2011 Porsche Cayenne

2011 Porsche Cayenne Hi, I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with Cars.com. We’re taking our first look at a redesigned Porsche Cayenne SUV. Now there are those who say the first generation took a tumble down Ugly Mountain then drove back up and went off the cliff again. To those people, there might be some relief in the redesign version. Now it’s still bold especially the turbo model here but it’s not quite as exaggerated as the previous model. And the way the headlights look kind of on top here makes it look more like a Porsche than it never did. Now this generation lost about 400 pounds versus the previous one. It might seem they did that by making it smaller because it looks smaller and actuality. It’s almost two inches longer, the wheel base is longer. It just sits lower, looks slicker and not quite as imposing. One interesting feature I just like this rear spoiler. It got this kind of shape to it. It almost likes a well-worn baseball cap. The interior in the Cayenne is actually much improved. There still some cues from the previous version like this handle here on either side. But the general center console shape is a lot more like that in the Panamera, so it’s a new direction for them. I also really like the fact that a lot of the fake looking plasticky metal is gone. Now this stuff isn't necessarily real metal. But it actually looks a lot more like real aluminum and there's a fair amount of it. One thing I'm still not wild about is the very strange protruding shifts buttons on the steering wheel spokes, just weird and kind of plastic. Another new feature, the backseat now slides, forward it back which is actually really useful. When it’s all the way back, I got plenty of legroom even with the seat back which is another interest so. I got plenty of clearance. I'm about 6 feet tall. You can also now adjust the backrest too a few different positions. It does seem to be a shortcoming to this though. When the backseat is folded, and you slide it forward which is you might do to give you some more room. There's a big gap here. The obvious problem here is if you’re sliding something large in from the back, it can drop in here and maybe a piece of furniture leg will drop right in there. Now every version of the Cayenne is now quicker, more powerful than the previous one. But there all roughly 20% more efficient based on European figures. There are no American figures yet. That’s pretty good to begin with. And now there's also something new to Porsche, a hybrid version which is another 20% more efficient than that compared to the V8 version. It gives about as much acceleration as the V8. So overall, changes of new generation pretty positive, more efficient, more powerful, more roomy, how can you loose. For more car related news, go to Cars.com or our blog, KickingTires.net.