2009 Porsche Cayenne Review

2009 Porsche Cayenne - Next Generation.

By: Dan Jedlicka

You'll win lots of bets by asking what person invented the world's first advanced electric car, all-wheel-drive car and gasoline/electric hybrid auto around 1900.

That person wasn't from a well-known automaker at that time. Rather, those cars cane from Ferdinand Porsche, creator of the first Volkswagen Beetle. He was the father of Dr. Ferdinand II "Ferry" Porsche, who founded the Porsche sports car company in 1948--when his father was seriously ill but lived to see the first Porsches built.

Speed shift to 2009. Porsche is covering all bets if fuel prices increase and to meet increasingly stringent European taxation and emissions control mandates by offering a gasoline/electric hybrid system and an advanced diesel in its top-selling Cayenne SUV.

Porsches are known for high performance--not especially fuel economy--and hybrid and diesel models will help increase the small-but-innovative automaker's fleet fuel economy average. The Cayenne S Hybrid, due in America "sometime next year," combines output of an eight-cylinder engine with fuel consumption of a four-cylinder, while meeting the strict American ULEVII emission norm.

Porsche is introducing its sleek Panamera four-door sedan--its first such car--this fall in America with a conventional gas engine. It said a Panamera with hybrid technology similar to that in the Cayenne S Hybrid "will follow.".The Cayenne S Hybrid may arrive in America in 2010, but Porsche said it hasn't fully decided on an introduction date for it.

"If the market goes more hybrid, we'll have a hybrid. If more people begin favoring diesels, we'll have those, too, while retaining gas-engine models," said Porsche spokesman Bernd Harling.

The Cayenne Diesel is beginning to be sold in Europe and other worldwide markets, but Porsche will wait for an appropriate time to bring it to America, where diesel passenger vehicles currently aren't widely popular. Porsche said the American version of the Panamera won't get the Cayenne diesel.

Porsche introduced a Cayenne S Hybrid prototype and Cayennes Diesel to the media at a general "backgrounder" preview in February in Stuttgart, where Porsche's large, futuristic-looking new vehicle museum recently opened.

Test drives of the Cayenne S Hybrid and Diesel showed they were quiet, fast and refined--virtually the same as Cayennes with conventional gasoline engines.

While nearly half the cars in Europe have diesels partly because of stiff fuel prices, Porsche feels that gas/electric hybrids will be far more popular in America, where many have flocked to such hybrid vehicles.

No U.S. prices were released for the Cayenne S Hybrid, but assume it will be price-competitive with expensive high-line hybrid SUVs sold in America. The same holds true for the Panamera hybrid sedan.

Porsche was criticized for introducing the Cayenne SUV in 2003 by some Porsche fans because the automaker had only been known for sports cars. But the mid-size Cayenne has proven to be the automaker's top-seller. It's luxurious and far roomier than the cars and drives like a Porsche, although it's larger, higher and much heavier than the sports cars.

Why the Cayenne? Because Porsche tired of seeing one of its sports cars at one end of a garage and an SIV from, say, Lexus at the other end.

The Cayenne received more power, slightly revised styling and other changes for 2008, but its best fuel economy is an estimated 14 mpg in the city and 20 on highways with its smallest engine, a 290-horsepower V-6. Other Cayennes have more powerful V-8s with lower economy. A 550-horsepower Cayenne V-8 was introduced for 2009 for genuine power junkies.

Despite a poor U.S. market for SUVs last year, Cayenne sales only fell to 11,216 units from 12,547 in 2007, before gasoline prices soared. Meanwhile Porsche auto sales in a poor economic climate here fell to 14,819 units from 22,146 in 2007.

Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi occasionally work together. The Cayenne Diesel thus was jointly developed by Porsche and Audi--a top diesel expert--and the hybrid system was developed by all those automakers.

The smooth, quiet six-cylinder diesel can easily be mistaken for a gasoline engine, except for some subdued turbocharger whine during acceleration. It's a twin-turbocharged V-6 that develops 240 horsepower and considerable torque of 405 pound-feet.

Porsche says the Cayenne Diesel does 0-62 mph in 8.3 seconds (Europeans don't use 0-60 mph figures) and is ideal for driving long distances of up to 620 miles with its 22-gallon fuel tank-- or for towing fairly heavy objects such as a trailer.

The Cayenne Diesel looks the same as a regular Cayenne, but was revised. For instance, it was given modified exhaust and engine management systems, a recalibrated transmission and special acoustics. The instrument cluster also was modified.

I spent the most time at the preview here driving the Cayenne S Hybrid, which also looks like a regular Cayenne, because it's what we're scheduled to first drive in America. It has a supercharged direct-fuel-injection (all the rage now) 3-liter gas Audi V-6 with 333 horsepower and a wide torque band. There's also a 52-horsepower electric motor with enormous torque used as an added power source to boost output of the gas engine or as the sole drive unit, operating on its own.

With all that go-power, no wonder the Cayenne S Hybrid does 0-62 mph in 6.8 seconds. And its "parallel full hybrid" system keeps power flow steady and consistent. It lets the drive unit transmit power generated jointly by the gas engine and electric motor, along with power generated by the gas engine, alone--and drive power provided by the electric motor, alone--with the gas engine disengaged and remaining stationary.

