| 2011 Porsche Cayenne vs 2011 Volkswagen Touareg | February 26, 2010 | AUTORIVALS.NET |
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| The arrival of the new Porsche
Cayenne comes at the same time as the new Volkswagen Touareg
which makes sense considering the Cayenne is based on the
Touareg. Porsche fans should be delighted with the redesign
although Porsche purists will still be unhappy until
the Cayenne is dead altogether and Porsche returns to its roots.
Don't count on it though as the Cayenne is Porsche's
best-selling vehicle (shocked? me too) and with VW Group now in
control, expect even more vehicles falling outside of Porsche's
traditional circle. In any case, the new Cayenne arrives looking better than ever as well as the new Touareg. More interestingly, both will come in hybrid trims for the first time and each lose 400 pounds of fat, despite being larger than before. The result is leaner, meaner, and greener machines. |
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| 2011 Porsche Cayenne | vs | 2011 Volkswagen Touareg |
 Both the Cayenne and Touareg look sleeker than their predecessors while taking styling cues from other company models. The Cayenne's front fascia resembles the Panamera with a similarly styled hood and headlights. Turbo versions get a more aggressive bumper with a larger front grille that's double the size of the standard one pictured. There's still a little of the old Cayenne in the design with the same layout and similar design of the air intakes but Porsche has managed to smooth over the design creating a more polished look. |
 The Touareg gets Volkswagen's new company face with resemblance to the Golf and other upcoming Volkswagens but with a more chiseled look. The front end is smaller than before giving the new Touareg an improved drag coefficient and better aerodynamics. Everything looks handsome with a few small exceptions. Volkswagen seems to overuse horizontal lines for the air openings giving off a vegetable slicer look and the fog lights are placed toward the ground making them susceptible to damage. Neither fault takes much away from the attractive design though. |
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Although both have grown in size, both vehicles looks more graceful than their predecessors with form-fitting sheet metal that better suits their chassis's than before. The Cayenne retains a smooth, curved body but with tauter body panels and more resemblance to other Porsches. The Touareg ditches the previous rounded design for a squarer shape that looks enormously better than the previous Touareg. |
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| The best change to both models may not be the body styling, but lighter weight bodies. Both use lighter materials and new all-wheel drive systems to help trim a substantial 400 pounds while still including some niceties such as panoramic roofs with the Touareg featuring the largest one available on any SUV. Both wheelbases are stretched increasing interior volume but a third-row is still unavailable in both, probably in favor of reducing weight. That's one sacrifice Porsche buyers are probably willing to make considering the Cayenne's first goal was always performance, despite being an SUV. It would've been nice to see a third-row in the Touareg however. Even a Toyota RAV4 has one. | ||
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| The Cayenne gets a more distinctive
redesign of the rear fascia with new LED taillights that look
more like the Panamera's than the square design of the previous
Cayenne. It helps reduce the bloated look of before and gives a
stronger family resemblance. The other nice touch is the new
swoopy roof spoiler that looks more fluid to match the new,
sportier body. The Touareg's rear is more raked than before giving a sportier appearance as well. The sharper taillights are a huge improvement as well as the new nicely integrated tail pipes. Interestingly enough, the Touareg's exhaust looks sportier than the Cayenne's. |
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| Both interiors do not disappoint.
Like the exterior, the Cayenne's interior has a strong
resemblance to the Panamera which is a welcomed improvement over
the old Cayenne's outdated interior. The elongated center
console is styled exactly like the Panamera but with less
buttons flanking each side. The center stack is angled more
which flows better into the center console and also sculpted
nicely at the top. Wood trim is restrained to just the right
amount and the HVAC vents look better proportioned. Standard
equipment includes the usual such as leather, dual-zone climate
control, parking sensors, and a 7-inch infotainment screen.
Stepping up to the Turbo gets you Bi-xenon headlights, a Bose
audio system, navigation, air suspension, and a few other
extras. All-wheel drive is standard across all models as should
be expected. The Touareg also gets an upscale makeover with a simplistic, modern design. A smaller 6.5-inch touch-screen is used but a new "Area View" system is featured which uses cameras to monitor the surroundings (a copy of Infiniti's system). You also get lane and side assist for the most distracted drivers if the "Area View" system isn't enough. But wait, there's more. There's even front assist that can stop the vehicle in an emergency and increase the tension in the seatbelts. If you actually need all these assists, perhaps you shouldn't be driving. Oh, don't forget about bi-xenon headlights with light assist which can adjust the headlights when there's oncoming traffic. That's almost more assists than John Stockton (of the Utah Jazz, current NBA record holder in case you didn't know). Volkswagen also threw in adaptive cruise control and last but not least, an off-road driving system which activates Hill Descent Assist (that's 5 assists by my count) and tunes the transmission and other systems such as ABS for off-roading. |
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PROS +So far, better in every way than its predecessor +Sleeker, sportier body +400 lbs lighter +Panamera-styled interior CONS -Porsche purists will still hate it |
PROS +Lighter and tighter than before +Sportier body +400 lbs lighter +More upscale interior CONS -Too many horizontal lines on the front fascia -Poorly placed fog lights -Still no third row |
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| Video Source: auto123.com via YouTube | Video Source: worldcarfans.com via YouTube |
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2011 Volkswagen Touareg vs 2010 Volkswagen Touareg
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