The Art of Car Design: A Journey from Drawing to Reality

The process of creating a car is a complex and intricate one, requiring an enormous amount of time, money, and brain power. From the drawing board to the clay model, to the concept, it takes a whole team of people to bring a new car design to life. In the case of the Porsche Cayenne, making an SUV was seen as a huge risk, but fortunately, it paid off in the end. Today, we're going to explore how cars go from a drawing to a living, driving machine on the showroom floor.

Porsche's Approach to Design

When it comes to designing a new car, Porsche takes a unique approach. The company approaches each design with the idea of creating something truly innovative and groundbreaking. This is evident in their decision to create the Cayenne, an SUV that was seen as a huge risk at first. However, with the help of a team of expert designers and engineers, they were able to bring this vision to life.

One of the key factors that sets Porsche apart from other car manufacturers is their commitment to innovation and design. The company's design philosophy is centered around creating cars that are not only functional but also visually stunning. This is evident in the Cayenne's sleek and aerodynamic design, which sets it apart from other SUVs on the market.

The Importance of Quality Control

When it comes to producing high-quality cars like the Cayenne, quality control is crucial. Porsche has a rigorous 111-point inspection process that ensures each car meets the highest standards of quality and safety. This process includes a thorough check of the car's mechanical components, electrical systems, and other critical systems.

To ensure that each car meets these high standards, Porsche also conducts a comprehensive review of the car's service history. This includes a detailed analysis of the car's maintenance records, including any repairs or maintenance work done on the vehicle over time. By doing so, Porsche can verify that the car has been well-maintained and is free from any defects or issues.

The Certified Pre-Owned Program

One of the most innovative features of Porsche's pre-owned program is its rigorous inspection process. The program, which includes a 111-point inspection, ensures that each used car meets the highest standards of quality and safety. This means that buyers can have complete confidence in their purchase, knowing that they're getting a vehicle that has been thoroughly inspected and certified.

The Certified Pre-Owned Program also offers a range of benefits to buyers, including access to a comprehensive warranty program. Porsche's warranty program provides coverage for up to 124,000 miles, making it one of the most generous programs available in the industry. This means that buyers can enjoy peace of mind knowing that their vehicle is protected against any defects or issues that may arise over time.

The Benefits of Using Certified Pre-Owned Porsches

Using a certified pre-owned Porsche comes with a range of benefits, including access to the company's comprehensive warranty program and rigorous inspection process. By choosing a certified pre-owned vehicle, buyers can enjoy peace of mind knowing that their purchase is thoroughly inspected and certified.

In addition to the warranty program, certified pre-owned Porsches also come with other perks, such as maintenance records and documentation. This provides buyers with a clear understanding of the car's history and ensures that they're getting a vehicle that has been well-maintained over time.

Finding a Certified Pre-Owned Porsche

So how can you find a certified pre-owned Porsche? The answer lies in finding a reputable dealership or seller who offers this program. One such resource is Porsche.com, which provides access to a range of certified pre-owned vehicles and other benefits for buyers.

By visiting Porsche.com, buyers can browse a selection of certified pre-owned vehicles, including the Cayenne, Boxster, and other popular models. The site also provides a range of tools and resources to help buyers make informed purchasing decisions.

A Brief History of Porsche

Porsche has a rich history that spans over 80 years, with the company's roots dating back to 1931. Founded by Ferdinand Porsche, the company was originally known as Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Over the years, Porsche has become synonymous with performance, design, and innovation.

However, in the early 1990s, Porsche faced a major crisis that threatened its very existence. According to Road & Track, Porsche went from producing 50,000 units in 1986 to just 14,000 units worldwide in 1993. This marked a significant decline for the company, with sales plummeting compared to other manufacturers.

To save the company, Porsche's leadership implemented a series of changes that would help turn things around. One key decision was to introduce two new models that would drastically change the company's production workflow. The first model was the Mazda MX-5 Miata, a lightweight and affordable roadster that had become a huge success for Mazda.

The other model was the Boxster, which was designed to be a more affordable alternative to Porsche's existing sports cars. Both of these models helped to revitalize Porsche's sales and reputation, paving the way for the company's return to success.

Porsche's Commitment to Innovation

Porsche has always been committed to innovation and design. The company's commitment to this philosophy is evident in its decision to create the Cayenne, an SUV that was seen as a huge risk at first. However, with the help of a team of expert designers and engineers, Porsche was able to bring this vision to life.

The Cayenne's success is just one example of Porsche's commitment to innovation and design. The company has continued to push the boundaries of what is possible in car design, producing vehicles that are not only functional but also visually stunning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating a car like the Cayenne requires an enormous amount of time, money, and brain power. From the drawing board to the clay model, to the concept, it takes a whole team of people to bring a new car design to life. Porsche's commitment to innovation and design is evident in its decision to create the Cayenne, which has become one of the company's most successful models.

