2011 Volkswagen Touareg

2011 Volkswagen Touareg

As a longtime diesel promoter, Volkswagen’s interest in hybrids has been strictly competitive, its corporate line an assertion that diesel is the better fuel-saving alternative. With the 2011 Touareg, though, Vee-Dub has not only acquiesced to hybrid demands but has also built one of the best gas/electric vehicles on the market.

V-6, V-6, or V-6?

Aside from the hybrid option, there are two other engines available in the newly redesigned Touareg. But the 3.6-liter gasoline V-6—280 hp, 265 lb-ft of torque—and the 3.0-liter diesel V-6—225 hp, 406 lb-ft—are fully carry-over designs; both are competent and have been enlivened this year by a new eight-speed automatic transmission. That transmission, paired with a weight reduction of roughly 400 pounds over the outgoing vehicle, results in claimed fuel-economy gains of up to 20 percent. But aren’t you more interested in VW’s first hybrid? So were we.

The hybrid pairs the 333-hp, 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 from Audi’s excellent S4 sedan and S5 convertible with a 47-hp electric motor, for a combined output of 380 hp. The hybrid replaces the V-8 at the top of the Touareg range, and although pricing has yet to be announced, we expect the V-8’s roughly $10,000 premium over a base V-6 to apply to the hybrid, too. A 1.7-kWh battery pack is tucked into the spare-tire well, and the eight-speed transmission is used here, too. In this application, though, the hybrid module wedges between the engine and transmission and allows for their decoupling with a clutch. This enables the most impressive aspect of the hybrid’s operation.

Everybody who has ever driven a hybrid or read about one knows there are two types: mild (series) and full (parallel). Full hybrids are the serious ones, the cars that can whoosh through the neighborhood on electrons alone, the only sound being the leaves dancing in their wake. But there’s always a limit to how fast a hybrid can go before the gas engine has to turn on, and at cruising speeds, most never turn off. The Touareg’s great trick, thanks to the clutch between the engine and transmission, is that it can shut down the V-6 at speeds up to 99 mph.

Come Sail Away with Me

Referred to by VW spokespeople as “sailing,” this shutdown stretches the engine-off operation of the Touareg into a range other hybrids only dream of. Lift off the gas coasting down an exit ramp, and the engine shuts down. Remove your foot from the throttle as you approach a pair of semis blocking the freeway, and the V-6 goes silent. Driving the 2011 Touareg around Florence, we enjoyed absolute silence at 80 mph for more than a mile, and our serenity was interrupted only once when we had to slow down and accelerate for traffic. Silently shushing down mountain passes for miles at a time requires nothing but a clear road.

Indeed, at highway velocity, the merest touch of the accelerator will refire the V-6. (The Touareg can accelerate to and maintain around-town speeds on battery power alone, but it won’t do so quickly enough to keep other motorists from hating you.) The startup, however, is amazing in its seamlessness. Riding in the passenger seat and keeping our eyes off the instrument panel, we had to be told by the driver when the engine had fired, otherwise it was utterly undetectable. If speed is in sudden demand, the driver might notice a slight lag between pegging the throttle and getting full power, but the delay is no longer than it would regularly take for a transmission to kick down.

Like all hybrids, regenerative brakes charge the battery pack. And like we do with all hybrids, we will now complain about the regenerative brakes. In their regenerative function, they are extremely touchy, requiring the utmost care to avoid a violent lurch on application. Unlike most other hybrids, though, once past the first couple inches of travel, the Touareg’s offer decent feedback, and smooth application is possible with a light toe touch.

Other aspects of the hybrid’s driving behavior are identical to those of the rest of the Touareg lineup. All have the same light electric steering—too light for us, but likely to be well received by customers—and three-mode suspension system, the latter offering comfort, normal, and sport settings. We’d suggest trimming that number to two settings. Sport does a fine job of meeting dynamic demands, and normal is plenty comfortable, but comfort is unsettlingly squishy and allows alarming amounts of body lean—think 1970s Lincoln interpreted by modern-day VW. In the firmest setting, though, the Touareg is surprisingly nimble for its heft, a fitting XL-size ambassador for the GTI brand.

In Europe, the Touareg still will be available with a two-range transfer case and height-adjustable suspension as part of the uplevel 4XMOTION all-wheel-drive system. Our drive included a very brief (less than half a mile) off-road loop complete with slick ruts, side slopes, some pretty severe climbs, and deep mud pots—it was a busy half-mile. Not surprisingly, VW set up the course, and the Touareg aced it. It’s a laughable degree of capability for a vehicle that will prowl urban settings almost exclusively, but the tech may stay strictly on the Continent. Volkswagen’s product people aren’t confirming anything yet, but we strongly suspect our only driveline choice here will be the base 4MOTION—no X—with a Torsen center diff, no low range, and a fixed-height suspension. Also, we strongly suspect that nobody will notice. Ditching the off-road gear, however, contributes greatly to the reduced weight of the 2011 model.