Tech fans might want to know that the hybrid system is "masterminded" by a powerful Hybrid Manager. Interaction of the system's three main components-- gas engine, electric motor and battery--is complex and coordinated by the Hybrid Manager, which could be called the heart of the Cayenne S Hybrid.

The Hybrid Manager masterminds the electric motor and gas engine for optimum fuel economy under all driving conditions, utilizing some 20,000 data parameters to fulfill its function. A a conventional engine control unit makes do with about 6,000 data.

The electric motor is connected to a maintenance-free nickel metal hydride battery storing the electrical energy generated when applying the brakes and under specific driving conditions. Power is transmitted by no less than an eight-speed automatic transmission.

As with most hybrids, the Cayenne S Hybrid does especially well in city driving, where it uses 25 percent less fuel. When driving at the same steady speed and when accelerating moderately, a driver can run the Cayenne S Hybrid entirely on electric power, depending on driving conditions, to a speed of 30 mph--or more.

Also, contrary to other hybrid concepts offering benefits mainly in city traffic, the Cayenne S Hybrid system lets the vehicle smoothly cruise or "roll along" with the gas engine switched off and disengaged at higher speeds in a so-called "sailing" mode.

That mode allows saving a good amount of fuel at speeds up to 86 mph at a relatively consistent speed. And, even at that speed, the Cayenne S Hybrid can accelerate as powerfully and spontaneously as a Cayenne with a regular gas engine, thanks to the immediate reaction of the Hybrid Manager, a clutch and the gas combustion engine and electric motor.

It's not generally known that Porsche long has a highly regarded engineering staff that's done work for producers of other products, including makers of boats, airplanes, motorcycles and amphibious vehicles. It's even designed farm tractors, and clients have included rival automakers.

With a growing, changing world vehicle market and an increasing emphasis on fuel economy, Porsche doesn't want to be outdone in technology and figures it's time for hybrid and modern diesel models.

Visit DanJedlicka.com where veteran auto writer Dan Jedlicka reviews the latest cars and trucks in an easily understood but detailed manner. In addition, Dan's Web site also includes colorful classic and collectible car articles, a letters column and candid interviews with auto-field personalities.

Dan Jedlicka

Dan Jedlicka's Website

Dan Jedlicka joined the Chicago Sun-Times in February 1968 as a business news reporter and was named auto editor later that year. He has reviewed more than 4,000 new vehicles for the Sun-Times--far more than any newspaper auto writer in the country. Jedlicka also reviewed vehicles for Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Autos Internet site from January, 1996, to June, 2008.

Jedlicka remained auto editor at the Sun-Times until October, 2008, and continued writing for the newspaper's AutoTimes section, which he started in 1992, until February, 2009. While continuing his auto writings at the Sun-Times, he served as assistant financial editor of that newspaper from 1970 to 1973, when he began his automotive column.

He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including NBC's "Today," ABC's "20/20" and "The CBS Evening News." He was a host, consultant and writer for Fox-TV Channel 32's 1991 New Car Preview show and that Chicago-based station's 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 Chicago Auto Show Previews.

Jedlicka's auto articles have been printed in national magazines, including Esquire and Harper's. His auto columns have been reprinted in U.S. government publications and economic textbooks and he is profiled in the "World's Greatest Auto Show" history book about the Chicago Auto Show. In late 1975, Jedlicka was host and technical advisor for three one-hour television specials, "Auto Test 76," which aired nationally on PBS and were the first nationally televised auto road test shows.

In 1995, Jedlicka was the recipient of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois Inc.'s Consumer Education Award, given annually to a person who has gained distinction in the field of consumer education. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Media category and inducted into the Legends of Motorsports Guild at the Carquest World of wheels custom car show in Chicago in January, 2006.

Jedlicka was a member of the North American Car and Truck of the Year jury, composed of a select number of auto journalists from throughout the country, from 1995 until 2009. From 2010 to 2012, he was a member of Consumer Digest magazine's auto experts panel that gave Best Buy new vehicle recommendations.

He is a 1987 graduate of the Bob Bondurant Race Drivers School and later of the BMW "M" and Skip Barber Advanced Driving schools. He was a member of the U.S. team that participated in the 1987 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race/rally in Italy and has been a race winner at the Chicago area's Santa Fe Speedway.

Jedlicka has owned 25 classic cars, including 1950s and 1960s Ferraris and 1950s and 1960s Porsches, a 1965 Corvette, a 1967 Maserati and a 1957 Studebaker supercharged Golden Hawk. Jedlicka resides with his wife, Suzanne, in the Frank Lloyd Wright historic district of Oak Park. They have two children, James and Michele.

For more reviews from Dan, visit Facebook.

2009 Porsche Cayenne Review

2009 Porsche Cayenne - Next Generation.

Dan Jedlicka

Find Used Cars in Chicago or Chicago Car Dealers at DriveChicago.com

Navigation

Site Links

Privacy & Security