Lurker presents - a Cayenne off road
01-21-2009, 10:39 AM
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Lurker presents - a Cayenne off road
Hello guys and gals,
Having been one of them lurkers around here for quite some time now, I figured that the time had come to finally make the step, get out of the shadows, grab the mike, and present my Cayenne - and myself, incidentally - to the general public (read: you guys). But instead of boring everyone on the board with long introductions and silly blabbering about the color of my car, I decided to take you for a quick spin through the famous french-italian Alps starring, of course, one of the greatest cars ever built – the Porsche Cayenne.
(As a sidenote I have to confess that this trip was the first time I took the car offroad and that, should you see something that makes you jump off the seat and scream out loud, you're welcome to hit me with your suggestions.)
You're plobably wondering why one would do such a thing in the first place. Well answering that one is easy: I was out in a pub one night with some friends – all 4x4 geeks – and after a few Guinness we started talking about going on a trip, about how cool it would be to sleep outdoors, nature, bla bla, you get the picture. And after a few Guiness more someone (it's hard to say who it was, as this part of the evening is a wee bit blurry) came up with the idea that we should take our cars out in the dirt and See Them As They Were Meant To Be Seen ™.
The location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...4,2.471924&z=9
As you can see there are lots of national parks in this area, most of them are actually accessible by car. So the whole idea behind the trip was to explore the passes in this region and see just how far we would be able to go before either one of us wrecked his car or chickened out. Evidently this can only be done if you have someone with you that knows his way around the trickier passages and how to drive under these circumstances... Well lucky me, one our team has been doing this for 6 years now, his copilot ran in some big-shot rallies and a third one picked up some outdoor survival training in the army. So experience-wise we were good to go. Hence in the weeks that followed, routes were planned, copilots were briefed, wives were kissed goodbye, and off we were : one Toyota HDJ80, one Toyota BJ something something, and the Cayenne.
(The way to the Alps was really quite uneventful, so I'll fast-forward to the part where the fun started).
This picture shows the truck with the air suspension set to "Special Terrain Level". As you can probably see, the car is a good bit further up from the ground than when set at normal cruising mode and, if you are planning on taking your Pepper off road, really a must-have option. You will also notice that the car is standing on regular street tires. As the terrain over there is mostly loose gravel and large, sharp stones, the risk of cutting a sidewall is quite real. So I tried to get some decent all-terrain tires which turned out to be almost impossible. The ones that seemed good enough didn't fit (they're developped for dirty Defenders et.al., NOT for flashy alloys with stupid dimensions), and the ones that fit were - language!! - ****. So off I went with my street tires. What I didn't know at the time was that the ones I have (Pirelli P Zero Rosso) are in fact reinforced at the walls and did their job quite well. So, no problem there.
Tire suggestion: if you go on a trip where the next car dealership is two days away, you MUST take a spare!
Tire suggestion 2: do NOT do this on 20" rims as you are sure to bent, scratch, or otherwise kill them. I rode on 18", and even these had a hard time.
This picture shows one of the biggest differences between my car and the Toyotas: the Cayenne has a single wheel suspension (read: no physical connection between left and right wheels) and the Toyos have live axles (i.e. left and right wheels are connected through, well, an axle). In tough offroad situations this is loads better because if one wheel is pushed up (driving over a large stone, for example) the other side is physically pressed down. So you always have all four wheels on the ground in those cars (which is generally considered to be A Good Thing™) whereas our bling-bling disco-jeeps may (and do) lift a wheel in these situations. These wheel-lifts look kind of funny and are usually not a big deal, but if you are making a tight turn on a steep hill and your car connects only with two wheels to the (loose...) ground it can produce slightly sweaty hands particularly if you are half a meter from a drop that goes half a mile down (that's why there are no pictures of those situations, the camera kept slipping…)
Driving suggestion: Only the wheels that have sufficient ground connection can support your braking. Hence if you have two wheels in the air, the remaining two have to stop 2.6 tons of car, stuff in the car's back and – well, you. This is roughly twice their normal load and you have to push the brake pedal WAY harder than in street conditions. You'd do well to remember that BEFORE you engage such a passage.