A Bit of the Newly Old-School VW

VW’s mission statement is changing, modified in pursuit of tremendous sales-growth goals. Products across the range are more directly aligning with their segment leaders—the Jetta and the Passat are due to be replaced in 2010 and 2011, respectively, with cars more directly targeted at Honda’s Civic and Accord in cost and size. But the Touareg is a lingering taste of VW’s semiprecious recent past, a little bit upmarket in both content and pricing. Its small sales volumes are not the sort that will greatly help VW achieve its goal of selling a million cars in the U.S. by 2018, but this SUV does maintain the image of the people’s car as an upmarket alternative. And when you consider the hybrid army Vee-Dub plans to deploy in the near future, the 2011 Touareg hybrid sets the bar very high, indeed.

Porsche, 2011 Porsche Panamera 4

Porsche, 2011 Porsche Panamera 4

Sticking a 3.6-liter V-6 engine into the Porsche Panamera’s ample frame would seem to be as good a performance recipe as chopping off a couple of engines from a Boeing 747, but in reality, the base Panamera is still plenty fast. Okay, so it doesn’t leap off the line and hurtle toward the horizon like its Turbo sibling, but our all-wheel-drive Panamera 4 still posted a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.0 seconds and covered the standing quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds. Those are great numbers, and they’re backed by a 70-to-0-mph braking figure of 158 feet and skidpad grip of 0.96 g. For comparison, the BMW 740i takes 5.1 seconds to reach 60 mph, manages 0.88 g, and stops from 70 mph in 163 feet.

Underhood, the base Panamera has a new 3.6-liter double-overhead-cam, direct-injection 90-degree V-6 that makes 300 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. The angle of the V provides a clue that this engine is derived from the Panamera’s V-8 unit rather than being a transplanted Volkswagen Group mill. It’s mated to Porsche’s slick seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which gets a launch-control program with the optional $1480 Sport Chrono package—a feature our example had; hence, its startling 0-to-30-mph time of 1.4 seconds, just 0.2 second behind the 500-hp Turbo.

Downsizing Doesn’t Mean Much Sacrifice

On the road, the relative lack of grunt compared with the 400-hp Panamera S isn’t that evident. The V-6 engine makes a nice snarl under hard acceleration and is well matched to the seven-speed gearbox. Passing performance is solid, and the car goes on to a top speed of 160 mph, which is more than anyone except autobahn-storming Germans will ever need. The car gets decent gas mileage for a luxo-sedan, averaging 21 mpg in our tender care, better than the Panamera S (19 mpg) and the last Mercedes S550 we tested (17 mpg).

Of course, all the Panamera’s dynamic goodness is passed along: strong brakes, sharp steering, and move-over-pavement-I’m-in-charge handling. For luxury-sedan drivers who prefer pace over highway poise, the Panamera is the perfect tool. It actually rides quite well, too, if you opt for the $3980 adaptive air suspension.

As with other Panameras, we love the stylish interior, the amount of legroom in the back, and the practicality of the hatchback cargo area. But most of us around here still think it was beaten with an ugly stick, and it doesn’t come cheaply, either. The base price is a hair under $80,000, but by the time our test car had gently strolled through the options process, the sticker had risen to $99,210. As is typical for Porsche, you can spend silly money if you’re liberal in checking the options boxes. Playing with the setup, we got to $159,000 for a V-6 Panamera without trying very hard. If there’s anyone left who wonders how Porsche is so profitable, therein lies the answer.

Still, the Panamera 4 is the sleeper in Porsche’s four-door lineup. It doesn’t lose much in performance to the V-8–engined Panamera 4S, uses less gas, and has a base price that’s $15,800 lower. For someone who really cares about back-road romps, the V-6 Panamera makes a compelling alternative to more conventional sedans like the similarly priced Audi A8 and BMW 7-series.

Porsche, 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Porsche, 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Two years ago, Porsche unveiled a concept of its first hybrid, a Cayenne V-6. It came with a single electric motor slotted between the engine and the automatic transmission. That went against the prevailing “power-split” hybrid wisdom practiced by Toyota and Ford, whereby a gasoline engine interacts with a pair of electric motors to form a continuously variable transmission. Porsche says two advantages of its system are that it enables the Cayenne to retain its towing capacity and conventional all-wheel-drive system.

