Two weeks ago, while at the Grand-Am race at Barber, I was given the opportunity to drive 1 of the 4 diesel Cayenne on US soil.

I had never driven a Cayenne and was very impressed with it's ride and handling. I'm a long time SUV owner and have had Broncos, Expeditions, Suburban, Tahoe and currently an Armada, all were used for towing and as they were intended to be used. I jut couldn't get over how well the Cayenne drove when compared to those vehicles. The Cayenne's Porscheness is very evident in the Cayenne. But I digress to the topic at hand, the diesel Cayenne.

As you would imagine, the diesel made gobbs of linear torque while being extremely quiet. The power off idle up to 80mph was impressive to say the least. I took it through some back twisties and instant torque corner exits gave me visions of tracking the damn thing. No diesel smell, no diesel clatter, and you could stick your nose by the exhaust pipe and could not even tell it was running.

The only thing I was not overly impressed with was the passing acceleration. For instance, I cruised at 70mph and then flat footed it as if I were making an aggressive pass and was kind of shocked at how long it took before the torque came on as expected. The way the torque was felt accelerating from a stand still, I was expecting the thing to really get on the hump fast. Once it got chugging, the torque came in nicely but was a delayed reaction. I'm sure the Porsche engineers could adjust boost pressure to fix that, and I made that suggestion to the PCNA rep riding with me.

During my very spirited drive that was a combination of hwy and rural roads, the Cayenne D delivered almost 24mpg..IMPRESSIVE!!!!
The tow rating I believe was 7600lbs making it a very capable tow vehicle.

Look forward to seeing them hit the market as I was really impressed and this would make a great family vehicle with tow capabilities.

Just thought I'd share.

 

Thanks for sharing that. I'm glad you liked it.

 

Very interesting... I assume the diesel was the the 3.0, 236hp/405lbs variant?

FWIW, we have the MB GL320 (non-bluetec) - similar numbers @ 210hp/395lbs (IIRC). Very similar behavior, very linear and strong pull (once its pulling), but to pass, there is def some turbo lag. We love the diesel in the 'family' car, but I think I prefer the V8 for the sportier Cayenne.

 

Those numbers you mention for the 3.0 sound a little low however you may be correct as I truly can not remember. After I got back to the RV at the track, I celebrated with a shot of Patron

I've never driven the V8 Cayenne however am sure it is nice. The only 'turbo lag' I felt was during the passing test. I would think the boost pressures could be re-mapped and come on stronger through some ECU programming to correct it.

 

I wonder how it compares to the Audi diesel?

 

It is the Audi diesel

 

I like that even better than the report on the Cayenne diesel!

 

I'm currently driving the Touareg diesel and the torque is amazing. If you want a diesel, the VW is as close as you will get to a Cayenne in North America. I suspect with the new CAFE requirements for 2016, Porsche will be forced to bring the diesel here too.
The Touareg is very nice but the suspension is a lot softer and not as nimble as the Cayenne; you can tell the difference.