Diesel engine and hybrid drive for Porsche Cayenne

The Porsche Cayenne is one of the success stories of the automotive world. To date, over a quarter of a million examples have been sold since its launch six years ago. In the last financial year 2007/08, 45,478 examples of the Cayenne were sold around the world - more than ever before in a 12 month period.

With over 60 years’ experience of building some of the world’s best sports cars, Porsche has brought its expertise in engine technology and chassis development to a new segment with the Cayenne with resounding success. Versatility is the spirit of the Cayenne. Every model offers superlative performance on road and track, combined with exceptional capability off-road. Powerful yet practical in every scenario, the Cayenne is very definitely 100% Porsche.

The new Cayenne Diesel
As is self evident, the desire to constantly improve is a hallmark of Porsche, and the company is used to exploring new territory. The most significant addition to the Cayenne range – the Cayenne Diesel – is a perfect demonstration of this ethos. However, while the Cayenne Diesel may use a different fuel, it certainly shares the same spirit as its petrol-engined relatives.

The introduction of the Cayenne Diesel extends customer choice more widely. The Porsche stake in Volkswagen Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of modern diesel engines for passenger cars, has opened up new opportunities to utilise sporty compression-ignition technology under the bonnet of the Cayenne.

The Cayenne Diesel offers a 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel engine with 240bhp (176kW), an average consumption of 30.4mpg Combined (9.3 litres/100km) and emissions of 244g/km CO2. The spontaneous throttle response and high torque characteristics of this common rail direct fuel injection diesel engine ensure high performance levels that are appropriate for an athletic, all-terrain vehicle such as the Cayenne. The substantial peak torque of 550 Nm between 2,000 – 2,400rpm complements the proven sports-oriented chassis dynamics and provides a high degree of control to offer driving enjoyment typical of Porsche.

With its combination of a sporting drive and efficient, high performance drivetrain, the new Cayenne Diesel complements the rest of the range perfectly. The Cayenne Diesel is on sale now at the 34 Porsche Centres across the UK and Ireland.

With the introduction of the Cayenne Diesel, Porsche is consistently continuing its commitment to reduce fuel consumption in all its cars. As early as spring 2007, Porsche equipped the new generation of the Cayenne with engines featuring petrol direct-injection that consume up to 15 per cent less fuel in real-world driving conditions. Since summer 2008, Porsche has also offered the most recent generation of the 911 sports car with direct-injection petrol engines. A more significant step-change will take place with the introduction of a Cayenne variant with hybrid drive that will exceed 31 mpg, and which will be launched onto the market in the next two years.

The Cayenne Hybrid
Hybrid drive by Porsche has a long tradition, with company founder Ferdinand Porsche being acknowledged as the inventor of this drive system. As early as 1900, Ferdinand Porsche developed the Lohner-Porsche Mixte as a serial hybrid vehicle, to use today’s terminology, with the car’s 15bhp four-cylinder connected directly to an 80 volt dynamo. The electricity generated in this way went either to wheel hub electric motors integrated in the front wheels or to a battery. This vehicle is acknowledged as the world’s first hybrid car built in standard production.

Now, joining forces with Volkswagen, Porsche has once again developed a production vehicle with a parallel full hybrid drive for introduction later to the market. Drive power in the Cayenne S Hybrid will come primarily from a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 with Direct Fuel Injection interacting with a 38kW/52bhp electric motor used either as an additional source of power to boost the output of the petrol engine or as the sole drive unit operating on its own. Indeed, a unique function of the Cayenne Hybrid is its ability to smoothly cruise or ‘roll along’ with the combustion engine switched off and disengaged at high speeds in the so-called ‘sailing’ mode. This practice allows the driver to save fuel at speeds up to 86mph (138km/h), for example when driving on the Autobahn at a relatively consistent speed.

The Cayenne S Hybrid showcases a power-train at the cutting-edge of technology. With forced induction via an engine-driven supercharger, the 2,995cc engine develops 333bhp (245kW) between 5,500 – 7,000rpm. Maximum torque of 440Nm is produced at 2,900rpm and sustained consistently through to 5,300rpm.

In conjunction with the combustion engine, the electric motor serves as a booster for extra power; maximum combined output is 374bhp (275kW) and peak torque of 550Nm at 1,500rpm. Accelerating from rest to 62mph (100km/h) in 6.8secs, the Cayenne S Hybrid thus offers the same sprinting qualities as its sister models with a ‘regular’ V8 - hence it proudly bearing the same ‘S’ designation.

Masterminded by the powerful Hybrid Manager, the Cayenne S Hybrid will consume less than nine litres per 100km in the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) equal to CO2 emissions of less than 210g/km - some 20 per cent less than on a conventional vehicle comparable to a Cayenne and with the same kind of power.
Based on a six cylinder engine, the Cayenne S Hybrid combines the output of an eight cylinder with the fuel consumption of a four cylinder.

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