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WHEN the
Porsche Cayenne was first unveiled, people weren’t
really sure if the concept would work. After all, even
Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson admitted the VW and
Porsche-developed vehicle defeats the purpose of
building an SUV with the soul of a sports car, much as
“nonalcohol lager defeats the objective or Land Rover
building a rear-engined sports car.”
But even
the naysayers didn’t doubt the sales charts. Worldwide
sales of the Cayenne are running at double the rate of
20,000 units per year that Porsche originally
forecasted.
But with
a slowdown in sales by 2006’s fourth quarter, the little
German sports car company deemed it fit to skip the 2007
model year and introduced an all-new model for 2008’s
entirety. What can it bring to the SUV table this time?
Hop
inside and you’ll notice that not much has changed from
the previous model, with only audio-entertainment design
perhaps the only negative. Storage-wise, there are lots
of places to throw in small items, and the rearmost
section fits in a balikbayan box plus four to
five large duffel bags. The bad news is that rear-door
storage is narrow, the glove box is small, and
opening/closing the rear hatch takes time and effort.
Yes, the key fob has a button that allows for automatic
opening of the said hatch and a button on the right
rearmost part of the luggage area that allows for
automatic closing, but it takes too long, deterring the
family man in a hurry to get home with the groceries.
Not much
has changed with the exterior either, with a revised
front end and squinter headlights the most obvious
changes. For the Porsche purist the design may look
revolting, but for the casual observer a Porsche is a
Porsche, and when they see the unique badge, their
facial expressions are all agog with wonder (and
occasional envy).
 Just
because it’s a
Cayenne doesn’t mean that it’s not as fast as its sports- car
siblings. At 3,000 rpm there’s a slight surge under your
seat, and delivery is linear (but not steep) that its
tested 230-kph top speed can be reached easily. In fact
the six-speed Tiptronic manual mode, which is a big help
on emergency-lane changes, was rarely used due to the
strong engine. The only drawbacks? One is the thirsty
V6; four days of mixed driving yielded 8.5 km/l. The
second is the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters
with raised bumps; using them to shift gears could hurt
your thumbs after awhile. Now if they were designed
similarly to those found on the Honda Jazz CVT, then
sprained thumbs would be less frequent.
Hurl the
SUV on sharp turns and it stays composed on turn-in and
exit. The 255/55R18s break grip at 105 kph, and there’s
little body roll. Overall the ride is comfortable, but
the normal and sport settings of the adaptive air
suspension are a bit harsh but tolerable. Steering is
sharp on turn-in and a bit blunt on exit, but overall
the steering is light and precise. It may not have the
light feel of the Audi Q7, but the feedback is more
precise than its four interlocking-ringed close
relative.
There’s
no doubt about the
Cayenne’s
safety measures. The brakes have minimal fade, with the
ABS waking up at three-fourths effort. Exterior lighting
is bright, and the side mirrors (which have
power-assisted folding) have a sight line that extends
to the second outermost lanes from the SUV’s flanks.
Deactivating the footbrake is a problem, as the exterior
lighting knob obstructs its location. Another irritant
are the front/rear sensors, which are sensitive from 1.5
to 3 feet and have a hard-to-find ceiling-mounted on/off
button.
It’s
possible to question whether the new Porsche Cayenne
really represents a second-generation leap or just a
technology transfusion, but it’s clear that even a chili
pepper of an SUV is hotter and spicier the second time
around. |
