When Porsche released the Cayenne in 2002, I thought to myself “Porsche.. SUV.. Something doesn’t fit.” I’ve seen many of them on the road and I can’t say I’ve seen any of them display any real driving performance. It seems an odd relationship to their smaller, sportier cousins.

Earlier today I read an article about a new gasoline/electric hybrid model. Now we have two contradictions: not only is it an SUV and thus not a performance vehicle, but it is also an SUV and thus not an environmentally friendly vehicle, regardless of whatever hybrid technologies are used. If you are concerned about the environment or gas mileage, then get something smaller.

Of course I’m somewhat of a hypocrite in these matters. There are indeed situations where you require a larger, more robust vehicle. In my case, we need a truck that can tow our 3500lbs boat comfortable. The Avalanche does an excellent job of this, but at the cost of fuel economy. Having said that, I don’t know that a hybrid Avalanche could perform the same task (I haven’t seen any performance numbers with respect to towing capacity and its relationship to the drive system). Regardless, you also don’t purchase a Cayenne to tow your boat. In fact, I don’t think you can even call the Cayenne an SUV (where the “U” stands for utility), but more aptly perhaps an SLV (”L” for luxury).

/sigh