Posts Tagged car market
Porsche Cayenne Review
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 19, 2009
It wasn’t that many years ago that Porsche was strictly about sportsters and roadsters. But no more! Today Porsche produces a product line for everyone and that includes the SUV Porsche Cayenne.
The SUV isn’t that new. It was actually introduced back in 2002. The V8 was new to the Porsche line with the last V8 being produced in the 928 back in 1995. It instantly became Porsche’s best seller in North America.
So what has made it such a great hit? It was co-designed with the VW team who were also planning to add a SUV to their line up. The cost sharing strategy was supposed to help both companies.
The chassis is actually shared by three companies. VW uses it in the Touareg sport utility, Porsche in their Cayenne, and Audi uses a modified version its Q7.
When it comes to the engines VW and Porsche share only a base engine. The Porsche engine has had substantial modifications. The Cayenne offers up four great engine choices.
The 247 HP 3.2 L engine, the 335 HP 4.5 L engine, the twin turbo charged 450 HP 4.5 L engine, the Tequipment twin turbocharged V8 500 HP 4.5 L engine, and finally the twin turbocharged V8 520 HP 4.5 L engine. That’s a lot of power in an SUV.
You get 0 to 60 in about 5.2 seconds which is the same time as the Boxster S and the Tequipment engine is even quicker. Of course you realize there is no real good reason for that kind of speed in an SUV but it sure is fun having it anyway!
This is a true SUV and thus it is designed to take you where ever you need to go whether that is up the rocky mountain or across a deep river.
So what’s it cost you ask? Well the turbocharged version can be purchased for around $90,000. It’s priced competitively against the competition which includes the Land Rover, Mercedes Benz M Class, and Range Rover.
The Cayenne has a low profile tire that gives it a much sportier ride that you might expect to be not so good in serious off road conditions. But it’s actually the opposite. These tires are very impressive in off road conditions.
4 wheel drive with manual lockable center differential are standard equipment. You also get a low range setting. There are some terrific off road options too which include air suspension, interior switching rear differential, and vehicle height adjustment.
In 2006 Porsche introduced the Turbo S which is a higher output model. It was designed to compete with the Mercedes Benz ML63. You get a whopping 520 HP making it the second most powerful Porsche ever built. O-60 in 4.8 seconds. So is that fast enough?
The Porsche die-hards that like the traditional reputation of the Porsche line which stands for sporty cars that are designed for speed, comfort, fun, and the race track, aren’t happy with the introduction of the Cayenne.
Porsche however is in the business to make money and recognized that an SUV could provide them with a steady income and continuous sales that the fickle sports car market could not and thus they added the Cayenne to their product line.
If you are in the market for an SUV and want the quality and reliability that Porsche is known around the world for, you should consider the Porsche Cayenne. It’s got a lot to offer for the price.
Tags: car market, mercedes benz, sports car, vehicle, wheelRelated posts
Looking at the Best 7 Seater Cars For Your Growing Family
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 18, 2009
Today’s growing number of 7 seater cars have to be the way to go when you need enough room to comfortably carry a growing family. Gone are the days when you would get squished in the back seat with your 2 or 3 brothers or sisters, even sharing seatbelts to make room. Today’s MPV, SUVs and CUVs make it easy to carry a lot of passengers.
Once you start looking for one though, you’ll realize that there are so many to choose from… when I did a quick search I found a total of 204 in the United States! Which one is going to meet your family’s needs best?
I think the best way to start your search is to determine the type of car that you need regardless of the number of seats. Let’s take a look at the type of cars that are available in today’s car market.
One of the best known types of vehicles is the traditional family sedan which is usually a 4 door vehicle that carries usually 4 or more passengers. In 2009, the most passenger room that I could find in a sedan was 5. So today’s fuel economical sedan isn’t going to fit the bill with our need for 7 seats. In the past that need was filled with the station wagon but today’s station wagon is the MPV (multi-passenger vehicle) better known as the mini van.
If you’re needs consist of a light duty MPV that is going to cart the family around to after school activities the mini van makes a good choice. Most vans will get decent fuel mileage of 20 to 25 MPG. There are even some new hybrid models that combine gas and electricity to get mileage into the 30 and 40 miles per gallon category. However if you’re going to be driving the family around in rough weather, like snow, you may be better suited to drive a SUV or sports utility vehicle.
SUVs have gotten a bad rap as gas guzzling wrecking machines but in reality there is a need for the 4 wheel drive models in cold weather areas. You can carry 7 passengers with ease with the addition of a “way back” seat and if it starts to snow you just flip the switch to 4 wheel drive. The drawback is that they do swill some fuel. Mileage varies but you’re generally in the 15 to 18 mpg range. Ford as a pretty cool hybrid SUV out there but it’s smaller and will only accommodate 5 passengers.
Which brings us to the newest addition of passenger vehicles; the crossover utility vehicle. As you might expect from the name, the crossover combines attributes of multiple vehicles. A great example is the Ford Edge. In looking at it, you wonder is it a big station wagon, a van… an SUV? It’s all of the above and usually a great choice for the larger family. When you look at the new crossovers you’ll find 3 rows of well appointed comfort keeping everyone happy on a long trip. The downside to a crossover is like a SUV, they don’t get great gas mileage. Look out in 2010 for some new hybrid cars that seat 7 to show up on dealers showrooms though.
Now that you know the differences between the types of 7 passenger vehicles, hopefully you’ll be able to go to your area showroom knowing exactly what to look at in 7 seater cars.
Tags: 7 passenger, 7 passenger vehicle, 7 passenger vehicles, best 7 seater car, best 7 seater cars, car market, dealer, dealers, hybrid cars, hybrid suv, new hybrid car, vehicle, vehicles, wheel