Friday, June 17, 2011

Report: Porsche's Q5-based Cajun crossover coming into focus

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When Volkswagen first started taking over Porsche, word on the street was that the VW Group would take Porsche back to its roots as a sportscar marque exclusively, canceling the Cayenne and Panamera that compete in territory already covered by other brands in the group. But that approach appears to have long since been ditched in favor of further increasing Porsche's line-up, starting with the Cajun.

The smaller counterpart to the larger Cayenne SUV, the Cajun is expected to arrive around 2014. And with development now underway, Car and Driver claims to have the inside line on what we can expect.

For starters, the Cajun will be based heavily on the Audi Q5, but while its four-ringed counterpart may ride on a principally front-wheel-drive platform, the Porsche will be exclusively all-wheel drive. Because, while people may have learned to accept a four-door Porsche, a Porsche SUV or even a diesel or hybrid Porsche, the notion of a Porsche driven exclusively by the front wheels would undoubtedly be one step too far.

Hybrids and diesels could be in the mix for the Cajun as well, while conventional power is tipped to range from a 220-horsepower TFSI four up to a 350-hp supercharged V6, with six-speed manuals, seven-speed DSGs and eight-speed automatics driving through a rebranded version of Audi's Quattro drivetrain to all four wheels.

Styling would need to be sufficiently Porsche-like to differentiate the Cajun from its Q5 counterpart, with reports once again anticipating a three-door model to follow the initial five-door and take up arms against the Range Rover Evoque.

Porsche's Q5-based Cajun crossover coming into focus originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/17/porsches-q5-based-cajun-crossover-coming-into-focus/

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