History of the Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne has been one of the brand’s mainstays since 2002, bringing global success along with it. As the “third Porsche” began to take shape in the mid-to-late 90s, the brand not only looked to provide a sporty SUV, but a vehicle that would give top competitors in the off-road segment a run for their money.
The Project “Colorado”
Originally a joint project with Volkswagen, dubbed “Colorado”, the Cayenne was officially announced in June 1998. While identical to the Volkswagen Touareg, the Cayenne had its own engine and chassis set-ups. Porsche was responsible for developing the joint platform at its initially top-secret Hemmingen site, while Volkswagen contributed its production expertise for large volumes.
In 1999, Zuffenhausen constructed a new production facility in Leipzig in order to build the car in its home market. Its Volkswagen counterpart, the Touareg, was produced at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. The painted bodywork for the Cayenne was also sourced there, with final assembly taking place in Saxony.
Both the first and second generations of the Cayenne – known internally as E1 and E2 – rolled off the production line in Leipzig and later in Osnabrück. Fast forward to 2017, Porsche moved all Cayenne production to Bratislava to create additional capacity in Leipzig for the Panamera sports sedan and Macan SUV.
Sports Car and Off-Roader with Long-Distance Comfort
The Cayenne is a family-friendly touring vehicle thanks to its wide technical range, adding robust off-road and highly dynamic sports car performance.
The Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo reached top track speeds of 150 and 165 mph respectively – an important message to regular sports car customers, whose chassis expectations were equally well met. Newly introduced electronic systems handled the cornering dynamics: Porsche Traction Management (PTM) distributed drive power between the rear and front axles in a ratio of 62:38 as standard.
The Cayenne also introduced PASM, or Porsche Active Suspension Management, which continuously regulates the damping force and incorporates the condition of the road and the Cayenne driver’s driving style into its calculations. This also helped to increase ground clearance (8.5 inches to 10.7 inches), thanks to the level control system within the air suspension.
The Hybrid Pioneer
The Cayenne has undoubtedly contributed to the current prominence of hybrid and plug-in hybrid models, showcasing what unreal technological advancements and Porsche performance can achieve. The foundation for today’s electrified model variants was laid back in 2007 with the model update of the first-generation Cayenne.
The full hybrid drive finally came onto the market in 2010, and the first plug-in hybrid followed four years later. From all-around performer to hybrid pioneer, the model’s track record speaks for itself less than a quarter of a century into its existence.
Shop for the Porsche Cayenne at Porsche Riverside
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