By using certified pre-owned Porsches, buyers can enjoy peace of mind knowing that their purchase is thoroughly inspected and certified. The Certified Pre-Owned Program offers a range of benefits to buyers, including access to Porsche's comprehensive warranty program and rigorous inspection process.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Unbelievable amounts ofmoney, time, and brain powergoes into a car, from the drawing boardto the clay model, to the concept,it takes a whole team to make a carthat no one has ever seen before.In the case of the Porsche Cayenne,making an SUV was seen as a huge risk.Luckily though it paidoff, but how do they do it?Today we're gonna talk abouthow cars go from a drawingto a living driving machineon the showroom floor.We're gonna see how car companies decidehow to produce the cars they do,how do they design them,and just how awesomethis German sports SUV is'cause I love the Cayenne.Thank you to our friends at Porschefor sponsoring this episode.You know, we approached Porschewith the idea for thisepisode, asked for their help,because I'm actually really intriguedabout the design story of the Cayenneand much to my surprise theywere like, sure, we'll help ya.And while a brand new oneis out of the question.Yeah, a used one is actuallya lot easier to affordthan you might think.Whenever I'm looking at a used carI use a thing called the ZCPO.That stands for Zach Certified Pre-Owned.Zach here is Donut's resident mechanicand we always have him testdrive cars before we buy them.But with the Porschecertified pre-owned program,I can toss out my Zachbecause Porsche has doneall the legwork for me.Sorry, buddy, hate to do this.You're a little more hairy now anyway.For a Porsche to becomea certified pre-owned,it has to go through a rigorous111 point inspection process.They can tell if thecar has been thrashed.It has to have been repairedwith all genuine Porscheparts it's whole life.And they can tell thatbecause the car has to havea complete service history,no nonsense here.Porsche certifies carswith up to 124,000 milesthat are up to 13 years old,they can go see a PG 13 movie,that's unheard of in the industry.It's actually, that is unheard of,that's not just marketing speak,that's legitimately unheard of.Porsche puts a lot oftrust in their used carsand they should because 70% of Porschesare still on the road today.They're literally putting theirmoney where their mouth is'cause you know what elsecertified pre-owned Porsches come with?A dang warranty, what?What?The best way to find a CPO Porscheis to go to Finder.Porsche.com.It's full of amazing and accessible carsand if you click thelink in the description,Porsche's gonna know you came from Donutand it will really help us out.So thank you Porsche for sponsoring us.Now let's get back to the episode,let's talk Porsche.Porsche wasn't doing sohot in the early 90s.According to Road & Track,Porsche went from 50,000 units in 1986to just 14,000 units worldwide in 1993.And just 3,,000 of thosecars were in the US.Just for comparison, Mazdasold 21,000 Miatas in Americathat same year.Seven times as many cars as Porsche.To save Porsche leadership newit was time for some change,in the form of two newmodels drastically differentthan anything Porsche had ever built.Luckily, the company had ample inspirationfor which directions to takein the form of two unlikely carswhich are already found their own success.The first car had nothing to do with SUV'sbut encouraged Porsche,to rethink their entireproduction workflow,saving them a bunch ofmoney in the process.The Mazda MX-5 Miata.This little roadster debuted in 1989for the 1990 model yearand it was pretty much an instant success,selling over 135,000 unitsin the first five years in the US.Porsche made tiny sports cars alreadybut this was different.Something was missing.Porsche knew their there cars were pricey.They're a premium brand, after all.But they decided the bestway to right the shipwas to emulate theirnext car after the Miata.A light and affordable, byPorsche standards, roadster.What they came up with was the Boxster,the mid engine budget Porschemight've been a sacrilegious departurein the eyes of purists,but the Boxster wouldhelp save the companyin more ways than one.In order to streamline production,Porsche hired former Toyota engineersto improve Stuttgart's workflow.According to the New York Times,what the ex Toyotapeople saw astonish them.Quote, Porsche engineers would have to"sift through parts bins and climb ladders"to search selves whilebuilding a single car."The ex Toyota engineersgot Porsche onboardwith the now legendaryjust-in-time production system,eliminating wasted time and materialswhich helped Porsche improvetheir production timesand eliminated errors significantly,saving Porsche lots ofdough in the process.Boxster sales were strong too,selling nearly 7,000 units inthe US its first year in 97,a huge turnaround from the brand.What Porsche realized with the Boxsteris that they have beenneglecting a whole market.And with their next innovation,they hoped to capitalize ona whole different market.One though is way outside theirwheelhouse, no pun intended.So what if you wantedto sell cars year round?When the weather got cold,what could you sell then?The Ford Explorer was the latest memberof an exclusive club of carsthat caused an industry-wide reset,forging a new segment in the market.SUV's.The