I find it odd that Porsche chose the 5,000 pound (est.) SUV to develop hybrid technology, but I'm going to give them benefit of the doubt and assume they are applying the logic of "if we can do it the Cayenne, just think of what we can do to the Boxster!" Go Porsche! (I assume this technology will make it's way over to VW and Audi, especially since this Cayenne will be using an Audi engine).

Think of athletes that train with 50 pound backpacks on, and then remove the backpacks for the actual competition. That's the concept that I have in mind here.

I thought this is based off the 2mode hybrid. If so, they cannot put it in car because the 2mode cannot get that small.

it is same system to be used in touareg, you can already read "prototype" reviews on UK sites. 10% less mileage than older RX400h, and they chose 8 speed auto instead of integrated which is still jerky (and they have been battling that problem for 3 years now)...

Ah! Ten years late to market, Porsche's finally figuring-out how to do a hybrid? "Missed it -- by that much!" (Adams, Don. "Get Smart;" circa 1967).

Porsche, leader of men! Trick is: can lazy, crotchety, overpaid Porsche mechanics be adequately trained, to properly service them? I think they're going to have to exhume Stanley Kubrick... Clockwork Orange.

Behavioral mod rides again!


Regards,
~ S a m u e l


/////////////////////////////////

My wife's uncle works on the Hybrid Cayenne project, in Stuttgart. He said in the beginning they had to disassemble a Prius to figure out how Toyota did it.

i dont know if you are joking or not, but Porsche originally wanted to buy RX400h technology from Toyota for their hybrid.

I hear what you're saying, but still . . . it's tantamount to GM making the Yukon a hybrid. At least (for example) the Lexus/Toyota SUV hybrids are rated around 30+mpg (maybe only the old epa standards) ... now if they're on par with that, or better mpg's then bring it on. I suppose it'll at least be cleaner, smog wise, than its counterpart, right?

We did the "rip the Prius apart" thing too, see the Argonne /
Oakridge papers. We have yet to see any of that work plow into
american efforts other than a few prototypes, however.
.
I think I can make confident personality-profile statements about
anyone who drives a Cayenne. Or a BMW x5, for that matter.
You can guess the rest.
.
_H*

Like, ever? Hybrids can offer more torque, better traction and braking, and better mileage. If a capacitor system is ever perfected, negating the weight penalty of conventional batteries, all cars and trucks could be hybrids.

ULEV only ouch! No word about electric A/C.

I love your posts. They are some of the few that make me LOL. Please continue to post.

toyota said that they cant just take hybrids components, they need to take their engine as it all works together, and Porsche declined thinking it is not so... they then found out they were wrong - this was in Autoweek interview with chief engineer at Porsche about that product 2 or 3 years ago.

Nissan was able to put their own gas engine in the Altima hybrid but they had to work together closely with Toyota to achieve that.

I'm familiar with Porsches, and they have their quirks like any other car. They're expensive because they're built to go on the track at 160 mph. They are godawful expensive to service, and have a history of oil leak issues (the RMS problem never seems to go away, though not in the Cayenne). In normal driving, they are pretty much like any other car. BMWs are cheaper, and have better gearboxes.

As somebody said, the Cayenne is pretty much a VW Toureg with a Porsche label stuck on it, and probably some upgrading enginewise,etc. to make it trackable. An SUV for racing--for those that must have everything.

Rupp (or is it Ruff?) is a German car builder who upgrades 911s to higher performance. They have built an all-electric 911 which is very fast (0-60 in 7 secs). It uses the CVT transmission. Range is limited and the cost is astronomical. They say the car is very quiet ('like a spaceship"), and is the race car of the future with all that low rpm torque and gearless shifting. They should have said "very quiet like a Prius."