A pretty Porsche Cayenne TechArt Magnum, seen in the Dongzhimen area in central Beijing on December 24 2011. Yes it was Christmas. Day off from the office, so what else to do than checking out cars? The Porsche stood parked near a massage salon and I didn’t see anyone near the vehicle, so I guessed the driver was having his feet done.
This was an old part of town, with most residential buildings dating from the 1970’s and 1980’s. There were some hutongs nearby too, which were much older. Those are mostly gone now. The area was loaded with small business, shops, restaurants, and murky massage salons.
TechArt is a German car tuning company specialized in Porsche, founded in 1987 and based in Leonberg. At the time, they had several shops in China. The TechArt Magnum was a heavily upgraded variant based on the first generation Porsche Cayenne Turbo.
The upgrades included a hefty body kit, with a new hood, a new grille, air dams, wide wheel arches, and new bumpers. Suspension was lowered by 30 millimeter to improve handling. TechArt tuned the twin-turbocharged 4.5 liter V8 engine to 600 hp and a massive 875 Nm. The engine was mated to a 6-speed automatic, sending horses to all four wheels.
The Magnum was available in any color the buyer wanted, but the most iconic factory color was this brown-orange shade, finished with matte gray window frames and giant black alloy wheels with red brake calipers.
Now, note the situation at the right-rear wheel. What is the wet stuff…?
Indeed, it was a dog that peed. Chinese dogs have yet no respect for a TechArt Magnum, bad animals that they are, no wonder most of ‘m end up on a plate. Anyway, the dog probably thought that the brown Magnum was a tree. Hopefully the pee didn’t hit the expensive Brembo brake calipers, pee and brakes don’t go together well.
The rear is relatively modest compared to the much wilder front. The wing above the window is a tad small for a car with the speed of the Magnum. And speed it had: 0-100 in 4.2 seconds, 0-100 mph in 9.5 seconds, quarter mile on 12.7 seconds @ 175 km/h, and a top speed of 291 kilometers per hour! Easily able to outrun a dog.
Peeing dogs are a well known problem in this kind of lanes in Beijing. Many car owner use carton board to protect their wheels when parked, but I guess the owner of this Magnum didn’t have time for that.
This is the message salon, with Santa Claus stickers on the door. Kinda shady place. The had a special offer for foot massage: 48 yuan (7.6 USD in 2011) for 70 minutes. Sure the feet are just the beginning… And for a little extra, the girls sure would have cleaned the wheel as well!