The Porsche Cayenne is a five seat mid-size luxury crossover manufactured by the German manufacturer Porsche since 2002, with North American sales beginning in 2003. Its platform was developed by Porsche and is shared with the Volkswagen Touareg and the Audi Q7. It is the first V8-engined vehicle built by Porsche since 1995, when the Porsche 928 was discontinued. Since 2008, all engines have featured direct injection technology. The Cayenne's chassis type numbers are as follows: Type 955 (2002–2006), Type 957 (2007–2010), and Type 958 (2011+).The third-generation Cayenne (Type 958) was unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March following an online reveal on February 25, 2010.
The Cayenne's frame and doors are sourced from Volkswagen, who uses the frames and doors for the Volkswagen Touareg model. All other aspects of vehicle design, tuning, production are done in house at Porsche.
The Porsche Cayenne entered the market with mixed anticipation. However, the Porsche Cayenne soon proved that it was the performance vehicle among SUV's and was praised for its excellent handling and powerful engines. The lineup initially consisted of the V8-powered Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo. Later in the model cycle, VR6 and diesel-powered versions joined the lineup.
The base model is powered by a 3.2-liter VR6 engine producing 250 hp (190 kW); modifications in the exhaust manifold allow power to peak at 6700 rpm. This is the same 3.2-liter motor found on a Volkswagen Touareg and Volkswagen Golf R32. A Turbo Diesel engine is also available. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph (97 km) is 7.5 seconds with manual transmission and 8.1 seconds with the Tiptronic S. Notably, independent testing has produced a time of 9.2 seconds for the Tiptronic diesel.