The first "real" river crossing. I remember being SO scared before I did this but I have to admit that it was actually quite uneventful (yes, the interior stayed dry, the door are watertight up to the window line). The only moment my heart really started pounding was when I lost traction in the middle of the river, but the Cayenne's intelligent all-wheel-drive saved the situation with ease.
Driving suggestion: If you find yourself in a situation where you lose traction in the water you do NOT want to nail the accelerator to the ground – you'll dig yourself in or worse – the car will slip. Instead, keep the throttle on a constant level, and after a few seconds (yes, it takes some time) you'll note that the computer will try out different traction configurations and the car will start moving. Erm, and if it does not, you get out through the sunroof – and call for help!
I was sooo proud after that passage I just HAD to post another picture!
Oh and by the way – as I was doing this a bunch of tourists was standing nearby, totally shocked. I overheard one of them yelling "he's surely not gonna do THAT to a PORSCHE !" Yet the ease with which the Cayenne mastered the whole trip shows that the car's offroad capabilities are totally underestimated.
The Cayenne in a tunnel – nothing exciting to say here, if it weren't for the Park-Assist that drove me crazy in there (but for obvious reasons I did not want to turn that thing off).
To finish things off, a little view of the surroundings.
At the end of the day, you're happy when you hit a half-decent road again. And that's where you get cocky and ask your friends to take a picture, Transsyberia-style
And, this is me. Nooo the sunglasses are not mine, and the hat was a lender, too. I just couldn't resist to chuck norris myself there
Ok guys that was it, thanks for reading. To finish off I just wanted to say that I'm happy I found this forum, it helped me quite a bit already so - out goes a big yay to y'all.
Carbon_Ali.
Having been one of them lurkers around here for quite some time now, I figured that the time had come to finally make the step, get out of the shadows, grab the mike, and present my Cayenne - and myself, incidentally - to the general public (read: you guys). But instead of boring everyone on the board with long introductions and silly blabbering about the color of my car, I decided to take you for a quick spin through the famous french-italian Alps starring, of course, one of the greatest cars ever built – the Porsche Cayenne.
(As a sidenote I have to confess that this trip was the first time I took the car offroad and that, should you see something that makes you jump off the seat and scream out loud, you're welcome to hit me with your suggestions.)
You're plobably wondering why one would do such a thing in the first place. Well answering that one is easy: I was out in a pub one night with some friends – all 4x4 geeks – and after a few Guinness we started talking about going on a trip, about how cool it would be to sleep outdoors, nature, bla bla, you get the picture. And after a few Guiness more someone (it's hard to say who it was, as this part of the evening is a wee bit blurry) came up with the idea that we should take our cars out in the dirt and See Them As They Were Meant To Be Seen ™.
The location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...4,2.471924&z=9
As you can see there are lots of national parks in this area, most of them are actually accessible by car. So the whole idea behind the trip was to explore the passes in this region and see just how far we would be able to go before either one of us wrecked his car or chickened out. Evidently this can only be done if you have someone with you that knows his way around the trickier passages and how to drive under these circumstances... Well lucky me, one our team has been doing this for 6 years now, his copilot ran in some big-shot rallies and a third one picked up some outdoor survival training in the army. So experience-wise we were good to go. Hence in the weeks that followed, routes were planned, copilots were briefed, wives were kissed goodbye, and off we were : one Toyota HDJ80, one Toyota BJ something something, and the Cayenne.
(The way to the Alps was really quite uneventful, so I'll fast-forward to the part where the fun started).
This picture shows the truck with the air suspension set to "Special Terrain Level". As you can probably see, the car is a good bit further up from the ground than when set at normal cruising mode and, if you are planning on taking your Pepper off road, really a must-have option. You will also notice that the car is standing on regular street tires. As the terrain over there is mostly loose gravel and large, sharp stones, the risk of cutting a sidewall is quite real. So I tried to get some decent all-terrain tires which turned out to be almost impossible. The ones that seemed good enough didn't fit (they're developped for dirty Defenders et.al., NOT for flashy alloys with stupid dimensions), and the ones that fit were - language!! - ****. So off I went with my street tires. What I didn't know at the time was that the ones I have (Pirelli P Zero Rosso) are in fact reinforced at the walls and did their job quite well. So, no problem there.
