Porsche adds spice to its line-up

Despite the utterly clichéd headline (we couldn't resist!), Porsche is really spicing things up. No, really!

In the late nineties it announced that research into a four-wheel drive for the all-German car maker was a goer. Everyone heard this and the general consensus was "Oh yeah. A four-wheel drive, long-wheel based Porsche. Why not?"

Today, the comments are more likely to be "0-100 in 5.6 seconds?!"

Originally, the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg where to be launched together, as both share the same platform and are expected to be of similar design. But Porsche big-wig Wendelin Wiedeking gets easily excited and, as such, the 4x4 was released early. Let's just hope VW got an apology.

Visually, the Cayenne is great or horrible. The front end is unmistakably Porsche, while the rear end has many Porsche traditionalists up in arms. "It's no Porsche!" They cry.

From the outset, Porsche had two goals with the Cayenne. The first was to be the fastest 4x4 in the world. This accolade used to belong to BMW's X5, in the form of the 4.6iS. The Cayenne has achieved its first goal.

Secondly, Porsche designers wanted a vehicle that performed better off the road than the venerable Range Rover. Goal number two is still yet to be decided, but Porsche engineers have come up with some exciting concepts that may make this goal possible.

It uses an electronic-pneumatic (air) suspension setup that is fundamentally similar in concept to what many Citroën models use. In essence, the car's suspension will lower the body when driving on bitumen and at high speeds to reduce drag and increase efficiency. While off-road, the suspension will compensate by raising the ground clearance, allowing it a far greater reach.

In addition to the air suspension, the Cayenne will come equipped with Porsches stability-management system, or PSM. This dynamically alters power delivery and can compensate for differing loads and believe us when we say this is a vital system, as the Cayenne 4x4 has more power than most.

There will be two Cayenne variants initially - the Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo. The S model comes with a fairly brutal 4.5-litre V8, capable of hauling the off-roader to 100km/h in just 7.4 seconds. That's pretty fast for a big lug of car and with a top speed of 250km/h, it be perfect for cruising the Auto Bahn or outback NT.

It's bigger brother, the Cayenne Turbo, has a few styling cues to differentiate it from its poorer sibling, and it's fair enough too because the Turbo ain't going to be cheap. Firstly, there are bonnet bulges to signify the turbocharged nature of the 4x4 and to aid airflow into the engine bay the grille is slightly larger, plus the left and right airdams have been made larger. From the rear, four exhaust pipes instead of two make sure the engine breathes easily, and boy, does it need to breathe!

Take the 4.5-litre V8 from the Cayenne S. Add two turbochargers, change the fuel injection mapping, add a new exhaust system and all of sudden you've got a nut-case mobile. The Turbo model creates 336kW of power and 620Nm of torque. Again - 620Nm of torque. That's quite a lot. Enough to propel the 4x4 to a top speed of 266km/h and able to complete the 0-100km/h dash in just 5.6 seconds. That's a whole second quicker than the reigning champ - BMW's X5.

Both Porsche 4x4s will come with a newly designed six-speed tiptronic gearbox. Suprisingly, the Cayenne also comes with a low-ratio transfer for serious offroading and when you want move the house. Literally. This addition shows that Porsche is keen to create a real-world off-roader, but whether it will compare with the Range-Rover offerings is another question.

Porsche has jumped the queue and now claims the world's fastest 4x4. But it raises another question - what will the consumer pay for such outlandish performance?

The Cayenne will be expensive, nay -- mega-expensive. While no Australian price points have been made, we took the liberty of converting the British sterling prices. The bottom-of-the-line Cayenne S will set drivers back by a healthy $148,000 and the top-of-the-line twin turbo model will cost a tad over $200,000 if the UK prices are to be believed. It's expensive being fast!