We spent a day driving the production Cayenne that’s powered by the 333-hp, 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 in Audi’s S4 rather than the Volkswagen 3.6-liter V-6 in the concept. Mated to a 52-hp electric motor, it gives a maximum output of 374 horsepower, enough grunt for a claimed 0-to-60-mph time that’s just 0.4 second slower than the V-8–powered Cayenne S’s 6.0 seconds. An eight-speed automatic transmission takes the place of the six-speed unit in the concept. This powertrain will later find its way into the upcoming Panamera.

Like many hybrids, the Cayenne can be driven solely on electric power up to a speed of 30 mph for the most feather-footed drivers. To enable efficient regenerative braking to charge the 288-volt nickel-metal hydride battery, the torque converter locks up very early, but Porsche had to painstakingly tune the shifts to avoid jerkiness in this mode.

One of the key features of the Cayenne hybrid is its ability to coast at speed to eke out better gas mileage on the highway. At speeds up to 86 mph, the engine will shut down, only to be restarted when the driver asks for torque by stepping on the gas pedal. In order to do this smoothly, a clutch between the engine and the electric motor reengages as the engine fires, a process that Porsche says takes 0.3 second.

The company claims the vehicle averages 26 mpg in the latest European combined cycle—a 27-percent improvement over the nonhybrid Cayenne V-6—which is very impressive for a 5700-pound SUV. (That’s about 350 pounds heavier than the V-8 Cayenne S.)

We found that the hybrid system works very well. There’s just a slight whine to indicate that the Cayenne is operating in electric mode, and it moves seamlessly between gasoline and electric power. Under hard throttle, the vehicle gets along smartly, the torque from the electric motor impressively augmenting the smooth and sonorous V-6.

The electrohydraulic power steering is a touch light, but this is still a very sporty SUV. On the highway, it’s eerie when the engine goes quiet while coasting, but reengagement of the gasoline engine is amazingly smooth. Our only reservation was the occasional clunky downshift while braking from low speed, no doubt caused by the locked torque converter as energy is redirected into the battery. Porsche claims this is a prototype glitch.

The hybrid Cayenne S will cost significantly more than the standard $60,215 ­Cayenne S. We estimate a base price of about $70,000.

car, 2011 Volkswagen Touareg

car, 2011 Volkswagen Touareg

The Volkswagen Touareg and its Porsche Cayenne sibling serve as the perfect example for the synergies between VW and Porsche. Porsche developed both SUVs, while VW builds them at its Bratislava, Slovakia, plant. Porsche fits V-8 engines into the SUVs’ bodies in its Leipzig, Germany, facility, while the V-6 engines of the entry Cayennes are fitted at VW’s plant in Slovakia. The partnership has worked well: the Cayenne has served Porsche's existing customer base while bringing new buyers to the brand, and the Touareg bolstered VW's claim that it is a premium carmaker more convincingly than the ill-fated Phaeton.

To the latter point, the Touareg has always impressed us with its mountain-goat-like off-road capability and superbly finished interior. Where it falls short of the competition, however, is in seating capacity—unlike some others in its class, it is just a five-seater—and its heft. It is simply too heavy, with curb weights well into the 5000-pound range.

With the next-generation Touareg, spied here, VW aims to address both shortcomings. A VW source hints at available third-row seating, but we advise you not to sell your Suburban yet, since, as in most SUVs of this type, it will be mostly symbolic in nature.

Impressively, the specification brief for the new Touareg called for up to 600 pounds to be shaved from the portly SUV, although our VW source acknowledges this target was rather optimistic, and won't stand when the Touareg reaches showrooms. With variation depending on engine choices, we believe half of the original target to be a more realistic figure.

We suspect that VW could either permanently diminish the Touareg’s off-road capability or make it optional; the company’s engineers must have watched with dismay as customers thwarted the capabilities of the all-wheel drive hardware with their beloved 18- to 20-inch wheels. In terms of saving weight and cost, taking out some of that unused capability is nearly a no-brainer.

U.S.-spec engine choices will likely include the current 3.6-liter V-6 and 4.2-liter V-8 gasoline engines, as well as the 3.0-liter V-6 TDI diesel. In Europe, the current V-10 TDI will make way for an Audi-sourced V-8 TDI with similar power—VW wouldn't abandon the upper diesel segment, our source says—since adjusting the V-10 for upcoming emission limits is too costly. The V-8 TDI does everything just as well, anyway. The silky-smooth 450-hp, W-12 gasoline engine, identical to the unit used in the top-of-the-line Audi A8L W12, will die or—we hope—simply hibernate until the economic crisis is over. A gasoline hybrid based on Audi's supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 is a done deal—we’ve already driven a Cayenne so equipped—but it will be added to the lineup about a year after launch.

