
Porsche launched the Porsche Cayenne facelift on the 9th of March 2007. The new Cayenne sports a newly redesigned front end - much sleeker and shapelier lights which portray a more aggressive look. At the rear, tail lamps are now lit up with LED, and the rear bumper gains a new diffuser-like design. In Malaysia, the Porsche Cayenne is available in three models: the Cayenne, Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo. The engines across the range are now equipped with direct injection, which helps with power and fuel consumption. Unfortunately that also means the engines now have to clatter like a diesel at idle thanks to the injectors. But youll soon forget about that once you put your foot on the accelerator pedal as power is up across the range.
The baseline Porsche Cayenne is up 40 horses to 290hp through a gain in displacement from 3.2 litres to 3.6 litres, while the Porsche Cayenne Ss 4.8 litre V8 now makes 385hp, up from 340hp. The top of the range Porsche Cayenne Turbo which costs about RM1.1 million in bare bones trim configuration up to RM1.35 million fully loaded up now makes an amazing 500 horses, up from 450. There is no Cayenne Turbo S yet, but it might come later. The new body is now more aerodynamic, with all three models down to 0.35 cD instead of a varying coefficient of between 0.38 to 0.39 cD with the previous model.
But what makes the new Cayenne really handle like a Porsche is the new Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) roll stabilizer system. This is a system much alike BMW’s wonderful Dynamic Drive in the 2nd generation BMW X5 which I got to try late last year. Basically, a computer-controlled anti-roll bar with a motor in the middle to provide the required counter-twisting makes sure the SUV does not lean in corners, and you know its that stable grounded feeling that gives you the confidence to drive the Cayenne like how a Porsche is usually driven.
Of course, to make sure you dont get over-confident, it automatically allows the body to lean when it detects youre flying sideways at about 0.68g of G-Force. How does 0.68g feel? I dont know, but must be pretty crazy if even Porsche thinks youve gone too far. How it works is pretty much similiar to systems already in the X5 and the Touareg, however it lacks the X5’s system’s ability to completely disconnect the anti-roll bar for straight line comfort.
Besides doing well on the racetrack (as you can see from the Cayenne in the Porsche World Road Show videos), it also does great off-road. It has proper reduction gears to provide for a set of low-range gears for offroading, as well as hill descent control. Look out for a future post of mine detailing my Cayenne off-roading experience, performed in the pre-facelift model though.
Prices in Malaysia:
| Porsche Cayenne (Manual) |
RM640,000 |
| Porsche Cayenne (Tiptronic S) |
RM650,000 |
| Porsche Cayenne S (Manual) |
RM755,000 |
| Porsche Cayenne S (Tiptronic S) |
RM765,000 |
| Porsche Cayenne Turbo (Tiptronic S) |
RM1,100,000 |
I previously covered the Cayenne facelift international announcement in December last year, so please head to this link to read more about it. You can find a detailed technical press release and more photos after the jump, courtesy of Auto Eurokars.
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