Porsche has canned its proposed Q5-based Roxster 4×4, and is instead pushing ahead with its second-generation Cayenne SUV, CAR can disclose. The new model will feature much of the Panamera limo’s technology, including a stop/start system – and there will also be a hybrid model running a supercharged V6.
I didn’t even like the first Porsche Cayenne! Now you’re telling me there’s a new one?
We are, but when the Cayenne was launched in 2003 no one could have predicted that, come 2009, we’d see a second-gen car testing after the first one went on to make up around half of Porsche’s annual production. But on the eve of the launch of the Porsche Panamera super-saloon, Porsche’s line-up is in a very different place to where it was a decade ago.
The current Cayenne is based on the VW Touareg, Porsche having completed the development work for VW and then piggybacked the platform. We’ve already snapped the new Touareg out testing and it’ll again share its underpinning with the next Cayenne.
What’s new on the next Porsche Cayenne?
The architecture will be revised as the VW Group partners are sending their 4x4s on a crash diet. VW, Porsche and Audi with its Q7 replacement want to cleave 200kg from the kerbweight; congratulations are in order.
Extensive use of aluminium for the doors, boot and bonnet are on the cards, while on-road models will lose much of the unnecessary green-laning kit. A full aluminium body was originally considered, but dismissed on cost grounds.
Our sources have suggested that the Cayenne’s wheelbase and overall length will be stretched by around 50mm, and Porsche will make tweaks to the seats and fuel tank to squeeze out those extra millimetres of cabin space.
Will the new Cayenne look like a Porsche Panamera inside?
Pretty much, though the Cayenne will seat five while Panamera owners can only carry four. Ahead of the driver there’ll be the usual collection of five dials with the rev counter sitting proud and prominent. The centre console will be lifted from the Panamera and feature a large central touch-screen flanked by air vents. The transmission tunnel will feature the same vast array of buttons as Porsche’s limo, and in this 4×4 there are controls for the differentials and air suspension, plus a grab handle for your passenger if you ever do some off-roading.
And outside?
In typical Porsche fashion, the looks of the Cayenne will be an evolution of the current’s car, but also feature influences from the Panamera. There’s the usual 911-esque headlights and a huge array of air intakes to feed the engines, though the rear of the Cayenne will feature the biggest changes, with the indicators and reversing lamps now mounted on the tailgate.
What are these new engines?
The Cayenne is expected to feature the current car’s 4.8-litre direct-injection V8, in both naturally aspirated and twin-turbo forms, but there’ll also be both petrol and diesel V6s, and all PDK-equipped cars will come with stop/start. The 3.0-litre diesel will be a development of today’s oil-burner and produce 300bhp. It’s unclear whether the V6 petrol will be a naturally aspirated unit, or the supercharged Audi-derived engine that will power the hybrid Cayenne.
In the Cayenne S Hybrid the new direct-injection supercharged 3.0-litre V6 produces 328bhp and is mated to a 52bhp electric motor. There’s also 324lb ft from the fossil fuel engine, and 210lb ft from the electric motor. The two work through an eight-speed Aisin auto with a stop/start function, and the hybrid Cayenne will be able to run on electric power only at speeds up to 30mph, and also occasionally ‘sail’ on electric power at speeds up to 86mph.
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