Watch a Porsche Cayenne tow an Airbus A380, earn a world record
Don't expect Porsche to raise the Cayenne's tow rating to 628,000 pounds, though.
Just because the Porsche Cayenne's tow rating is under 10,000 pounds doesn't mean it isn't capable of some spectacular one-off feats, like towing an airplane.
Porsche used a European-spec 2017 Cayenne S Diesel to earn the Guinness World Record for the heaviest aircraft pulled by a production car. It pulled an Air France Airbus A380, which weighs about 285 metric tons (approximately 628,000 pounds). The previous record holder pulled just 170 metric tons, so this is a big improvement.
The Cayenne was not modified to achieve this record. It used a standard tow bar, to which a special towing attachment was secured. After all, there's no off-the-shelf solution when you decide to tow an airliner with a bone-stock Porsche sport ute.
The Cayenne diesel's engine puts out about 375 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Just to make sure it wasn't a lucky fluke, Porsche repeated the tow using a Cayenne Turbo S. While this definitely proves the towing capability of a Porsche Cayenne, I think it's safe to say owners shouldn't be trying this at home.
