O’er the hill, o’er the dale. The Porsche Cayenne proved quite at home in knee-deep water(below), mud, as well as climbing and descending.

IN order to highlight the entry of its mouthwatering Porsche Cayenne SUV, PGA Cars Inc., importer of Porsche vehicles in the Philippines, held the Porsche Cayenne Festival last week at the McKinley Hills in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The event was graced by veteran Singaporean rally driver Eddie Keng, 56, who is a Porsche Sport Driving School senior instructor and former participant in one of the most grueling off-road rallies in the world today—the Transsyberia Intercontinental Rallye.

“The Transsyberia Rallye is, by far, the toughest in the world since it is a grueling two-week, nonstop action which was dominated recently by the Porsche Cayenne. It is even more dangerous than the Paris-Dakar Rally,” said Keng, the current vice president of Porsche Club Singapore who campaigned last year under Team Porsche China.

The Transsyberia Rallye is a 7,200-km run from Moscow to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. A Porsche Cayenne won the event in 2006, which was followed by a 1-2-3 finish in 2007. The Porsche Cayenne not only duplicated its winning form but also surpassed its previous performance by clinching all the top six places this year.

The three consecutive overall victories was enough motivation for the German car manufacturer to produce a new variant of the tough SUV called the Cayenne S Transsyberia, which is expected to hit the market early next year and will be presented this October during the Paris Motor Show.

“I have participated in the said Transsyberian Rallye with my own Porsche Cayenne, which I found very tough and reliable. This vehicle really impressed me. I won’t be here talking and praising the vehicle if I didn’t prove it myself,” Keng added.

The members of the media who attended the first day of the festival experienced how it was to drive the Cayenne around the 250-square-meter track, which simulated some of the tough roads Keng encountered in the Transsyberia Rallye.

On the course, the Cayenne was set into a normal gear first and set out to the knee-deep mud track, which it smoothly traversed. The secret, according to Keng, is to go into a continuous motion and never allowing the vehicle to rest. Once you commit that mistake, your vehicle will end up stuck or buried.

On another portion of the track, the Cayenne splashed down into a leg-deep water hazard before making its way into a mini-hill, where Keng ordered me to stop momentarily. In order to feel the Porsche Hill Control (PHC), the gear was put into reverse and Keng ordered us to let our foot off the brake pedal. Instead of rushing back downward, the vehicle used engine braking to make a slow and steady descent.

This clearly showed that if one or more wheels begin to lose traction, the PHC compensates by applying increased engine braking on those that retain contact with the ground. This helps the driver concentrate fully on steering the car with no need to adjust braking.

Another capability of the Porsche Cayenne is its Hill Holder function, which allows it to climb a steep hill, come to a complete stop and then roll off again.

“What makes this presentation more significant is that we used regular road tires in all the two Porsche Cayennes. That is to highlight the various capabilities and technologies that are being used in the vehicle. You could just imagine if we used off-road tires here, this track would be very much easier to negotiate,” disclosed Keng.

Other Porsche officials who attended the presentation were PGA Cars corporate affairs director Amado del Rosario and managing director Robby Niermann.

The Cayenne S Transsyberia model is based on the Cayenne S and its 4.8-liter V8 naturally aspirated engine featuring a highly economical and efficient direct fuel injection. The big difference, however, is that it comes with the high-performance power unit carried over from the Cayenne GTS that develops 405 bhp at 6,500 rpm and maximum torque of 500 Nm at 3,500 rpm. With the six-speed manual gearbox featured as standard, acceleration to 100 kph comes in just 6.1 seconds, another 0.5 seconds faster than the Cayenne S.

The modifications of the drive train have an even greater effect on the vehicle’s acceleration in gears of particular significance under everyday driving conditions and in racing: The Cayenne S Transsyberia with manual gearbox completes the interim sprint from 80 to 120 kph in fifth gear in 6.6 seconds, a substantial two seconds faster than the Cayenne S. In its top speed, in turn, the Cayenne S Transsyberia is just as fast as the GTS, reaching a maximum of 253 kph.

IN order to highlight the entry of its mouthwatering Porsche Cayenne SUV, PGA Cars Inc., importer of Porsche vehicles in the Philippines, held the Porsche Cayenne Festival last week at the McKinley Hills in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

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