I turned the key to the right and shockingly, nothing seemed to happen. This was the first of several odd moments I had while driving the 2016 Cayenne S Hybrid. On a day full of seeing the latest and greatest and driving some of the hot new hybrids on the street, the one that I am still mulling over is perhaps the oddest of the lot.
I’m still new to this who Auto Writing thing. But still, the idea of PR reps, and salespeople now catering to my needs and whims, in the hoppes of getting me to say something sweet about their new ninety-thousand dollar Hybrid SUV is daunting. Inviting, but still daunting. So after being fed, caffeinated, and pretty much recruited into the fold of Texan Auto Writers, I was ready to get out for a dive.
And I was just in luck, as the Texas Auto Writers Association had gotten us a bunch of hybrids and EVs to drive. I looked outside to see what was awaiting us, and I immediately made a beeline towards the Cayenne. It’s been awhile since I’ve driven a nice SUV, and even longer since I’ve driven a hybrid. And as a Porsche 944 owner, I figured that driving the savior of the company would probably be good for perspective
I saddled up to the man from Porsche, and dumped my backpack in the back seat, taking note of how roomy the whole SUV was. Climbing in I was immediately taken aback by the steering wheel and gauge cluster. The wheel is lifted straight from the 918, and that hybrid through-line from Porsche gives the whole car more street cred than I had anticipated. That, and the gauge cluster had the lovely secondary screen which gave me my navigation data, which, apart from the screen in the new TT, was just the most amazing thing.
The next most amazing thing was driving away in a five-thousand pound SUV with a Porsche badge on it in complete silence. No road noise, no engine noise, nothing. In full electric you have the most amazing torque available all over the place. I actually laughed. I had to admit to the man from Porsche that I was a bit weirded out by it. The idea of a luxury sports SUV that you can drive in full electric mode is awesome, but the fact that it has the wheel of a million dollar supercar and the technology powering a LMP1 car is really odd.
Even with all the weirdness, there was one thing that I couldn’t deny: the big ol’ Porsche drives quite well. The chassis is really lovely, and handles the weight of the beast. The visibility and height were nice, but not overwhelming. What was once weird, was welcoming. The idea that you could have the amazing engineering of a Porsche, but still have run all of your local errands in full electric mode became increasingly tantalizing. The Cayenne was a treat to drive, and rock solid inside and out.
And that is what makes the Cayenne uniquely still a Porsche. It left me confused, but happily wanting more. And that’s more than I can say about most SUVs.
Quick Spin: Porsche Cayenne S HybridThe Most Confusing Hybrid on Earth
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17 responses to “Quick Spin: Porsche Cayenne S HybridThe Most Confusing Hybrid on Earth”
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Five thousand pounds? Seems a bit heavy, how much of the weight is batteries?
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GVWR of 6001+ lbs is an important target for this market. Working backwards from that, two and a half tons is the right curb weight to keep the springs from being too harsh.
http://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Free_Resources/Best-Tax-Deduction-Crossover-Vehicle-Unibody-Chassis.aspx -
The googles say the lightest Cayenne is still 4500lbs, so, less than 500lbs? They’ve always been porkers though (and not just in the nickname way), apparently a base V6 first-gen was also 5000lbs.
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Glad the whole hybrid SUV thing finally got figured out, a big step forward from these things:
http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2008/08/escalade-hybrid-rear-450.jpg-
A friend’s stepmom had a Chevy version of these.
It was just odd to see it move and not hear anything, and I still find the concept stranger than most of the concepts that lead to Mr. Harrell’s fleet.
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They were quiet, but they barely eeked out a few MPG more than their gas-only counterparts, and cost thousands more to purchase (~$7-10k if my memory serves me right…very well could be wrong)
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I remember an analysis that compared this to a non-hybrid model and a Prius vs a Camry, the likely alternative. The Tahoe hybrid actually saved more fuel. I may have the details wrong, but the point was that a few mpg more than mid teens is a significant jump.
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Hybrid ‘Hoe vs regular ‘Hoe is different from Prius vs Camry, though. Ultimately the Toyotas are different vehicles, whereas the Tahoes have different powertrains. I suppose that could make it that much more impressive for GM’s SUVs, but I also remember reading a few tests of the early examples in which they got 1-2 MPG more if they were lucky. If you’re basing it on percentage improvement I can see how they would win though…
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For what it’s worth, the hybrid Tahoe did 6mpg better in the city than the gas model (which, coming from 14mpg, is huge). For the sort of person who buys something like a Tahoe as an alternative to a 5-series or whatever, and commutes in the city (and they definitely exist), it makes sense. As the state car of Texas, with about 115% of your yearly driving done on the highway, much less so.
But then, car guys fixate on the highway number, and autojournalists usually hoon hard enough to negate a lot of fuel saving tech.
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Knowing GM’s reputation at that time, and the added newness and complication of hybrid systems, it probably also cost thousands more to maintain…
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Not only is it a hybrid, it’s a SUPERCHARGED hybrid. This uses the VAG 3.0T supercharged V6. It’s pretty awesome. I like it even more in the Panamera S e-Hybrid.
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Remember when car used to proudly boast “fuel injection” on their flanks? I wonder how long before being a hybrid is so normal it doesn’t even merit a decal?
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Question of the day: that drivetrain in a Cayman, good or bad?
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As one of the only people in the world to have driven a 700 horsepower 7-liter V8 Cayman, I can definitively say that a Cayman can always handle more power, even when it comes at the expense of more weight.
That said, the 3.0T only produces 333 horsepower, so a lighter and more traditional naturally aspirated flat-six (or the turbocharged four coming soon) are probably better served.
If you were going to make a Cayman Hybrid, I’d probably consider an i8 style electrically driven front axle, as there is plenty of room to put an electric motor up front. Then pair it with twin rear hub motors and a traditional small-displacement gasoline engine. That’s how *I* would make a Cayman Hybrid.-
I think I recall hearing about that car on the podcast…was it an LS7? Memory failing me here…either way it sounds absurd (in a good way).
Fair point about the weight. Would electric motors up front deeply screw with the balance? I’ve never driven a Cayman but it seems like its greatness weighs heavily on its balance (pun!). Somewhat like how there’s a fine line between a properly-swapped V8 Miata and one that just does away with everything good about the Miata by putting too much weight over the front wheels, I guess putting things where they shouldn’t be in a Cayman could go bad quickly…?
Or you could do a V8 out back and an i3 three-cylinder up front…LeMons 2050 plan commence…-
Yes, it was a Renegade Hybrids swap using a juiced up LS7. It was awesome.
There is enough flexibility within the 981 chassis that you could move some weight around to make the car still handle neutrally. Most of the weight would be with the addition of the battery stacks, which are relatively flexible, depending on what construction you use.
I would think ideally it would be built with the 2.0 liter flat four that they’ve just built, but sans turbos. With electric motors both front and rear, you wouldn’t be adding all that much weight, and you’d retain a neutral weight distribution. Batteries would need a place to go, but there is plenty of space both in front of the front axle and behind the rear axle for them to sit in equal measure.
In any case, it would definitely change the way a Cayman drives, both from an increased weight perspective, and from a polar moment of inertia perspective. I would guess it would drive more like a 996 Turbo, where you more-or-less point it where you want it, and squeeze the throttle. It would certainly be less of a momentum car. Still fun, but in a different way.
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So silent that you’ll only hear your jewelry rattle when you want it to.
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