The exterior will be a forceful evolution of the current styling, and the interior will be slightly more sporty in style, adding contemporary infotainment systems. Don't expect too much of the Tiguan's kitschy details to migrate to the next-generation Touareg. This SUV, finalized under the guidance of Walter de'Silva, will break away from the glitzy style of Murat Günak, his predecessor.

The Touareg will be launched in Europe next April and in the U.S. later in 2010. While VW and Porsche are currently engaged in a war as to who will occupy the throne in their partnership, the dust should have settled by the time this ute reaches the market.

Prototype Drive, 2011 Porsche Cayenne

Prototype Drive, 2011 Porsche Cayenne

Porsche purists may have hated the Cayenne from the moment of its inception, but the success of the truck has allowed the continued production of cars that enthusiasts yearn for. In fact, in one of the supreme ironies of the auto industry recently, the profitability of the VW Touareg–based SUV was a reason that Porsche was able to attempt a hostile takeover of  Volkswagen last year.

Even though that bid failed and Porsche has become part of the VW Group, the new bosses certainly recognize the importance of the Cayenne to Porsche’s bottom line. That’s why we recently found ourselves in the Middle East, evaluating prototypes of the second-gen version of the Cayenne. The vehicle is the product of a revised platform that is shared with the next VW Touareg and Audi Q7. The new Cayenne is 1.8 inches longer overall and rides on a wheelbase stretched 1.6 inches, making for a ­roomier rear seat that now slides fore and aft by 6.3 inches. There are 24 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, up from 19; with the rear seats folded, the Cayenne will accept 63 cubic feet of stuff, about the same as before.

One of the main criticisms of the previous Cayenne was its blob-like shape, which looked a bit like an eroded brick. For Cayenne No. 2, chief designer Michael Mauer and his team devised more subtle air intakes underneath the front bumper and a more sculpted hood that has cut-lines like the iconic 911’s. The liftgate slopes more now, giving a lighter appearance at the back. While they were at it, the Porsche designers put together an interior that’s similar to the spectacular Panamera’s.

Another point of contention was the porkiness of this Porsche—as much as 5600 pounds in some trims. To get mass under control, the Cayenne now has a heavy dose of aluminum parts: hood, doors, and front fenders, as well as suspension pieces. According to Rolf Frech, director of complete vehicle engineering and quality management, “Trim level for trim level, a new Cayenne is nearly 440 pounds lighter than the old one.” A Cayenne S now weighs 4553 pounds, according to Porsche, some 400 pounds less than the claimed weight of the current Cayenne. However, the last Cayenne S we tested weighed 5351 pounds, which would suggest a still hefty two and a half tons for the new model.

This lower weight is the big reason that the next Cayenne, which goes on sale later this year as a 2011 model, offers better gas mileage than the current vehicle. The current Cayenne already has a range of direct-injection engines, which basically carry over but are updated to the latest-generation, slightly more powerful units from the Panamera. The naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V-8 will make 400 horsepower, a gain of 15, and the Turbo holds at 500. The entry-level 3.6-liter V-6 model will make a less sexy 300 horsepower. A start-stop feature will be standard on all Cayenne gasoline engines.

The hybrid version, which mates a supercharged 333-hp, 3.0-liter Audi V-6 engine with a 52-hp electric motor, most likely will go on sale here in early 2011. This vehicle will, Porsche claims, achieve 29 mpg on the combined European cycle (that’s more like a 25-mpg EPA combined number), which is better than many a mid-size luxury sedan. We’ve driven this powertrain, and it’s remarkably good.

During this first access to the new Cayenne, we focused more on the Turbo (can you blame us?).  As with all the other gasoline engines, power is transmitted via a completely new eight-speed automatic transmission sourced from Aisin that shifts quickly and very smoothly. First and second gears are short, giving fast acceleration off the line. The Turbo has a claimed 0-to-62-mph time of 4.6 seconds. (The S needs 5.9 seconds, and Porsche is traditionally conservative with its performance claims.)

At the other end, the seventh and eighth ratios are long in order to save fuel. Porsche went with a conventional torque-converter automatic because of fears that a dual-clutch gearbox would overheat from the Turbo’s massive 516 pound-feet of torque and wouldn’t be as robust for rock crawling at very low speed. Yes, Porsche still persists with the quaint notion that an SUV ought to be off-road capable (the company does sell a lot of them in the Middle East).

After a couple of hours on what seemed like a never-ending straight road through the Arabian Desert, the quietness of the engine and the lack of tire noise made it difficult to stay awake. Luckily, we left the paved road and turned toward a huge dune area that rose 200 feet and featured very soft and deep sand. Frech and his engineers come here to calibrate the torque distribution of the new Cayenne’s all-wheel-drive system under extreme traction conditions. Under normal road conditions, about 90 percent of the engine’s torque goes to the rear wheels. As soon as the wheel sensors identify a rotational difference between the front and the rear wheels, the system sends more torque to the front—close to 100 percent, if need be.

