(first post in many years - glad to be back on the forum)

I have been researching the V6 Cayenne (6 speed manual on an SUV is tempting!) and have been wondering why they don't share the Panamera's V6 instead of using VW's 3.6 unit.

Does any know the reason or if their are plans to share the engines? I have read it is a cost issue (using VW's technology saves dev costs etc), but if they already developed the V6 for the Panamera and produce more units for the Cayenne, wouldn't the savings carry over as well?

The more "thorough-bred" (might be an oxymoron for a Porsche SUV) the Cayenne is the better, no?

(sorry if this is a repost, but I have searched and browsed through much of the forum with no luck)

 

The Cayenne, VW Tourag (sp?) and to some extent Audi A7 are/were all co-developed at the same time in order to spread costs. There's no doubt that the three vehicles are significantly different from one another in feel, look, drive, etc. but there's also no getting around the fact that they share the same DNA.

Putting the Porsche designed V6 from the Panamera into the Cayenne would cost significant $ from a certification standpoint, build standpoint (I believe the Cayenne and Panamera are not built at the same factory) and engineering standpoint (The Panamera V6 was designed to couple to the MT and the PDK gearbox and not the 8 speed (I think it's actually a Japanese Aisin unit) in the Cayenne.

This cross brand development is one of the big reasons why many argue that the V8 powered Cayenne S is a significantly better deal than the V8 powered Panamera S since MSRP of two similarly optioned vehicles is substantially different.

 

Cayenne and Panamera are built in the same factory in Leipzig. Porsche did co-develop the cayenne and Tuareg with VW and they are contractually required to use the same engine - at least through this current generation. There is some speculation they will offer a Porsche designed engine when the next model comes out in a few more years.

 

I've also read the V6 in the Panamera isn't built with the towing capability of the Porsche tuned VR6 engine, so it's not likely we'll ever see Porsche's current V6 in a Cayenne in the future.

 

Making sense. Also found this on another forum:

http://www.planet-9.com/hot-topic-ca...v6-engine.html

 

i read that Porsche's deal with VW was to use their VR6 for 2 model cycles to amortize costs. They will then move on to the Porsche developed V6. Since panamera was a brand new platform, there hadn't committed to using anyone else's engine.

 

When I lived in France,I had the pleasure of driving a 1995 VWGolf GTI VR6(2.8)manual...one of the most fun cars i had(after my 911's and CT's)
Great memories!

 

This interesting article about the V6 was posted over at rennlist:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e/viewall.html

Is it really as bad as they said?

 

Not in my opinion. Very happy with the V6. You won't track it but for daily driver it is plenty. I'd say anything up to 80-85mph is great. If you typically drive faster then get something else...and let me know if you are driving in my neighborhood.