Overshadowed: Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
Oh, who cares? Another variant of a Porsche SUV. Let’s all look up air-cooled 911 prices instead, and wish we’d bought one ten years ago.
But wait, there are a few details here that are worth exploring. Ten-piston brakes. 540 hp. 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. And a Nürburgring time of under eight seconds. Just kidding, under eight minutes, though.
That last tidbit is particularly amazing, putting the Cayenne Turbo S faster than the Cayman S, the old RS4, the previous Cadillac CTS-V, and right on par with stuff like the last-generation Viper SRT-10. In an SUV! Too bad it was tucked away and nearly forgotten.
Much-Needed Heart Transplant: Acura and Honda
Even if the NSX had its thunder stolen, it’s still a hell of a car. Hybrid tech in modern supercars is all well and good, but the decision to go to a twin-turbo V6 rather than staying naturally aspirated was a smart move. Acura called the decision akin to undergoing a heart-transplant while running a marathon, but it was a move they had to make. Without forced induction, the NSX would be irrelevant.
Following hard on the heels of the NSX’s reveal, Honda announced that their Ohio operations would be seeing other turbocharged engines join the production line. You know what that means: the first turbocharged Honda Civic Si, coming soon. Honda does put a nearly 300-hp forced-induction four-banger in their Civic R, and this might just be the boost the company needs to inject a little more excitement into the range.
Best Concept, Take Two: Hyundai Santa Cruz
No, it doesn’t have some wild and woolly turbo-hybrid-flux-capacitor engine. Yes, the whole hipster-millennial product presentation made me want to brain someone with a free-range foraged shillelagh. But Hyundai’s little mini-pickup is utterly wonderful, and here’s why.
It’s both futuristic but still relates to the real world. It’d be cheap to run, flexible enough to handle light duties, and big enough to haul around people as well as cargo. Full-size trucks are getting ridiculously expensive, and light trucks still kill you at the pump. This little thing might not cost that much more than a Santa Fe to keep fuelled.
Of course, the fender-mounted tie-downs might not make the cut, but if Hyundai was crazy enough to build the Veloster, they might just be crazy enough to build this. I hope they do.
