Jun

Hybrid in Limbo, Porsche Builds A Diesel

Posted by admin Published in Porsche

Porsche purists will lose their minds at the thought, but desperate times require desperate measures: The German sports car maker is developing its first-ever diesel-powered vehicle. With the arrival of the gasoline-electric Cayenne Hybrid delayed until at least 2010 and fuel prices spiraling ever higher, the company needed an interim degree. The obvious reply (for the European market, at least): diesel.

The solution, it turns out, doesn’t seem so un-Porsche after all. The plan calls for the Cayenne diesel to use the 50-state-legal 3.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection V-6 from the forthcoming Audi Q7 3.0 TDI. In U.S. trim, the engine produces 221 horsepower and a very stout 406 pound-feet of torque — notably more torque than the either the direct-injection gasoline V-6 from the base-model Cayenne or the direct-injection gasoline V-8 from the Cayenne S and GTS.

Photo courtesy of Porsche.

In evaluating the diesel-powered Q7, we

were pleasantly surprised to discover that the engine pulled very much like a gasoline-fed V-8, with the quick-witted six-speed Tiptronic transmission able to compensate for the TDI V-6’s narrower rev range. The engine is able to launch the Q7’s 5,100 pounds to 60 mph in about 8.4 seconds, while consistently returning a pretty respectable (for its size) 25 miles per gallon.

Considering the 3.0 TDI model currently accounts for more than 80 percent of Audi Q7 sales in Germany, there’s little doubt that Porsche will find homes for the 15,000 diesel Cayennes it plans to build each year, starting in March of 2009 for the European market.

In the meanwhile, the Q7 3.0 TDI arrives in North America later that year.

Original post by Matthew Phenix