I don't think anybody is alluding to Porsche having a time machine.

If anything, the Cayenne and Panamera enable Porsche to build cars like the RS 4.0 and 918.

 

In fact, it's those air-cooled 911s and the amazing prototype racers that won so many times at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, the Nurburgring, Spa, etc. that allowed Porsche to build up such a valuable "brand" through sweat equity and competition excellence. The race cars competed and won races, and those who appreciated that and could afford one bought the sports cars. To be sure, there were poseurs who wanted to be seen in something expensive (and maybe couldn't swing a Ferrari or another Italian), but the cars were fundamentally built for the enthusiast consumer - the predecessors of today's latte-sipping, cell-phone chatting drivers had to endure floor-mounted pedals, constant vigilance with respect to oil level, temperature, and pressure, byzantine HVAC systems, perennial valve adjustments (up through the 964), etc. There is a great video produced for the 993 introduction that includes interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Zwart, David E. Davis, Jr., Hurley Haywood, David Murry, and others. In it, one of the engineers discusses a fundamental Porsche philosophy - "Ground hook" versus "Sky hook". Ground hook referred to the connected, solid road feel that Porsches provided, whereas Sky hook was characterized by intentional isolation from the feedback that the road surface provided. (I would link the video, but I'm at work)

I wonder if the Macan will embrace Ground hook or Sky hook?

After decades of earning the reputation and "brand" through racing and building true sports cars, they began to mortgage this and dilute the soul of the company for more profit. I won't rehash things extensively, but it began with the 996 and 986, which were engineered down to a cost rather than up to a standard. It accelerated with the introduction of the Cayenne and then the Panamera. When the Macan and the "Pajun" are introduced it will be nearly complete. The vast majority of production will be catered to passenger cars of one stripe or another. To be sure, the marketing department will use epithets such as "Purist" (as they are now for the Cayenne GTS) to sell them to people who are in fact not purists, but just had to have a "Porsh" and don't really know or care why the key is on the left. Meanwhile, the company seems almost eager to alienate their true enthusiast customers: What portion of the Macan market will be joining the PCA? How many of those buyers will get on the internet and spend hours every day reading and writing about Porsches (both new and old)? How many of those will be parked in Porsche corrals by their owners at sports car races?

It's been 20 years since the RS America - it's high time for something similar on the 981 or 991 platforms. It's not enough to wait 4-5 years and build a runout edition with 5 more hp, one special paint color, and 75 lbs. of weight savings achieved through fabric door pulls and deleting AC and stereo, which most orders will add back, for $10k more than the base car.

 

Excellent post Guest.

All's that I'm trying to say is that I'm tired of everybody saying, "it's the Panamera and Cayenne that make the sports cars possible". Porsche has been building sports cars for more than 50 years without any SUV or sedan. I highly doubt that Porsche would end up making rebadged Kias if there were no Cayennes or Panameras.

The major thing that the Cayenne and Panamera allow Porsche to do is appeal the majority of consumers and make a lot of money, because the 911 and Boxster just aren't bringing in enough cash.

So saying that the Cayenne and Panamera make all the special performance cars possible is BS. They make extremely high profits possible.

Now I know most of us would all love it if Porsche could ignore the mainstream consumer part of the market, and a part of me feels that there are still a lot of people working at Porsche that feel this way too, but they are being pressured by management and the 21st century to become a profit driven company by all means necessary.

 

x2! Well said.

I can't see how they would develop the high performance vehicles without the high profits coming in from these "mainstream" offerings.

I know it's a pipe dream, but I would LOVE to see Porsche develop a branch of their Motorsports division into something like BMW has done with M or Mercedes' AMG. Let the sheep buy their PDK Pajun and Cayenne, while real aficionados can still savor Porsche's pure "ground hook" roots.

 

THANKS!!!

 

My argument is that if Porsche could develop the high performance racing cars, street cars, and Le Mans winning prototypes for 50 years without a Cayenne or Panamera, they are most certainly capable of building cars like the RS 4.0 without the Cayenne or Panamera.

Before the Cayenne or Panamera Porsche had a massive motorsports program, and won Le Mans more than any other manufacturer.

Personally I think the Cayenne and Panamera have been impeding Porsche's extreme cars rather than helping them for a long time now, but hopefully that will change somewhat in 2014.

 

not this shit again.

 

Dont tell me Porsche isn't making a profit selling the new 911 for close to $100k. They may have been the case at $60k but add a few options and a non S 911 comes in at $100k. Insane.

 

Amen.