Simulation and artificial intelligence have fundamentally changed – and shortened – vehicle testing. This is based on three pillars: precisely digitized tracks ranging from the Nürburgring to everyday traffic, decades of experience from Weissach engineers in real-world testing, and the significantly increased computing power of modern systems for real-time simulations. This allowed the engineers not only to virtually represent the Cayenne but also to test it directly virtually. In a development phase where components are initially available digitally and therefore relatively easy to modify, the experts used virtual reality (VR) to test the first impressions of the future SUV generation. The results of the digital testing were later verified with test bench trials of real components. The so-called "construction stage," as the individually built prototypes are known internally, could be eliminated: around 120 time-consuming test vehicles were largely replaced digitally. Even in the design phase, the engineers sent virtual prototypes on digital test laps.
