Porsche is trying on a new shade of green — it already sells both the Panamera S and Cayenne S Hybrids in the U.S. and will be rolling out the hybrid-powered 918 Spyder supercar next year. Now, add another car to that list: Porsche has just announced the 2013 Cayenne Diesel for the U.S. market.
Already on sale in Europe (the European model is pictured), the oil-burning Cayenne is powered by the same 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 found under the hood of the Audi Q7 TDI and Volkswagen Touareg TDI, with which the Cayenne shares its platform. Unlike its platform-mates, the Porsche produces 240 hp and and a stump-pulling 406 lb-ft of torque, 15 more hp than offered in the Audi or VW. Unsurprisingly, it also uses the same eight-speed automatic found in the other two TDI SUVs, and permanent all-wheel drive with a self-locking Torsen center differential that has a standard torque split of 40/60 front/rear.
Porsche expects the 2013 Cayenne Diesel to be rated at 20/28 mpg city/highway by the Environmental Protection Agency. That bests the 17/25 EPA rating of the Q7 and the 19/28 rating of the Touareg. Differentiating the oil-burning variant other Cayenne models are two simple Diesel badges, one on either front fender.
The 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel will start at $56,725, including destination, and will be available at Porsche dealerships beginning this September.
