Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Review

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Purists can tell you the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid isn't a real Porsche. it's an affront to all or any that's sacred, the continued desecration of an icon by heathens. they're going to barely contain their piety as they catalog the heretic’s sins: it's huge. it's serious. And not solely is it an SUV, it’s a freakin’ hybrid.

But the foremost un-Porsche of Porsches is extremely a lot of a Porsche. that is to mention, it's remarkably quick, exquisitely designed and a joy to drive. no matter its sins, the Cayenne S Hybrid nicely balances performance and frugality during a sporty package that’s fun to drive.

It’s a motivating accomplishment. on the subject of everyone seems to be meeting tightening fuel economy and emissions laws by slapping an electrical motor into one thing. however too usually high-end hybrids feel like half-hearted tries to squeeze many a lot of miles from a gallon of gas and plenty more cash from customers.

Not thus with the gas-electric version of Porsche’s best-selling model. The all-wheel-drive Cayenne hybrid performs virtually as admirably as its V8 sibling whereas obtaining an EPA-certified twenty mpg town and twenty four mpg highway. I averaged twenty one.6 throughout every week of Bay space commuting, putting the Cayenne hybrid at intervals hanging distance of the four-cylinder Honda CR-V.

But the Cayenne is oh most a lot of fun.

The parallel hybrid options a corker of an engine. It’s constant three.0-liter supercharged V6 you’ll notice within the good Audi S4, with a 34-kilowatt motor bolted to it. All that hardware is nice for 380 horsepower and a formidable 428 pound-feet of torque.

Most of that grunt is yours at one,000 RPM, providing locomotive-like pull if you most as glare at the accelerator. Stomp on it and sixty mph arrives in half-dozen.1 seconds. That’s 0.5 a sec behind the 400-hp V8 Cayenne S. Keep it floored and you’ll see one hundred fifty mph. spectacular numbers for a automobile one keg of hefeweizen in need of five,000 pounds.

The Cayenne hybrid’s frugality is equally spectacular. Federal fuel economy figures aside, my personal best was twenty five mpg throughout every day of town and highway driving. I undoubtedly would have done higher had I not wantonly relished the kick within the pants all that torque provides. bigger self-restraint in all probability would have yielded twenty seven mpg — however not nearly the maximum amount fun.

The Cayenne hybrid options a slick decoupling clutch that disengages the engine from the drivetrain that the electrical motor isn’t fighting the mechanical drag. Cooler still, go into reverse the throttle whereas cruising at up to ninety seven mph and also the automobile coasts — Porsche calls it “sailing” — vastly boosting fuel economy. Hit the gas and also the engine involves life during a heartbeat. Stop-start tech shuts off the engine after you stop moving, any saving fuel.

It’s all mind-bogglingly advanced however works smoothly, seamlessly and virtually silently. You’d never understand what’s happening underneath the hood if weren’t for a dashboard show telling you when you’re using gasoline, electricity or some combination of the 2.
The Cayenne S Hybrid is quicker and a lot of nimble than something this huge ought to be.

You can tool around on electricity alone at up to thirty seven mph, however it needs a lightweight bit to avoid waking the V6. If you simply ought to roll on electricity, pushing the “E Power” button rejiggers the throttle map to shop for you longer on the juice. Still, the 1.7 kilowatt-hour nickel-metal hydride battery encompasses a vary of simply one.5 miles, thus you aren’t going so much. Regenerative braking and also the engine keep it charged.

Drive the Cayenne sort of a automobile and also the gasoline engine provides most of the propulsion. Drive it sort of a Porsche, though, and also the engine and motor work along, providing optimal acceleration. The “Sport Mode” button — Porsche loves buttons — stacks the deck in favor of most performance. The result's a hybrid that's — dare I say it — fun to drive.

The Cayenne S Hybrid is quicker and a lot of nimble than something this huge ought to be. Hustling 2.5 tons through twisting tarmac is usually a workout, particularly when the steering may be a bit lightweight and also the suspension to a small degree soft, however Porsche’s sporting heritage is obvious. The brakes are wonderful, if you bear in mind that something this huge wants numerous area to curtail. The eight-speed gearbox is usually within the right gear, though shifts were to a small degree slow using the steering-wheel-mounted buttons.

That steering wheel, like everything else regarding the inside, is wonderful. Whoever designed the seats deserves a raise. The attractive center console appears like it had been pulled from a jet and has virtually as several buttons, and a few are wee very little things. Still, even the littlest switch has heft to it, and everything looks like it had been milled from blocks of aluminum. Nothing regarding this automobile feels low cost.

That’s acceptable, as a result of the Cayenne S Hybrid starts at $68,675 and goes stratospheric after you begin adding choices. Ours came in at $86,110 with, among different things, leather, 19-inch wheels, 14-way adjustable seats, adjustable suspension and a trailer hitch. Yes, a trailer hitch. That was a purist you heard screaming.

Let him scream. The Cayenne S Hybrid may be a hybrid ought to have the name Porsche.