2011 Porsche Cayenne Specs and Details Revealed!

Pic courtesy: our friends at www.worldcarfans.com

Autocar UK has given out the details of the 2011 next gen Porsche Cayenne 2 month before the car is publically unveiled at the Geneva Motor show this year.

Like the current generation, the new Porsche Cayenne has been developed alongside the second generation Volkswagen Touareg and will come with a range of 5 engines including a petrol electric hybrid powertrain for the first time. Porsche will offer three new petrol engine which are updated version of the unit being used in the outgoing model. The engine include a 296 bhp 3.0 litre Vo for the entry level car, a 395 bhp naturally aspirated 4.8 litre V8 for the mid tier Cayenne S and a range topping 493 bhp turbocharged version of the 4.8 litre V8 in the range topping Cayenne Turbo S. A modified version of the 237 bhp 3.0 litre V6 diesel sourced from Audi will also be offered.

The big new however is the all wheel drive hybrid model which will be a first from Porsche.  The hybrid powertrain uses an Audi developed 3.0 litre supercharged V6 with 328 bhp of maximum power combined with a 46 bhp electric motor which gets its energy from lithium ion batteries mounted in the spare wheel well in the boot. All models will come equipped with an 8-speed automatic transmission which along with automatic start stop system and brake energy regeneration system claims to reduce the fuel consumption by a whopping 23%! The hybrid version is claimed to deliver an impressive for a SUV 34.5 mpg with less than 200 g/km of CO2 making it the greenest and most fuel efficient car in the entire Porsche line-up.

Jump over to read about all the other details.

Apart from improvements in the powetrain efficiency, Porsche has also worked hard to cut the weight which is down by a massive 10%!  The reduction has been achieved by optimizing the construction of the bodyshell which uses a combination of steel for the main structure and aluminium for the bonnet, tailgate and all four doors. Further, Porsche has ditched the transfer case with the low ratio gearbox which lightens the car by 66 kgs and a new wiring loom which is 10 kg lighter. The new Cayenne S tips the scales at 2065 kg, a whopping 180 kg lighter according to official information. The weight loss program is even more impressive when you consider that the new model come with 70 kg more standard equipment than the current version!

The interior packaging is all new too which when combined with a lengthened wheelbase of 2895 mm provides more room for the passengers and luggage inside. The middle row comfort for which the current model is frequently criticized for, now features heavily contoured sliding seats which can be adjusted 160mm fore and aft and also use a back rest than can be adjusted by 6 degrees.

The boot space is now a mammoth 670 litres, 120 litre up on the outgoing model which grows to 1780 litres with the rear seats folded down, more than enough to move an entire house if you like. Porsche also claims that off-roadability has not been compromised even though the conventional automatic gearbox now doeesnt comes with a seperate low range transfer case due to weight reduction gains, a claim which we highly doubt.

The on-road dynamics have also benefited greatly and the company says that it will run rings around the BMW X6, a dynamic benchmark they used for the final phase of testing.