As the Porsche company approached the 21st century, they realised they were missing out on what was becoming a sizable market sector, namely the mid sized crossover market. Up until this point the sector had been dominated by brands such as Land Rover and Jeep. However, since the introduction of the Mercedes ML in 1997 and the BMW X5 in 1999 it was becoming obvious to Porsche that they were missing out on something.

Consequently Porsche designed and introduced its own interpretation of the type in 2002. Porsche were able to call on other similar models within its stable including the Audi Q7 and the Volkswagen Touareg for inspiration and know how, to allow it to develop a rival for the BMW and Mercedes offerings. Also, with the advent of the Porsche Cayenne as it was to be known, Porsche offered something that had not been available in a Porsche since the discontinuation of the Porsche 928 in 1995, namely a V8 engine.

The base model Porsche Cayenne though is powered by a VR6 derived engine, which is the same unit that powers the above mentioned VW Touareg as well as the Volkswagen Golf R32. It produces around 250 horse power which is good enough the get the rather large and heavy Porsche Cayenne from rest to 100 kph (62 mph) in around 7.5 seconds.

However, as Porsche are not necessarily known for their slow cars, there are other options available. The next step up is the Porsche Cayenne S. This version has a V8 engine delivering 340 horse power. This decreases the sprint time from the above 7.5 seconds to a more respectable 6.4 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph. Read the rest of this entry »