For off-roading, just move a switch in the center console to the “mountain” symbol. The air suspension automatically raises the Cayenne’s body, and the center differential locks. A rear-diff lock is engaged if the car is fitted with the off-road equipment that’s standard on the Turbo and optional on the others. At full throttle, the Cayenne Turbo jumped to about 50 mph seemingly instantly. In the five seconds after it reached the foot of a dune, the Cayenne dug its tires into the sand and lost some speed but resolutely kept going, with 5000 rpm steady on the tach. At 30 mph, we easily swept to the top of the dune. “You would not do this with its predecessor,” Frech explained. “Only the new Cayenne can apportion the engine’s power over this kind of terrain.”

After plenty of time exploring the Cayenne’s limits in an environment that pretty much none of its American owners will ever encounter—unless they go bounding off into the Mojave on an impulse—we ventured back onto pavement. Corners were hard to find, but we discovered some high-speed bends and dips in the road. The steering is accurate, and stability in fast corners is amazing for a truck.

Although the new Cayenne is still a heavy SUV, the weight reduction and improved electronic chassis systems have made it much more impressive dynamically. It also looks a lot less bulky and ridiculous than it used to. We can’t say that Porsche has coached a lineman into a wide receiver, but this nose tackle now has the mobility of a linebacker.

2011 Porsche Cayenne, S, Turbo, Hybrid

2011 Porsche Cayenne, S, Turbo, Hybrid

Longtime Porsche fans were largely appalled when the company introduced the Cayenne in 2003. How could a company that used to manufacture 911 lug nuts out of aluminum to save a few grams introduce an SUV whose weight—in some versions—approached 6000 pounds even though it could barely hold five adults?

Despite the disapproval of many Porschephiles, as well as most Car and Driver staffers, the Cayenne turned out to be a big success, selling more than 280,000 copies worldwide since its introduction and nearly 90,000 in the U.S. Porsche executives like to say that profits from the Cayenne have made possible the increasingly swift and sophisticated 911 models that have been introduced with some frequency over the past few years.

Bigger but Lighter

But with this second-generation Cayenne, Porsche has taken to heart many of the criticisms of the previous model. Most important, the company has taken about 400 pounds out of the Cayenne. About 70 pounds of that come from the elimination of the two-speed transfer case. Instead, the new model gets an eight-speed automatic with a lower first-gear ratio and more sophisticated traction control. About 65 pounds were found in other engine and powertrain reductions. Greater use of aluminum in the chassis yielded 72 pounds, lighter wheels and tires shaved 17 more, an electric parking brake dropped 13, and structural efficiencies eliminated 42 pounds.

A huge chunk of weight came out of the body, too, with 86 pounds eliminated through redesigned doors, 42 from a lighter interior, 22 from different electrical components, and 17 from various body-shell changes and other structural-attachment efficiencies. Despite these weight reductions, overall structural stiffness was increased by 15 percent, says Porsche.

Those agile at mental arithmetic will have noticed that these reductions add up to somewhat more than the claimed weight reduction. The difference between that figure and the actual reduction is additional content and reinforcement that had to be added in order to meet various legal requirements. Reducing a vehicle’s weight while adding content is quite an achievement.

Porsche engineers also managed to grow the Cayenne slightly in the process. The wheelbase is 1.6 inches longer, and the body has been lengthened by 1.9 inches. Combined with a rear seat that has an adjustable seatback angle and moves fore-and-aft over a range of 6.3 inches, there’s now plenty of room for four six-footers in the Cayenne. Cargo space is about the same as before.

Contrary to its slight size increase, the new model looks slightly smaller and tidier than its predecessor. It retains the main Porsche cues—front fenders slightly higher than the hood, which is rounded in the front; air intakes rather than any kind of radiator-like shell; and pronounced rear shoulders—but the body panels are smoother and neater than before. Despite the sleeker look, the drag coefficient is essentially unchanged at about 0.36.

So, So, So Much Better Inside

Inside, the improvement is overwhelming. The center console mimics the beautiful Panamera design with a neat array of buttons on an upward sloping panel. A new instrument cluster with a central tachometer and a customizable 4.8-inch TFT screen to its right provides all the primary information you need. In the usual Porsche fashion, the interior can be upgraded with leather swaddling just about everything, an Alcantara headliner, and five different trim options—you can check options boxes until you’re broke. After spending several hours in the new model, we think the old Cayenne looks plain and pedestrian inside.

