Video: Porsche Cayenne Tows Airbus A380 – The World’s Largest Passenger Aircraft
We’ve had previous examples of cars, pickup trucks and SUVs pulling everything from small planes to even a goddamn space shuttle. But when a Porsche Cayenne and a gargantuan Airbus A380 are involved, it’s not one to be missed.
The Airbus A380 is without question, the biggest and heaviest passenger aircraft in existence. It weighs a whopping 630,000 pounds. That’s 285 metric tonnes and a lot more than the combined weight of the space shuttle Endeavour and its dollies. A Toyota Tundra pickup managed to pull the latter which tips the scale at 300,000 pounds across the 405 freeway in LA back in 2012. But demanding a Porsche Cayenne to pull an Airbus A380 is an entirely different level of expectations.
The German carmaker brought along two models of their SUV for the cumbersome job – a Porsche Cayenne S Diesel and a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. Were they expecting the first one to take the shot and end up wrapped around the front landing gear of the largest passenger aircraft on the planet? We hope they weren’t.
Guinness World Records sent across their adjudicator to verify if the attempt is in line with their requirements. The production car must pull the “heaviest aircraft” for a minimum of 100 feet (30.48 meters). The vehicle must be a production model which hasn’t undergone any modifications. It must be sold in at least 3 countries with a minimum of 30 models built at the same time. Rules are rules.
Courtesy: Porsche Newsroom
Courtesy: Porsche Newsroom
Courtesy: Porsche Newsroom
The stunt was planned with complete support coming from Air France. They own the Airbus A380 aircraft after all.
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Anyway, the Porsche Cayenne S Diesel drew the short straw, did three dozen push-ups and went about its business of pulling the massive airplane out of the Air France hanger at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. With its 385 hp, 850 Nm, 4.2-liter engine, the SUV held the aircraft’s front landing gear with the dignity of a groom and walked it out of the hangar with the elegance that suits a bride. And one can only expect the mightier Porsche Cayenne Turbo S to do the same, if not better with its 570 hp, 800 Nm 4.8-liter engine.
The stock Porsche Cayenne towed the Airbus A380 for a distance of 42 meters and performance now holds the Guinness World Record for the “Heaviest aircraft pulled by a production car”. The stunt beat the previous record by a margin of 115 metric tonnes.
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An equally impressive feat is that both Cayennes were driven all the way from the Porsche Centre in Reading, UK to the airport in Paris for the event. And despite the back-breaking stunt that they pulled off (Aha! A pun!) both SUVs took the journey back home by road itself.
Just another day in the office for the Cayenne.