I just finished reading the Car & Driver preview of the VW Touareg, the Volkswagon SUV to be built on the same platform as the Cayenne. The chassis seems to be pretty mush identical, the interior and exterior styling are superior (IMO, subjective, but I never liked those composite lights, even on the 996 or Boxster)and then there's the price. 217 hp will start around $35k and 310 hp for $45k, to be followed by the Audi W-12 (420 hp) for around $50k.
Let me get this straight, Porsche wants to sell the ugly version, with 7% more hp, for how much???

 

I have an ML320 and I payed $44,500 after tax If I had gotten the ML500 I would have been over $55,000 and if I went for the ML55 I would have been around $70,000....

None of the Mercedes have any where near the Technology of The Porsche....

There prices are very good if you consitter the market they are going after....

I have already visited our Porsche dealer and they are sold out for the next 8 months on Cayenne's

I will have no problem dropping 55 K for the S consittering I spent almost 45,000 for 215 HP in the Benz... and honestly there are to many ML's around now I see the Benz's every where.

 

Deepice,

Your signature says 89 944S2 with 315K miles!!! Wow! Just curious, Did you rebuild the engine? What are the major repairs done to this car? That's amazing miles!

 

when it hit 315,000 I decided to have it turned into a track car I currently have the motor out.

never saw a rebuild untill now

 

I hope so. All SUV's belong on a gunnery range. They are the 21st century tailfins. Nothing but wasteful, bloated, ugly trash - and the vehicles themselves are pretty bad as well. No offence to anyone here, but I have NEVER been shown any respect by the driver of one. Porsche had only recently shaken off the legacy of the yuppies and now they do this?!

 

If the Cayenne flunks, Porsche wont be independent for much longer.

<img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" /> to the cayenne!

I hope they sell lots of them, so that they can build the Carrera GT, and get back into racing .

 

[quote]Originally posted by nib5:
<strong>I hope so. All SUV's belong on a gunnery range. They are the 21st century tailfins. Nothing but wasteful, bloated, ugly trash - and the vehicles themselves are pretty bad as well. No offence to anyone here, !</strong><hr></blockquote>

I totally dissagre... I tow alot with my SUV.. 2 bikes and 4 people to sturgis from Ga... just last week.... next sunday I take it into the mountains for a night of camping.. I use my SUV, I use the crap out of it...and when my P-car is track worthy... I'll use my SUV to tow it

 

[quote]Originally posted by adrial:
<strong>I hope they sell lots of them, so that they can build the Carrera GT, and get back into racing . </strong><hr></blockquote>
Exactly, GT racing hasn't been the same since the 1998 season.

 

[quote]Originally posted by adrial:
<strong>I hope they sell lots of them, so that they can build the Carrera GT, and get back into racing . </strong><hr></blockquote>
Paris-Dakar(sp?) rally! Could be fun watching a Cayenne romp there!

The Porsche Pepper-Vagon will sell well, IMO, especially in the SUV-obsessed USA market. I thought Mercedes missed the boat and got into the SUV market too late. Not so. We (I work for Mercedes Benz) finally decided to sell a 20 year old military SUV (G-class) this year, and we cannot make enough to satisfy the demand!
BMW joined the foray even later, and the X5 is selling well. VW & Porsche will sell their SUVs and the "Keeping up with the Jones" crowd will have another toy for them to show off with...
-Z.

 

The company that I work for is a supplier to BMW. The facility where I work supplies for the X5. BMW builds 420 cars per day. I think that it works out to be about 120,000 cars per year. And they still can not build them fast enough. The Cayenne will sell and and the Carerra Gt won't be far behind.

Speaking of new Porsche's has anyone heard the rumblings that Porsche is thinking about bringing back the front engined V8 a la 928 take 2. Rumor has it that it will share engines with the Cayenne. I love the automotive business.

 

[quote]Originally posted by nib5:
<strong>I hope so. All SUV's belong on a gunnery range. They are the 21st century tailfins. Nothing but wasteful, bloated, ugly trash - and the vehicles themselves are pretty bad as well. No offence to anyone here, but I have NEVER been shown any respect by the driver of one. Porsche had only recently shaken off the legacy of the yuppies and now they do this?!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Depends on where you live. I just got back from Iceland, and let me tell you, SUV's make a lot of sense there. Granted, they make little sense for most Americans, especially urbanites, but they have their place.

Thaddeus

 

[quote]Originally posted by Kool:
<strong>Speaking of new Porsche's has anyone heard the rumblings that Porsche is thinking about bringing back the front engined V8 a la 928 take 2. Rumor has it that it will share engines with the Cayenne. I love the automotive business.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I have heard of this rumor, but I've heard that in order to cut down on development costs, they are going to place the V8 (same 4.5? liter as the Cayenne) behind the rear axle, ala the 996. They are yet uncertain whether or not will will be part of the 911/Carrera line, or another designation.

I have also read that there are plans for a Boxster coupe, possibly with a turbo charged engine. THAT would be great, especially if they can get the MSRP down to the low 30's! (Can you say new DE / Track car?!?!?

-Z.

 

I don't want to get into rant here, BUT...

A V8 911 is stupid!!!!

911s should have a flat-6 or at most a flat-8. Never a V8. Has to do mostly with engine cg.
F1 guys keep tring to increase the angle of their V10's to lower the CG. Flat motor is 180 and you cant do any better than that!

The 928 was and still is fine car. It was know as the "Greatest GT Car Ever Made".

A new version of the 928 would be a great idea and the V8 from the Cayenne would be great in this car.
Just make sure the Engine is in front , tranny in back.
This is the equation for VERY FAST, VERY COMFORTABLE, GRAND TOURING.

The engine behind the rear wheels is naturally unstable. It has its advandtages in racing, but not ideal for Grand Touring car. Electrinics and carfull enginering can tame this, but why start with an unstable configuration and try to "Fix it"

My $0.02 <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />
M758

 

Yeah but you have to remember Porsche isn't going to make a car that's faster/better than the 911. That's why the Boxster only has like 200 hp..no better than the 944 S2 and slower than the 968. Making a car better than the 911 or close to it will reduce 911 sales..unless they sell the car for MORE than the regular 911 to supplement the income.

I'm not sure Porsche would go that far as to try and replace the 911 again. That's what they tried to do when the 928 first came out. 20 some years later we still have the 911 because nobody went for it..I think something similar would happen again if they tried to replace it. I wouldn't mind seeing them beef up the power of the Boxster with a turbo version though. I dunno about the coupe..isn't Box-ster kind of BOXer engine+roadSTER? In a couple that name wouldn't make much sense to me! Maybe they need to evolve the body slightly with the engine such as between the 924-944-968 evolutions and then change the name to something else?

 

M758 makes a lot of sense! ... I find even the 951 makes a nice touring car with the Koni's turned down a notch.

As for the whole SUV thing ...unless you need one as Thaddeus pointed out, it really is becoming a status symbol. Especially stuff the size of Lincoln Navigator and Cadilac Esplanade. But then haven't Lincoln and Caddy'd always been this way

Station wagons and mini vans make more practical sense for around town and cargo/people carrying .... but then again .... toyota tercel makes more sense in an urban environment than a 911

So, the people will vote with their $$$ as to what they want. And we see what they want. The 70s are rearing their ugly head again. Wonder how far off we are from the next oil shortage/holdback?