Under the hood, the engines are largely carry-over, with the twin-turbo V-8 at the top of the line and the 3.6-liter, VW-derived V-6 at the bottom. But several powertrain upgrades serve to dramatically improve fuel economy. The most important is the switch from a six-speed to an eight-speed transmission. What this does is increase the spread of ratios between low gear and top gear from about 6:1 to 7.2:1. That means a lower first gear to help compensate for the loss of the dual-range transfer case, combined with a taller top gear for better fuel economy on the highway.

Interestingly, Porsche didn’t use its twin-clutch transmission—PDK in Porsche speak—on the Cayenne because the vehicle is so heavy and has substantial towing capacity. The company told us the clutches on the PDK would have a hard time with a combined load north of 9000 pounds. Porsche also says—and we can believe—the torque-converter automatic provides greater sensitivity and control in delicate off-road driving.

Further fuel-economy improvements come from the addition of automatic stop/start, which turns off the engine when you’re stopped. Then there are redesigned cooling systems to provide shorter warm-up times, optimized engine calibrations, smart charging to engage the generator during deceleration as much as possible, and tires with 10-percent-lower rolling resistance. Combined with the weight reduction, these changes result in a substantial 20-to-23-percent improvement in fuel economy based on European test figures.

New Hybrid Model

There’s also the addition of the new hybrid model, badged “Cayenne S Hybrid.” It has a different gasoline engine than any of the other models—the supercharged 333-hp, 3.0-liter V-6, borrowed from the Audi S4. A 47-hp electric motor/generator shaped like a six-inch-thick, 12-inch-diameter disk is sandwiched between this engine and the eight-speed automatic gearbox. A small 288-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack sits under the luggage compartment along with the electronics to control the flow of power from the battery to the motor/generator and back.

One additional twist to this hybrid is a clutch placed between the engine’s flywheel and the electric motor. With this the engine can be completely disengaged from the rest of the drivetrain, which increases the electricity from regenerative braking and further improves fuel economy. It also lets the car coast effortlessly without the drag of engine braking. Porsche (and VW, whose new Touareg hybrid has the same powertrain) calls this mode “sailing,” and it is enabled up to a speed of 97 mph.

The combined output of the gasoline and electric motors is 380 hp and 427 lb-ft of torque, which is a little less power but more torque than the V-8 Cayenne S generates. However, the necessary hardware adds nearly 400 pounds to the hybrid compared with the V-8, making this model even heavier than the Turbo. Still, acceleration to 60 mph is claimed to be only half a second slower than the V-8’s (6.1 versus 5.6 seconds) and more than a second better than the six-cylinder model’s (7.4 seconds with the automatic). Fuel efficiency—on the European tests—is the best in the range, says Porsche, about 17 percent better than the V-6’s and 22 percent better than the V-8’s.

Driving the New Generation

We had an opportunity to drive all but the V-6–powered entry-level Cayenne, which will be introduced a bit later. Our drive was at Barber Motorsports Park, so we took the cars onto the track for some hot laps. Few manufacturers would introduce their SUVs at a racetrack, but the big Cayennes are very comfortable in such an environment, diving toward apexes and rocketing out of corners.

As you’d expect, the Turbo, with its beefy 265/50-19 tires, firm suspension, and 500 hp felt not only the quickest but also the easiest to drive on the track. Body motions were well controlled, the machine was always planted, and there was plenty of grip at any speed. Porsche claims a top speed of 172 mph and 0-to-60 acceleration of 4.4 seconds for the Turbo, and the Porsche Sport Driving School instructors on hand said the Cayenne Turbo laps the Barber circuit quicker than a base 911 Carrera.

The Cayenne S was almost as satisfying, even though its suspension wasn’t quite as buttoned down. Carving smooth arcs through the track’s 17 corners was easy and—if we’re honest—pretty fun, particularly on the model fitted with the optional Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus system. This system was introduced last year on the new 911 Turbo, and it basically uses the vehicle’s rear brakes to send more torque to the outside rear wheel when turning into a corner. The difference is quite noticeable. The Cayenne fitted with this system turned in as if it had shed 1000 pounds.

Although not conceived for any sort of track use, the Cayenne S hybrid performed competently at Barber, but it required a more delicate touch. With a softer suspension calibration and lighter steering, the hybrid needed to be driven with greater smoothness as we started going quickly. It was imperative to select the sport mode for the powertrain to prevent the engine from shutting off when braking into a corner. When it shut off, there was a slight but irritating delay when we picked up the power at the apex. Of course, only the journalists on this press trip would ever be likely to experience this situation, so it’s an extremely minor quibble.

