Brian Wilson

Agreed.

Super fast vehicles no matter where you are. In a straight line, corners, off road, it is a great vehicle.

hacker-pschorr

Some of you seam to forget the 924/944 buy Audi was a bigger controversy to the auto/Porsche world than the Cayenne is. I don't believe for a second if your local Porsche dealer pulled up into your driveway with a new Cayenne Turbo and said its yours in trade for your 944 that any of you would not accept. Don't give me that crap that you would sell it and buy something else. You get my point.

I give Porsche credit for realizing there is a market for them. How many Porsche owners also have an SUV? I bet its more than half. Why not make a vehicle for them to compliment their Porsche car?

I'm really sick of all this crying and moaning about Porsche building a vehicle for a market they don't belong in. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were all experts in the auto world.

streckfu's

We're just expressing opinions here. Noone has claimed to be an expert. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and none are wrong.

RobbyK

My question is why did they pick an SUV first instead of a high performance sports sedan then lead to an SUV ONCE/IF they got the foothold in a 4 door market? Maybe it was some kind of plot on there part to prove to the world they can strive for excellence in any vehicle they make.

ERAU-944

Streck: well, some opinions ARE wrong. thats where education (read: test drive the stinkin thing then stop whining when you realize its the best SUV on the market) comes in. not saying i'm right all the time, but people are trashing something they have no idea about, nor do they know the full ramifications on the part of the Porsche company as to the manufacture of the SUV.

Robby: they have always and will always acheive the utmost excellence in vehicle manufacture. any car will have bugs, its how they are dealt with that is important. the SUV market is booming (i guess, and i dont know why) and porsche needs to make $, unfortunately its tied with no-compromise automotive excellence as porsche's main goal. go drive one, it'll prove to you that the cayenne is the best SUV out there. who knows where this will lead porsche next. my theory is that the Porsche execs with enough $ to race want pedigreed vehicles to tow their race prepped cars to the track

-Michael-
Cayenne. The next Porsche.

User 41221

I guess there aren't too many Harley fans here, but I didn't hear a huge outcrying of "treason" from the Harley crowd when Porsche designed a water-cooled engine for the V-rod. Considering the amount of posturing and "tradition" those guys guys hold dear, I would think if its okay to replace the air cooled V-twin with a German engineered engine for all the wannabe bikers then we Porsche loyalists ought to be able to handle them producing an automotive test bed that is designed to make them more profitable. Think of the engineering benefits that we should be seeing in future sports oriented products that are derived from the Cayenne. That is a wicked nasty V-8 they are sporting in the Cayenne, and if they can get an FTOD out of an SUV at a run of the mill auto-x, can you imagine the performance that they should be able to wring out putting the same sort of thing in a more sports oriented car?

I think Porsche has made its share of mistakes, but producing the Cayenne isn't one of them.

Regards,

bill d cat

Porsches in general aren't selling very quickly at the moment, it's not just the Cayenne. I've read there is a LOT of 2003 inventory to still be moved. Auto Spies claims current Porsche owners will soon receive a "once in a lifetime offer" letter bringing the transaction price down below invoice for once if they wish to "upgrade". (I don't know if it's ALL Porsche owners, including us down in Filine's Basement or just the late-model owners.) Following the bursting of the dot-com bubble a lot of the folks who were collecting 100k incentive bonuses and stock options are now working at Starbucks, which probably has a little bit to do with the slow demand.

The Cayenne turbo is without any doubt the best SUV made today.

As I understand it, in addition to the "popular priced" non-turbo V8 version we're soon going to see an "economy" version of the Cayenne powered by a VW V6 (seriously). I've also read that they've cut back the work week at the Leipzig assembly plant. Since Porsche apparently "bet the farm" on the Cayenne, I hope these aren't the first indications that the Cayenne won't be a success. If it's not a success the survival of the company as an independent entity becomes a question. We can now buy a Saturn engined Saab and a Jaguar with a Taurus engine block so I certainly hope they remain independent. Yes, I'm well aware of the many VW Beetle parts in my 944 and the 924 and 912E engines.

I don't claim any particular expertise with respect to automobile marketing, but I happened to be listening when CNBC did an interview with one of the Porsche executives about the then-new Cayenne. I heard him describe the size of the potential Cayenne market in the US, based on household income, and I raised my eyebrows because I was amazed that it could be so large. I checked his numbers against the income distribution numbers available on the US Census Bureau website, and if I heard the Porsche executive correctly he was overestimating the size of the US market for the Cayenne by a factor of TEN.

