A European-spec 2017 Porsche Cayenne S Diesel recently hit headlines and landed itself in the Guinness World Record. It broke the previous record by pulling a 285-tonne Air France Airbus A380. But that isn't the exciting part. The SUV that pulled an Airbus is a standard. Now, that's record-breaking.
It seems Volkswagen Group has reclaimed its previous title with the standard 2017 Porsche Cayenne S Diesel. More than a decade ago, the VW Touareg V10 TDI towed a 155-tonne Boeing 747, but then it was dethroned by the Nissan Patrol that pulled successfully a 170-tonne cargo plane.
Air France lent Porsche GB technician Richard Payne their spare A380. A special towing equipment was hooked up to the Airbus and was slotted onto the Porsche's regular tow bar.
Then, its biturbo 4.1-liter V8 engine churned 385 horses and 627 lb-ft of torque. This allowed the SUV to tug the 285-tonne Air France Airbus A380 across 42 meters at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
So, the 2017 Porsche Cayenne S Diesel earned the Guinness World Record for the heaviest aircraft pulled by a production car. This is a massive improvement compared with the previous record holder of just 170 tons.
"We don't usually go this far to test the limits of our cars, but I think today we got pretty close," Richard Payne said. "I could tell that it was working hard but the Cayenne didn't complain and just got on with it. My mirrors were quite full of Airbus, which was interesting."
He added that Porsche vehicles go a "bit beyond what [their] customers might expect." Porsche vehicles were designed to be tough. "But even so, what the Cayenne did today was remarkable - we drove the car here from London - and I plan to drive it home again, having towed an A380 in between," Payne further points out.
Using a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, they repeated the tow to make sure it wasn't just a lucky streak. And it was successfully repeated by the Turbo S, proving that 2017 Porsche Cayenne S Diesel can go to great lengths when it comes to grueling tasks. You can watch the exciting video below.
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