Tire suggestion: if you go on a trip where the next car dealership is two days away, you MUST take a spare!
Tire suggestion 2: do NOT do this on 20" rims as you are sure to bent, scratch, or otherwise kill them. I rode on 18", and even these had a hard time.
This picture shows one of the biggest differences between my car and the Toyotas: the Cayenne has a single wheel suspension (read: no physical connection between left and right wheels) and the Toyos have live axles (i.e. left and right wheels are connected through, well, an axle). In tough offroad situations this is loads better because if one wheel is pushed up (driving over a large stone, for example) the other side is physically pressed down. So you always have all four wheels on the ground in those cars (which is generally considered to be A Good Thing™) whereas our bling-bling disco-jeeps may (and do) lift a wheel in these situations. These wheel-lifts look kind of funny and are usually not a big deal, but if you are making a tight turn on a steep hill and your car connects only with two wheels to the (loose...) ground it can produce slightly sweaty hands particularly if you are half a meter from a drop that goes half a mile down (that's why there are no pictures of those situations, the camera kept slipping…)
Driving suggestion: Only the wheels that have sufficient ground connection can support your braking. Hence if you have two wheels in the air, the remaining two have to stop 2.6 tons of car, stuff in the car's back and – well, you. This is roughly twice their normal load and you have to push the brake pedal WAY harder than in street conditions. You'd do well to remember that BEFORE you engage such a passage.
The first "real" river crossing. I remember being SO scared before I did this but I have to admit that it was actually quite uneventful (yes, the interior stayed dry, the door are watertight up to the window line). The only moment my heart really started pounding was when I lost traction in the middle of the river, but the Cayenne's intelligent all-wheel-drive saved the situation with ease.
Driving suggestion: If you find yourself in a situation where you lose traction in the water you do NOT want to nail the accelerator to the ground – you'll dig yourself in or worse – the car will slip. Instead, keep the throttle on a constant level, and after a few seconds (yes, it takes some time) you'll note that the computer will try out different traction configurations and the car will start moving. Erm, and if it does not, you get out through the sunroof – and call for help!
I was sooo proud after that passage I just HAD to post another picture!
Oh and by the way – as I was doing this a bunch of tourists was standing nearby, totally shocked. I overheard one of them yelling "he's surely not gonna do THAT to a PORSCHE !" Yet the ease with which the Cayenne mastered the whole trip shows that the car's offroad capabilities are totally underestimated.
The Cayenne in a tunnel – nothing exciting to say here, if it weren't for the Park-Assist that drove me crazy in there (but for obvious reasons I did not want to turn that thing off).
To finish things off, a little view of the surroundings.
At the end of the day, you're happy when you hit a half-decent road again. And that's where you get cocky and ask your friends to take a picture, Transsyberia-style
And, this is me. Nooo the sunglasses are not mine, and the hat was a lender, too. I just couldn't resist to chuck norris myself there
Ok guys that was it, thanks for reading. To finish off I just wanted to say that I'm happy I found this forum, it helped me quite a bit already so - out goes a big yay to y'all.
Carbon_Ali.
01-21-2009, 11:29 AM
#2
Rocky Mountain High
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Looks like you had fun.
01-21-2009, 11:56 AM
#3
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Needs More Cowbell
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01-21-2009, 01:18 PM
#4
Rocky Mountain High
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01-21-2009, 02:16 PM
#6
Three Wheelin'
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: out in the sticks and flat lands of va wondering around for an open field or pavement!!!
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This is a very nice post good to see others OFFROADING in there cayennes but im stuck doin it on 20' wheels for now ...no rim problem yet
Wait oh wait i can only use 20' wheel
costas
Wait oh wait i can only use 20' wheel
costas
01-21-2009, 02:57 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Great pics and write up!