It's not my kind of car, but like I said, I hope it's a success.

Tremelune

I don't believe for a second if your local Porsche dealer pulled up into your driveway with a new Cayenne Turbo and said its yours in trade for your 944 that any of you would not accept. Don't give me that crap that you would sell it and buy something else. You get my point.

I'd sell it and get something else. If I had to choose one to drive every day, I'd pick a 0 miles 944 over 0 miles Cayenne every time.

I guess it depends on your needs. If someone said I had $60k to spend on a utility vehicle, it surely would not go to a Cayenne. If I needed to haul a lot of stuff, I'd get a wagon. If I needed offroad capability, I'd get a modified Jeep or pickup. If I needed to haul a lot of stuff, offroad capability, and a people mover, I'd get something like an old Explorer and soup it up. You get my point.

I don't care that Porsche is "breaking their mark" or moving away from sports cars. I'm not saying the Cayenne is anything less than capable, but it is ugly, and there are cheaper ways to get a good bit more utility.

I imagine it's the people who drive these things that are gonna cause more scorn than the excess of the cars themselves. I like small cars, so I'm clearly biased.

dave120

Why buy those things for each need when this one vehicle does it all? And will likely outhandle your 944 to boot? Seriously, go drive one. I was skeptical about them at first until we went and did the Cayenne Experience and HOLY **** they are impressive. And I dunno what you guys are talking about it being ugly. It looks a heck of a lot better than all the other SUVs out there, and like every Porsche it performs even better than it looks, which is saying a lot.

Tremelune

sh944 and bill d cat: Right on. Despite it not being my kind of car, I don't have a problem with it. It's some of the people, not the car. It ain't any better with the Escalade...

streckfu's

I can't believe an opinion can be wrong. Opinions are not fact based, therefore, cannot be wrong. They may not be right for you. Is the Cayenne turbo the fastest and best handling (based on testable data) SUV? Absolutely!! If someone argues that the Fors Escape is better off road than the Jeep Liberty, that is wrong.

Is it the Cayenne the best SUV for me? Absolutely not.

I would never discredit anyone for owning one. I wouldn't discredit the owner of an H2, Trailblazer, or Mazda Tribute, etc.

I hope the Cayenne allows Porsche toget back into serious racing. I love this brand. I yearn for the days of the 906, 917, 962, etc. I think the GT2 is the greatest thing since fire. But that is my opinion. You may like the GT3...

Water944t

Har-de-har-har-har. Another pearl of wisdom from Erau-944.

And I still think that you should be at least a little embarrased by your 2nd grade English skills, ever hear of a capital letter?

streckfu's

Good case, sh944, That's the kind of commentary I like to read here. Bravo.

Being the anti-Harley I am, I like the idea of the V-rod. And not because it's designed by Porsche.

Water944t

The bold is about the only thing you said that made sense.

The real reason that Porsche is totally ****ed on the Cayenne is right down the street from you. It's called a gas station, and that **** is very expensive, and only gonna get worse.

Now who wants a big ****ing school bus when it costs $90 to fill up every 5 days? Not me, not my friends, and not the American public. SUV's are dead, dead, dead. A horrific exercise in American gluttony that has run its course. Mark my words.

I sell cars and trucks for a living, and I am very aware of what is going on in the market. SUV's are out like single white gloves and parachute pants. Porsche was a day late and a dollar short to the party, and it is going to bite them in the *** in the long run. So much for betting the farm on the Cayenne. A 5-passenger, watercooled, front-engine turbo, with 35MPG and classic Porsche looks and handling sounds pretty good in Stuttgart about now, I would imagine. And I bet more than one head rolls.

Of course, I am sure at least one of you will leap like Pavlov's dog to defend the chili-pepper. Good luck, and happy hunting.

And you are welcome to bring that big, sharp, knife-like wit of yours to the gun fight, ERAU.

SidViscous

Keeping in mind water that you guys in Phoenix are having a temporary gas price problem. We aren't having the same thing here.

What you say may be true, but the fact is only time will tell.

The mini-van craze didn't start to fail until something better came along, SUV's. I don't see them tapering off until something else replaces it. They say it's sports wagons. I like The Magnum, but I don't think that's it. THey've been around in one form or another for years and never interested anyone.

Wish I had never given up My dodge Wagon with the 440 and the towing package.