The Barber facility has a challenging off-road area where we played a bit with the Cayenne Turbo. Despite the loss of the two-speed transfer case, the new model displayed plenty of traction and thrust, even on the steepest and most slippery sections. Part of this capability comes from the lower first gear in the new transmission and part comes from changes in the Porsche Traction Management system that now works with a computer-controlled multiplate clutch in the center differential that can distribute the torque fore-and-aft as needed.

Combined with Porsche’s version of hill-descent control and the air suspension’s ability to raise the ground clearance, the Cayenne Turbo negotiated this severe course with ease. The only downside was a lack of forward visibility when the grades changed rapidly. With the Cayenne’s high nose and the machine jacked up, we couldn’t see what was directly in front, especially when cresting a grade. You would be well advised to get out and check your path during rigorous off-road drives, all five of you future owners who will attempt such a thing.

On the road, the 2011 Cayenne is a wonderfully comfortable and luxurious buggy. Every version is smooth, quiet, and refined. The eight-speed transmission shifts frequently, constantly selecting the optimal ratio for ever-changing driving circumstances—and you can follow its efforts because there’s a gear display on the Cayenne’s dashboard. But the shifts are remarkably smooth; you’d never notice the gearchanges if you didn’t notice the digits on the display. With this new-generation Cayenne, there’s a more noticeable difference among the suspension adjustments, although even in the sportiest setting, the ride was reasonable on the pristine Alabama roads near the track.

Interestingly, the hybrid model doesn’t seem to employ the electric motor much during everyday driving. You need to apply full throttle before the motor kicks in to boost the performance, or you can press the E-power button on the center console, which forces the electric motor to cut in a bit sooner.

Porsche has done an excellent job of minimizing the transition between regenerative and hydraulic braking on the Cayenne hybrid. However, if you try to apply the brakes gently, you can’t, because the regenerative braking has a minimum threshold level. At the other end, there’s a tiny delay when you release the brakes. Perhaps these niggles wouldn’t matter if you drove the hybrid every day.

The 2011 Cayenne S and Turbo go on sale in early July; the base Cayenne and the S hybrid follow in the fall. Base prices range from $47,675 to $105,775, but as usual with Porsches, your susceptibility to options will have a huge effect on the final cost. Porsches are never cheap, and these Cayennes are no exception, but the vehicles do deliver a remarkable degree of versatility. Although a Range Rover would be every bit as capable—or more—as a Cayenne Turbo off-road, it couldn’t touch the Turbo’s aplomb on a winding road or racetrack. And it likely would suck more fuel in either context.

For those who want a do-anything machine that is comfortable, luxurious, and practical, these updated Porsche Cayennes have much to offer. And although it’s still difficult for some of us to accept a Porsche SUV, this second-generation Cayenne is much truer to Porsche’s efficiency ethic than was the original.

BMW, 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 750Li

BMW, 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 750Li

BMW seems to be on a mission lately to offer something for everyone, no matter how nonsensical a certain consumer’s particular set of needs and wants may be. Case in point: the brilliant X6 and its mutant half-sister, the 5-series Gran Turismo. The latest in Bavaria’s barrage of the bizarre, the ActiveHybrid 7-series—a full-size “luxury performance” hybrid—seems to actually make sense relative to those two. It doesn’t hurt the argument for its existence that a competitor from Lexus, the LS600hL, has been on the road for three years now.

What makes the ActiveHybrid 7—available in both short- and long-wheelbase forms—strange is BMW’s boast that it is the quickest hybrid sedan on the market. If speed is the objective, we’re not sure why a hybrid is the answer. Likewise, if fuel economy is the end goal, tuning the twin-turbo V-8 gas engine for an additional 40 hp and 30 lb-ft of torque seems silly. However, if a 7-series customer believes he needs a car more powerful than the 750i but doesn’t want to step up to the 12-cylinder 760Li—which we think he should—and also wants 15 percent or so better fuel economy, BMW has just the model.

BMW’s engineers claim they set out to increase fuel economy, and the performance gains are a secondary benefit they hadn’t intended, but that sounds like PR script to us. No dim bulbs, they probably had a hunch that adding a bunch of extra power and torque would make the car quicker. Regardless of whether or not they had that hunch, we did, and we were right: In our testing, the 750Li ActiveHybrid went from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 12.8 at 112 mph. That’s 0.7 second quicker to 60 and 0.9 quicker through the quarter than the last non-hybrid 750Li to wear our test gear. More (un)importantly, it’s 0.9 second quicker to 60 than the last LS600hL we tested. A brief blast around the high-speed oval confirms that the hybrid 7 rockets to its 147-mph governor without any of the lethargy commonly associated with hybrids. Later on, driving more like downtrodden suburban Americans, we saw 21 mpg.

