Buy a new porsche - it comes with a vw engine!

[Hockey fan]

I know this belongs in the other forum, but it does mention the 911 and the 924 (in a bad way). What's everyone think? Article copied from CNN.

Porsche to make slower Cayenne

Lower-priced SUV will have a VW 6-cylinder engine and cost about $10,000 less than V8 version.
August 27, 2003: 2:03 PM EDT



FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Porsche, famed for its growling sports cars, said Wednesday it is set to launch a low-powered version of its Cayenne sport/utility vehicle -- one of the slowest models it has produced in decades.

The world's most profitable carmaker said the new model, equipped with a V6 engine from Volkswagen, will take about 9 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour, almost as long as it takes its fastest sportscar to reach double that speed.


Porsche Cayenne
"The first Porsche with a V6 engine will be available in European markets from the end of November, and in the United States in the first half of 2004," the company said. The basic model will cost about $44,580 -- 40,900 -- before tax. That's about $10,000 less than the base price of the current V8 Cayenne, according to the Web site Edmunds.com.

Launched last year, the more powerful V8 versions of the Cayenne were a radical departure for Porsche, which built its reputation on race-winning sports cars, not the two-ton off-roaders that now dominate American highways.

Praised by some as the ultimate symbol of indulgence and loathed by others as an ugly irrelevance, the Cayenne has kept Porsche sales on track as demand for its traditional 911 and Boxster sportscars has slowed.

Sales of the 911 and Boxster slipped 9 percent in the nine months to the end of April, the first three quarters of Porsche's business year, although demand for the Cayenne gave the company a solid 13 percent gain in cars sold overall.

Some industry watchers say the arrival of a slower Cayenne, which has a top speed of 133 miles per hour, suggests sales and pricing of the more powerful versions have nonetheless fallen short of expectations, and they worry the car will damage Porsche's reputation as a maker of brawny racers.

"The launch of the V6 could stretch Porsche's brand credibility to the limit in our view," Goldman Sachs said in a research note earlier this year, when rumors of a Cayenne V6 model were first circulating.

"It would be the slowest Porsche since the 924 of the 1970s, Price competition with VW and BMW will be intense and margins minimal," Goldman Sachs added.

The 924, considered by Porsche purists to be one of the brand's least collectible models, used a four-cylinder engine designed by VW's Audi division, which also assembled the car.

[Supergranule]

*sigh*

[MOMO3.2]

The article states "Assembeled by VW's Audi Division" as some sort of put down or compromise. Audi recently built and campaigned the most technologically advanced and dominating sports car (the R8) on the planet. Audi arguably produces the worlds finest sporting sedans (RS6, RS4, and S8). This CNN writer is ignorant.

[thrown_hammer]

Buy a new porsche - it comes with a vw engine!

I thought all Porsches had VW engines?

[Rouxzy]

Thrown Hammer, you have it backwards. All VW's have Porsche engines. Porsche invented VW's.
Tom

[Neilk]

I think I would rather have the V8 VW Touareg for about the same price.

[porcupine911]

• audis rock!
• the 924 can be made to handle very well
• cayenne v6 is a good idea for the european market
• porsches and vws are the same shiznit whether you like it or not. always have been. and i love 'em both.

[jrdavid68]

Originally posted by Neilk
I think I would rather have the V8 VW Touareg for about the same price.

Neilk - you beat me to the punch on this one!

Has anyone test driven the Touareg? My wife and I took one for a spin a couple weeks ago - we are starting to look for a tow vehicle. The ride, power and all that seemed fine. My only complaint was that the interior seemed a little cheesy with the big round knobs etc.

[Carrera Sled]

A buddy got the Touareg, V6. Heckuva machine!

[thrown_hammer]

Thanks for clearing that up Tom...

[JP911]

Perhaps this is already well known, but VW and Porsche co-developed the SUV chassis that is now used for the Cayenne / Touraeg. The cool version of the Toureag with the twin turbo diesel V10 has yet to hit the US. A reported 510 ft/lbs of torque!