 2003.

Cayenne has been something of a godsend for Porsche. When it was first launched in Europe back in 2002 it caused all sorts of ructions among the Porsche traditionalists who feared the arrival of a dirty old SUV represented the beginning of the end for the famous German sportscar marque.

But instead, the Cayenne proved an enormous success. In fact, it could be said to have saved the marque, because ever since that launch eight years ago the model has claimed more than 50 per cent of all Porsche sales and helped the manufacturer recover from financial troubles.

Five different versions of the Cayenne are entering the New Zealand market.

A 3.6-litre V6 petrol model will retail for $137,000, while a 3.0-litre turbo diesel version will cost $138,000. Both these prices are $1000 more than before.

A 4.8-litre V8 S version will cost $182,500 which is $5000 more than the model it replaces, while the 4.8-litre biturboV8-powered Turbo will retail for the same $270,000 as before. A brand-new model will be a Cayenne S Hybrid - the first production Porsche with hybrid drive - which enters the market for $197,500.

First impression of this new Cayenne is that it is a very good looking SUV. Despite the fact it is larger in all dimensions than the first-generation model, it actually looks more compact. The rear view is particularly attractive in a smooth almost hatchback sort of way, while from the front, the Cayenne's nose design and headlights are unmistakedly Porsche.

The frontal portion of the interior is pretty much borrowed from the Panamera four-door sportscar, which means that controls for various functions such as the climate control, audio, and ride and suspension settings, are all sensibly grouped around the gearshift lever.

During the drive programme at last week's media event, I didn't have that much time to try these controls, but I know from experience with the Panamera that they allow fast and intuitive control without having to spend a lot of time searching for specific functions in complicated sub- menus.

Seating is brilliant, offering a wide range of adjustment options for those sitting in the front. The rear seats also slide fore-aft over a 160mm range for additional legroom when required, and they also recline by six degrees. With all seats in use, the luggage space at the rear is 670 litres (580 litres on the hybrid), and this can grow to 1780 litres when the back seats are folded down.

Even at the Cayenne V6 petrol and diesel level, there's a much improved base specification, with standard items now including the Porsche communication management system, navigation, much improved audio interface, automatic cruise control, and full connectivity.

The S, Hybrid and Turbo versions also get bi-xenon headlights, a power tailgate, and rear-view camera. The S and Hybrid get 14-way front seat adjustment, while the Turbo gets 18-way adjustment. Thankfully, all this comes with memory.

All models come with a new eight-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic, which replaces the previous six- speeder.

Top speed continues to be achieved in sixth gear because the two additional gears are both overdrive ratios that are there to help improve the range of gear spread by 20 per cent and of course to substantially reduce fuel consumption.

The Cayenne literally lopes along at 100 kmh, with even the V6 petrol engine turning over at around 1750 rpm when the transmission is in that very long- legged eighth. This has helped achieve a fuel consumption reduction of up to 23 per cent versus the former models. Naturally, the best is the diesel which has an average consumption of 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres, but the Hybrid also achieves 8.2 L/100 km.

While the new Cayenne continues to have a strong off- road capability, the new vehicle's all-wheel range system doesn't have low range anymore.

Instead the vehicle has the Porsche Traction Management system that was introduced in the Panamera, and which has been tailored two ways for particular models: the Diesel and the Hybrid have permanent all- wheel drive with self-locking centre differential, while the Cayenne, S and Turbo have active all-wheel drive with an electronically controlled multiple-plate clutch.

Obviously, the difference between the two is recognition that some of the Cayenne models have more sporting intent than others, even though with all models the driver is able to adjust the all-wheel drive systems to better suit terrain to be encountered. But, in all cases, the absence of a reduced-ratio gearbox needed for the old Low range, has saved some 33 kg in weight.

Some improvements have been made to some of the engines that power the Cayenne.

The V6 now produces 220 kilowatts and 400 newton metres which is 7 kW and 15 Nm more than before, while the S model's V8 now develops 294 kW and 500 Nm which is 11 kW and 15 Nm more.

Meanwhile, the power plant aboard the hybrid combines a 245 kW/440 Nm 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol with an electric motor that develops 34 kW and 300 Nm in a full parallel hybrid-drive system.

End result is a vehicle that offers 279 kW of power and 480 Nm of torque - sufficient, said Greg Clarke, to give the performance of a V8 but the fuel consumption of something considerably less.

Clarke is confident that the new Porsche Cayenne has the goods to continue the model's sales career, which so far has seen a total of 620 sold in this country at a rate of about two a week.

A few hours driving a selection of various versions last week proved that from quality-of-drive perspective, the new Cayenne certainly has the goods to do that. We didn't go off-road, but their on-road performance along a route that took us through north Waikato proved the vehicle to ride, handle and perform brilliantly.

It may still look unmistakedly like the Cayenne it replaces, but it is trimmer and lighter - and therefore a better runner than before.

- © Fairfax NZ News