So It’s Fast. Now Drive It Like a Hybrid

Okay, so you really care about the hybrid bits? This hybrid won’t glide about on electric power and smugness alone. You want motion, you’re going to have to choke the planet with the internal-combustion engine. There’s an electric motor sandwiched between the gas engine and the torque converter in the eight-speed automatic transmission. It contributes an additional 20 hp and 155 lb-ft—combined powertrain output is 455 hp and 515 lb-ft—and allows the engine to sit quiet at stops, as it powers the accessories. Although it isn’t a completely seamless stop and start, the transition doesn’t call attention to itself.

Our larger complaint is that, although the engine fires up as soon as you lift your foot from the brake, if you snooze at a light or are inching through a left-turn lane waiting for a break in traffic, a quick leap from brake to gas beats the re-ignition process and results in a herky jerk forward. However, if you plan on a quick dive for the gas, you can disable the stop/start feature by putting the shifter into Sport mode.

Braking with Convention

This 7’s hybridity also is inconspicuous under braking, which the car manages extremely well, screeching to a halt from 70 mph in just 160 feet—better by 7 feet than the last Audi S4 we tested. Although the mere mention of regenerative braking usually erodes the feel of the stop pedal in question, the ActiveHybrid 7’s brakes remain firm and linear. The car lurches slightly under deceleration, but it is the fault of the transmission downshifting. We noticed the same thing in our long-term 7-series. Of course, the fact that the transmission is causing the disruptions and not the brakes doesn’t lessen the obnoxiousness or somehow make it more welcome in an otherwise serene car.

A hybrid setup like this car’s requires a smaller battery than more-advanced systems, and the 7 hides its lithium-ion pack under the trunk floor. It deals a meager one-cubic-foot blow to trunk volume—dropping it from 14 to 13—leaving BMW with a one-cube advantage over the LS600hL. BMW engineers tell us trunk space is the reason the hybrid 7-series and ActiveHybrid X6—which launched simultaneously—use different systems. Although the X6’s full-hybrid setup allows for greater gains in fuel economy, its larger battery would have consumed more of the already-tight trunk space. Also, BMW is quick to point out that the battery in the trunk helps preserve the 7’s weight distribution, which is the same 51.5/48.5-percent front/rear for the long-wheelbase car as it is for the non-hybrid version, while the stubbier model pushes a bit more rearward for 51.3/48.7. Weight increases by about 250 pounds from the hybrid components and the beefier rear axle borrowed from the V-12 7-series, necessitated by the increased torque load.

Look, Ma, Fewer Emissions!

Like other hybrids based on plain old polluters, the hybrid 7-series relies on badging to convey its uniqueness, although it’s not so subtle compared with other 7s. “ActiveHybrid 7” badges adorn the trunklid and C-pillars, and there’s also a unique 19-inch wheel design and a bespoke Bluewater Metallic color. (We’d have gone with a nice peaceful gray and called it “Blackwater Metallic.”)

Interior cues are limited to some tweaks to the instrumentation—an instant fuel-economy meter and the battery-charging monitor live in the lower part of the tach—and additional displays in the vehicle-information screen. One, a bar graph, shows how active the hybrid system has been for the past 15 minutes, and the other shows the usual hybrid energy flow in beautiful high definition. Otherwise, it’s the same old 7-series, which is to say it is attractive, spacious, and comfortable (especially in long-wheelbase form).

How Much Did Captain Planet’s Costume Cost?

It is not, however, the same old pricing. Like the ActiveHybrid’s acceleration, its sticker price gets a little electronic boost. Short-wheelbase cars start at $103,175, nearly 20 grand higher than the $83,375 commanded by the non-hybrid 750i. A long-wheelbase car like the one tested here starts at $107,075, a similar leap over its regular counterpart. The hybrid at least includes a few extras, like an upgraded stereo and head-up display, that bring the pricing difference down a few grand. Of course, there’s also that 740i to think about. It offers nearly equivalent fuel economy (EPA ratings of 17/25 mpg, and 20 in our hands), is just a touch slower off the line (0–60 in 5.1 seconds), and starts about $32,000 less than the hybrid.

If you think you need a hybrid badge to save the world, you’re wrong. But now there are two ways to spend $100,000 on a full-size luxury hybrid sedan. (We’re not counting the Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid because it only uses a V-6 and its base price of only $91,875 would get you laughed at by your neighbors.) We’d buy this one. Then again, if BMW and Lexus were buying retired tugboats, lining them in leather, and putting wheels on them for street use, we’d have an opinion on which of those to buy, too. But that wouldn’t make it any less of a goofy purchase.