Porsche targets Lamborghini Urus with new 631-hp Cayenne Car News

Porsche is set to launch a more powerful top-of-the-line version of its Cayenne Turbo, targeting squarely the most powerful super-SUVs on sale, including the Lamborghini Urus and the Bentley Bentayga Speed.

To be revealed as part of the updated Cayenne lineup at the end of June, ahead of scheduled UK deliveries later this year, the heavily upgraded model is the most powerful pure-combustion Cayenne yet. day, offering up to 631 horsepower from a modified version. Porsche’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 petrol engine.

The new variant, as yet unknown, will be sold exclusively in the frayed-roof Cayenne Coupé bodywork, with the aim of ensuring that it offers the best possible combination of performance and dynamics. The standard Cayenne Turbo will remain on sale.

First road test: Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupé prototype tested before launch

“There are advantages to choosing the Coupé. It is lighter and has a slightly lower center of gravity than the SUV. Our intention is to deliver not only the most powerful but also the sportiest Cayenne to date, ”Rico Löscher, the engineer in charge of developing the new variant, told Autocar during a recent prototype test of the new model in Germany.

Tailored features of the top-of-the-line include a sophisticated and heavy carbon fiber active aerodynamic package, which is said to provide greater downforce as well as a more efficient engine compartment and brake cooling.

There’s also a reworked front bumper, with a more pronounced lip spoiler and larger air ducts than the standard modernized Cayenne, seen recently in prototype form. Meanwhile, the roof spoiler is gaining additions on either side and the rear spoiler, which deploys from the trailing edge of the tailgate at high speed, has been visibly oversized. A new rear diffuser houses a pair of substantial center-mounted tailpipes.

The newcomer uses various parts of the lightweight Sport Package that is optional on the standard Cayenne Turbo Coupe, including a contoured carbon fiber roof panel. Porsche has yet to confirm a curb weight, although it is claimed to have reduced the standard model’s 2,200 kg.

The Cayenne Turbo Coupé’s powertrain is powered from 89 hp to 631 hp. That’s 39 hp more than the same 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 produced in the Audi RS Q8 and just 10 hp less than in the Lamborghini Urus – one of the most powerful and fastest SUVs in the world. sale today. Torque also increased from 60 lb-ft to 626 lb-ft.

By comparison, the combination of the 2,535kg Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 petrol engine and an electric motor delivers 671 horsepower.

Details of the engine changes have yet to be revealed, although Autocar can confirm that it has a titanium exhaust system and new engine management software among its bespoke upgrades. . In line with the extra performance, Porsche has revised the software for the eight-speed torque converter gearbox and four-wheel drive system, which receives a more rear-oriented power distribution. The electronic differential is also modified to provide better torque vectoring and better locking.