Trending Topics
01-21-2009, 07:13 PM
#13
ps. There's enjoyable traveling off-road around the Sierra's. Traveling with an off-road club (eg. with Land Rover) helps.
01-21-2009, 07:36 PM
#14
This picture shows one of the biggest differences between my car and the Toyotas: the Cayenne has a single wheel suspension (read: no physical connection between left and right wheels) and the Toyos have live axles (i.e. left and right wheels are connected through, well, an axle). In tough offroad situations this is loads better because if one wheel is pushed up (driving over a large stone, for example) the other side is physically pressed down. So you always have all four wheels on the ground in those cars (which is generally considered to be A Good Thing™) whereas our bling-bling disco-jeeps may (and do) lift a wheel in these situations. These wheel-lifts look kind of funny and are usually not a big deal, but if you are making a tight turn on a steep hill and your car connects only with two wheels to the (loose...) ground it can produce slightly sweaty hands particularly if you are half a meter from a drop that goes half a mile down (that's why there are no pictures of those situations, the camera kept slipping…)
Driving suggestion: Only the wheels that have sufficient ground connection can support your braking. Hence if you have two wheels in the air, the remaining two have to stop 2.6 tons of car, stuff in the car's back and – well, you. This is roughly twice their normal load and you have to push the brake pedal WAY harder than in street conditions. You'd do well to remember that BEFORE you engage such a passage.
Driving suggestion: Only the wheels that have sufficient ground connection can support your braking. Hence if you have two wheels in the air, the remaining two have to stop 2.6 tons of car, stuff in the car's back and – well, you. This is roughly twice their normal load and you have to push the brake pedal WAY harder than in street conditions. You'd do well to remember that BEFORE you engage such a passage.
Funnily enough, the example you give (turning up hill from a traverse) is a classic, like the old joke: "Doc, it hurts when I bend my elbow like this ..." and the doctor replies "Then don't bend your elbow like that."
Off-road, turning up hill in a Cayenne or the like can cause it to scramble for traction. In a 4WD with live axles, it can do the same or it can cause a roll over -- it's mostly up to the driver. Sure, the Cayenne or Range Rover could go over too, but it's more like to bog and rock, while the trusty four wheeler will happily raise itself up over its roll center and roll over. As a rule, never traverse, always go straight up and straight down, then travel on easy terrain. Of course, sometimes, the trail just doesn't allow.
All off-road vehicles have their limits. And some trails call for a lot of flexibility from the vehicle and the driver. The most flexible thing should be the brain. : )
* Boring Range Rover footnote:
Range Rover figured out this suspension dilemma circa 2005 with their "Terrain" control -- one of it's features is a "rock crawl" mode where its air suspension creates the "fixed beam" behavior even though it has four wheel independent suspension. It also does something the Cayenne doesn't do (properly) which is to keep all four wheels turning at (about) the same rate (give or take steering angle) so that the car will do a very good job of moving through mud, loose shale and on ice or snow. This became a standard feature on the Range Rover for 2007 and I think it showed up on the LR2 around 2005 or 2006. Nobody here probably cares. : ) Land Rover also figured out the "flat" cornering dynamic anti-sway in their suspension (and long before Porsche with PDCC) but it never had quite the seamless feel of the Porsche. PASM has less travel than the Rangie suspension, but for whatever reason -- I think it reacts more quickly -- it's just plain better on-road.
01-22-2009, 01:01 PM
#15
The air suspension in my LR3 will push a wheel down too when it is not making contact; as well as going into super extended mode if the frame makes contact or (I believe) if the vehicle is experiencing extreme wheel articulation. The LR3 climbs gravel/grass slopes like nothing I have ever experienced. My wife still will not let me take her FFRR off the tarmac, so my experience is limited to the mundane utilitarian LR3.
FFRRs are only boring on the tarmac. An this is why I'm replacing the LR3 with a Pepper with the locking rear-diff. Will be interested to see how if compares offroad.
FFRRs are only boring on the tarmac. An this is why I'm replacing the LR3 with a Pepper with the locking rear-diff. Will be interested to see how if compares offroad.