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The Cayenne Diesel, which is new to North America, has been offered in Europe since 2009 and delivers quintessential Porsche performance.
Considering the agricultural nature of the last Porsche oil burner — the Porsche diesel tractors produced between 1956 and 1963 — the subsequent attempt is far more luxurious (and less breezy). For the 2013 model year, North America finally got the turbodiesel-powered Cayenne that had been plying the roads of Europe for the past four years, providing Porsche with a formidable lineup that includes naturally aspirated V6s and V8s, a turbocharged V8 and a hybrid powertrain.
For any Porschephiles out there aghast at the thought of a diesel-powered product bearing the hallowed Porsche name and crest, tough! The 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel makes the most sense for the full-sized, 2,180-kilogram sport-ute, imbuing it with a compact car-like highway fuel economy while still maintaining brisk acceleration and decent towing capability (3,500 kilograms). All you have to get used to is the coarser rumble of the turbodiesel, which really only makes itself known at startup, and the sheer magnitude of 406 pound-feet of torque available at a low 1,750 rpm. In about all other regards, the diesel is just like the rest of the Cayenne model range.
The 240-horsepower engine includes high-pressure common rail fuel injection and a variable vane geometry turbocharger, which gives it improved response to driver inputs and, Porsche says, enhanced fuel economy when compared with more conventional diesel engines. In case the turbodiesel’s output sounds familiar, it’s because the engine also sees duty in a couple of other SUVs under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, namely the Audi Q7 and VW Touareg. Porsche, however, is the one making much of the fact the engine block is constructed from compacted graphite iron, which apparently has many of the strength properties of a conventional iron block but with a significant reduction in mass (approximately 25 kg).
Read more http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/06/22/diesel-makes-the-most-sense-for-full-sized-porsche-cayenne/