Explorer was a bodyon frame people carrierthat was just at home onthe road as it was off.The Explorer wasn't thefirst car to do this,but it was the first to reachstratospheric levels of success.But the same things thatmade it so great off-roadhurt it around town.The body on frame constructionjust wasn't that subtleon suburban streetsand that left buyers wantinga more sedan like driving experiencewith the practicality of the SUV.Instead of buying station wagonslike people did in the 60s and 70s,buyers still wanted thathigh up seating positionfor great visibility.Toyota answered the callwith the next great industryreset car, the RAV4.The crossover was here.Now this isn't a video about crossovers,but as you they're the mostpopular segment of vehiclesin the last 20, years besides the pickup.So it's important that weunderstand their appeal.People like sitting up highand car makers are more thanhappy to build that for them.The RAV4's releasedwas about the same timethat Porsche debuted the Boxster,just one year earlier in 96.The Cayenne wouldn'tdebut for a few more yearsbut the brewing success of the SUVand crossover segments in the late 90sgot the gears turning over at Porsche.They needed something to sellin the colder, wetter off season.A car that was practicaland could handle some sort ofoff-roading if it needed to,but also had to be sporty.I mean, it would have aPorsche badge, after all.Porsche knew a crossoverwas the way to go.Not only would they design a carthat met these requirements,but they would design a carunlike anything else ever built.But how?What's the process of getting an ideafrom a designer's brain onto paperand then into the real world?I'm gonna tell you.It can take years to perfect a design,especially if you're Porsche.Double especially ifyou're building an SUVfor the first time withexpectations sky-highand financial implicationsthat could make or break thebrand hanging over your head.No pressure.Luckily for Porsche,they had a killer template to start from.Their design languageis extremely distinct.Lots of manufacturers build carsthat look like their competitors,but there's no mistaking a Porsche.And I'm not just saying thatbecause they sponsored this episode.So, who designs a car?That task is handled byautomotive designers,some of the most elite productdesigners in all of industry.Anyone who works as a designerprobably wanted to workin the automotive sector at some point,but only the best can work on cars.The designers firstsketch out a car by hand.And in the Cayenne's case,the Porsche team had a lot ofbuilding blocks to work with.What are the most recognizablefeatures of a Porsche?Obviously the side profile,a decades long Porsche tradition,as well as the headlights,the muscular shoulders seen from the rear,and surprisingly the narrow hood.These were the signature elementsthe designers had to useto make a Porsche SUV work.If the Cayenne didn't lookand drive like a Porschethe purist would say that Porsche sold outand the lay personwouldn't have any reasonto buy a Porsche SUV in the first place.Nailing the look was critical.The SUV design of theCayenne was restrictiveof how much of a fastbackthe Cayenne design teamcould get away with.But when compared toother SUV's of the time,the side profile looks way sportier.The Cayenne also used the controversialfried egg style headlightspresent on the Boxster and 911and personally, I thinkthey work really wellin an SUV context.After the initial sketchesare made by designersthe best drawings are selected and vetted.After the very best design is chosenit's time to redrawthe car in CAD softwareto make sure the dimensionswould actually look good.But CAD can only take youso far in that regard.The final step in the design processis bringing the idea into thereal, with the help of clay.Yes, they still use it.The use of plasticine modelingclay might seem old fashionedbut the truth is the auto industryhasn't found anything betterfor visualizing their designs.Typically, a scale versionof a prospective design is modeledand then shown aroundthe company for approval.Then they build a full-sized version.According to this BBC article,these clay cars aren't milled out ofa giant block of clay like I assumed,but rather the clay is stackedon top of pre molded foamthat was roughly cut intothe shape of the car.This foam skeleton gives the clay modelershard boundaries to work withlike the wheel wells and engine bay.Then the clay is stacked ontop and carved away by hand.And that's what makes theclay so good for the job.The designers and modelerscan collaborate on the same physical modeland make changes on the flyas they see them with their bare hands.Tools like VR and automated machinesmight have a place in the process,but will probably never replacethe hand modeling traditionbecause it's just fasterthan tweaking dimensionsin a programming softwareand waiting for a machineto make the alteration.After the shape has donereal life componentslike the headlights canbe added to the modelbefore it's covered in astretchy material called di-nocwhich replicates the lookand feel of automotive paint.Once completed the claymodel is scanned yet againinto CAD software for manufacturing.But that's only half the story.Design is split between theexterior and the interiorwhere you actually experienced the car.Interior designers make sure the caris comfortable to drive,not just with seat padding,but with the