Posts Tagged mercedes benz
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
Did You Know That Porsche Once Built Airplanes And Tanks?
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 18, 2009
Okay, not really but the founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, was an important developer in the engineering of airplanes and race cars plus in tank building for the Wehrmacht.
Many people do not realize what a prolific inventor this man was, he had over one thousand patents issued! Early in his automotive engineering career Ferdinand was chief engineer for none other than Mercedes Benz, after being dismissed for disagreeing with their engineering methods he started his own engineering firm in Stuttgart where he was responsible for the design of the Volkswagen Beetle that be came so popular.
After the second world war, Porsche began building cars with Ferry Porsche, his son and they called their first car the Porsche 356. The car was a small sports car very similar in design to the VW with the same four cylinder rear mounted engine.
It was a far cry from the Porsche we know today with only 40 horsepower and a maximum speed of only 87 miles per hour. They first designed the 356 to be a convertible but later it was redesigned as a coupe by Erwin Komenda, a master designer for Porsche who had been the head of that department since the days when they developed the Beetle. With its new innovative fastback design, the 356 coupe became the sports car poster child.
The Porsche tradition of signature sports cars continued to grow and with the introduction of the 911 developed by Butzi Porsche, Ferdinand’s grandson, and Komenda the popularity of the Porsche nameplate exploded! With the easily distinguishable sloped nose and the big frog eye headlamps, the 911 stood apart from the crowd and screamed its name to everyone.
This new Porsche became the cornerstone that Porsche wanted to display. Attempts to move away from the roots by building cars like the 924 and 928 almost ruined the company and were nowhere near as popular as it had been thought they would be.
After narrowly escaping financial disaster in that partnership with VW on the 924 and 928, the company came to the realization that what some of the engineers had thought of as being limiting was not that at all but was actually a niche market unto itself with the timeless features of the Porsche 911 design.
Now the company went to work with a design team that focused solely on improving the 911 and by 1999 the company released the all new Boxster, re-establishing the popularity of the sports car company.
Tags: mercedes benz, sports car, sports cars, tanks