redyps

I get 24.7 combined town/highway. On long trips I usually get about 31-33 on the highway. All-in-all for the performance I am very happy with the mileage. Recently I let two of my friends drive the car and they both bought one.

kris

They did.

JDS968

That's a 6.0L W12 naturally aspirated gasoline engine. Cool I suppose, but nowhere near as good as the diesel.

Magdaddy

add another "never in N. America" request...how about a manual transmission.

If VW made any diesel with syncro and a stick, there would probably be 2 in the driveway as I type. The wife got a 2012 Mini Countryman ALL4-6 speed...and I'm still waiting for what's next.

It has to be awd and a manual tranny, I'd love it to be a diesel...and cost less than a starter home too.

JDS968

You can't even get a Panamera (or Panamera 4) Diesel with a stick.

DFASTEST951

The panamera diesel is coming.

TS performance makes a chip for the jeep liberty and iirc they got over 30mpg with it and a significant power boost in hp and tq.

How cool would it be for Porsche, now owned by VW, to throw the V10 TDI monster in the Toureg into a high performance Cayenne, Panamera? I just don't know what they are waiting for. I think it's only us gearheads that see the benefits of diesel. I try to hold a conversation on diesel and I get dumb stares. Like they don't even know diesels exist here. I love my truck. I have about 600hp and 1,000 tq. Plus I make my own bio diesel for it. Oh, and I got that power for about $2,000. Add another zero and I still couldn't get the power I have in my 951.

Dbltime

We just drove our '08 535 wagon on a 2400 mile vacation trip and enjoyed the car. The M diesel wagon would be a perfect replacement for us. The larger SUV's are a too big for my use.

IXLR8

Unfortunately, NA is still in the dark ages. I've driven lower performance diesel engines in Europe to know that my next daily driver will be a diesel. Nothing like low-end torque out of a piddly 4 banger and also be able to get 600+ miles on a small gas tank.

JDS968

I sure hope so, but only PDK.

Why bother with the stupid V10 when they have the V12 TDI?

American emissions requirements and poor-quality diesel supply sort of cripple the diesels. Once you add all sorts of equipment that reduces the fuel economy, reliability, and output of diesels and makes them even more expensive, they suddenly aren't as appealing to consumers, and that combined with the huge cost of getting them certified here, eliminates much of the appeal for the manufacturers.

DFASTEST951

I don't mind the pdk so much. At least it's going to be here. I just wish they would make a high performance version like BMW and bring it here. Look at all of us. We'd all probably buy one and there are a lot more of us out there.

That V12 is to die for! And they almost make it to fit into the R8. They just couldn't develop a tranny to hold all that power. It's in the European Q7 right now. It's a monster! I only said the V10 because it's already here in the Toureg and now they own Porsche. So it's pretty conceivable.

Your last statement I couldn't agree more. Nuff said.

JDS968

Agreed. The VW-Audi diesel V6 is pretty uninspiring, and VERY out of place in a Porsche. Much like the VW-Audi gasoline V6. Smaller and lower output engines are not out of place in Porsches, but they need to have the right character.

The Q7 V12 TDI already has a transmission that handles the torque and puts it through an AWD system, so they've got all of the components for an R8, what's stopping them? Unless the Q7 arrangement, with the engine in front of the transmission, followed by the front axle, can't be adapted to a layout with the engine between the axles.

Which of course leads to the question...could you simply turn the entire Q7 drivetrain around, reverse one gear somewhere, and turn engine-transmission-front axle-rear axle into front axle-rear axle-transmission-engine and put it in some insane 911?? It would need some kind of rear bodywork extension and have the most bizarre handling characteristics in the world, but it would be mind-breaking fun.

It's a V10, it's got 2-valve heads, it's got balance shafts, it "only" makes 300-350 horsepower...it's cool but nowhere near as exciting as its big brother. And after all of this time and back-and-forth, VW still doesn't own Porsche. Maybe they will, maybe they won't, but I won't believe it until I see it.

sclemmons

If that wagon comes to the US, I will have to get one. Don't you imagine it will be here in 5 years or so, like the X5d took 5 years or so to get here?

Hollywood D

Do they make a manual trans for it? You can't get one stateside because the diesel is too strong for the current manual transmissions.

kris

I doubt it. The 8-speed auto box is a perfect fit, I would never consider a manual on a high torque/high power diesel engine. Drove a 3.0 TDI Audi and it was not pleasant in first gears.