overall ergonomics.I'm talking wheel and pedal placement,all the buttons and knobs,or more commonly today, touchscreens.You ever been in a carwhere nothing made senseand just wasn't nice to be in?Like 90s Chryslers or old Nissan Versas?I'm looking at you, guys.Cases like that prove that interior designis just as important as the outside.Interior designers also choosethe materials used throughout,which dictate the feeland usually the pricepoint of the vehicle.So after the exterior and interior designis finalized and scanned,it's time to engineer the car.I know what you're saying,Nolan, did you not justget done telling mehow the car is designed?Yes I did, but now the engineershave to figure out how to make it workand how to put it together.Automotive designersand automotive engineershave different jobs.Not only did the Porscheengineers have to figure outhow to make their approvedSUV design fit together,they also had to solvethe biggest challengeof the entire process.Figure out how to make the Cayenne,a big honkin' SUV compared toa 911, drive like a Porsche.(engine revs)The Cayenne's siblings,the 911 and the Boxster,were light, planted sports cars.Neither of those adjectiveswere used to describe SUV's.And while the Cayenne woulddebut around 5,000 pounds,a ton more than the 911,people still said itdrove like a sports car.So how'd Porsche do that?Obviously suspension andtires played a large role,but the secret saucewas the chassis itself.At the beginning of the design processthe Cayenne team had to decidebetween the traditional ladder frameused in trucks and SUV's at the timeand a more car-like unibody.Ladder frames are heavy withthe body sitting on top.And as a result they don't lend themselvesto great handling.Porsche decided to go with theunconventional for the class,unibody design.I found this cool PDF ofPorsche engineering magazinefrom 2003, which laidout the chassis design,which was sort of a hybridbetween the ladder frame and a unibody.The very bottom of the chassiswas made of ladder like structural membersthat ran the length of the Cayenne.Not only would these providea lot of strength in the event of a crash,but also protect the underside of the SUVwhen going off road, pretty clever.Porsche also used avariety of sheet metalsin the chassis structureusing the heaviest metalsonly exactly where they needed to bein order to cut down weight.Porsche used over 10different types of metalin the body shell alone to achieve this,which was an industry first for the class.Without doors and lids,the body shell way just under 900 pounds.That's amazing, it's an SUVthat two buff dudes could deadlift.All that tinkering the engineers didresulted in an extremely rigid chassis,which was not only safer,but also what you want in asports car and an off-roader.The Cayenne was so tightthat went off roadingyou could get a wheel upand still be able to open all the doorsand the hatch without any issue.When it debuted in 2003, theCayenne Turbo blew people away.Power came from a twin turbo 4.5 liter V8making 450 horsepower.But that power went to the wheelsthrough Porsche's tractionmanagement system,which included locking centerand rear differentials.What that means isproper off-roading chops,but also the ability tosend 100% of the powerto the rear axle when you'reblasting through the canyons.The air suspension was adjustable as well,meaning it could squatdown for pavement dutyor lift itself up to 10inches of ground clearancefor rock crawling.It was amazing.And all the major car magsat the time thought so too.But glowing reviews in carmagazines don't save a company,sales do.So how that worked out?In 2003 Porsche sold just over12,000 Cayennes in the US,about 3000 less than the911 and Boxster combined.From then on the Cayenne wasan instant success for Porsche.What seemed like a long shot for the brandquickly became a templatefor future moneymakerslike the subsequent Macan crossover SUV,which became Porsche'sbest-selling model in 2016.The Cayenne showed theindustry what was possible.And along with othersporty SUV's like BMW's X5,it changed the automotive landscape.Now brands like Aston Martin and Ferrariare gonna build SUV's,something no one saw coming 20 years ago.Look, I get why people don'tlike SUV's and crossovers.But if it means that my favorite brandsget to keep making cool carsbecause all the moneythat those SUV's bring in,I'm all for it.Also, the Cayenne is acertified banger dad car.- That's acertified dad banger.- When I have kids, I wouldlike to have a Cayenne.Thanks for watching this episode,I hope you really enjoyed it.I thought the story of theCayenne's design was really cooland it was awesome thatPorsche made themselvesso accessible for this episode.It really speaks volumesabout the pride that they havein the cars they produce.So check out Finder.Porsche.comand dream about owning acertified pre-owned Porsche.And if you're ever in southern California,I highly, highly recommend checking outthe Porsche Experience Center.It's a driver development centerin the middle of Los Angeles,where you can drivesome of the coolest carsStuttgart has to offer with ahighly qualified instructor.It's where we were supposedto shoot this spot,but we couldn't so Porsche was like,Hey, how about we send you six carsand you can just drive them all you want.And I was like, yeah, makesure you bring a Taycan.(tires screech)- Oh my god!- Oh my god!(passengers laughing)