Zigzagn

Our local PCA club, Polar, Zone 6, is having quite the heated debate on whether or not to allow the Cayenne in our autocross events. I won’t say what I think on the subject but what do you think??

Yes or No and why

Your opinion would really help us out.

Thanks in advance

M758

San Diego Region (Zone 8) is also having a discussion on the same issues. As of yet unresolved. Not sure if my Region Arizona is having the same discussion.

exc911ence

Well, we in the Vancouver Island Region have already had the discussion and even though PCA has not-so-gently prodded the Regions to accept these cars (trucks?) into the clubs and allow them to participate in all events, our parking lot donor has laid down an official "NO" to letting Cayennes run in our autocrosses. Basically, they see Porsches as sports cars and said years ago that only Porsche branded sports cars would be allowed to run at their venue. Of course, who knew Porsche would ever stoop to cashing in on this fad? Seeing that parking lots are at a premium (we've got the last one in town that'll let us race in it!), our hands are tied!

I suppose that all you guys can do is wait and see if any Cayenne owners bring their vehicles out to an autocross and decide on the spot. I doubt that many (if any?) will want to anyway so it could be a moot point.

pedro951

i was never a big fan of the cayenne, but i tihnk if anyone wants to autocross it they should be allowed too. with its all wheel drive, psm & other modern wizardry i think the likelyhood of one loosing control would be much lass than many of the early cars. it seems to me the main reason for keeping it out is spite & fear of losing to a truck, after all if a honda odessy can outdo a 356 on an outocross course, what could a cayenne do?

Tom

Land on it's roof (or more likely it's side). The Odyssey could probably do a good job of that too.

Zigzagn

WOW
I didn’t think I would receive so much attention to this post, thank you.
It is interesting that the replies here are virtually the same as the as the emails and various discussions we have had in our local chapter. I think the majority would like to wait and see how the Cayenne performs.
I would expect that a lot of new Cayenne owners also have other Porsche’s and may want to bring the Cayenne out to an autocross event to see for themselves, but no matter how good it may be, it will never handle as good as the cars and I doubt there would be a repeat request to autocross.
I personally can’t wait to try the Cayenne in an autocross. Our local dealer (we only have one, believe it or not) has really supported our club and has told me they would bring out a Cayenne whenever we wanted one. I think a lot of the local members would want to try it out.
It is after all, a Porsche, maybe not my choice but I for one can’t wait to see what it will do on the autocross track. As far as allowing the Cayenne in future events, I really think it depends on how many requests we get.
A year from now I don’t think this will even be an issue. And I certainly would not vote now on the Cayenne being in or out of autocrossing. I feel that we must first see what impact it has and if necessary take the appropriate actions.

Raceit

I've never even thought of this issue until I saw this post here.

I'd say let 'em go. However I can see an extremly valid point made by exc911ence with the oversized vehicle causing more damage. And the possibilty of causing more injuries if something does happen because after all...these things are 4 doors and these could easily be fully loaded with people.

The flip side (no pun intended ) is that these are not your average SUV's. These have handling charctaristics better then some cars. So it's not like a full size Tahoo is going out there to drive.

And I agree that in one year this won't even be an issue.

Arthur

I am sure that everybody will stop asking "To X or not to X" when this SUV outruns a 996 on the track, without flipping.

Jim Michaels

I read where the Cayenne was quicker than a Boxster S on track, but slower than a 996. In autox a lot will depend on the driver. My SCCA region allows almost anything to run, including some pretty fast trucks and an older Chevy Malibu wagon, which beats most of the ricers. I'd prefer that the Cayenne be allowed to run in PCA autoxes, at least as long as it isn't in my class.

richard glickel.

I don't mean to alter the topic, but I've been wondering whether we will see the SUV at DE events?

At least in auto-x one vehicle runs the course at a time. But, DE has a number of cars on the track at the same time and I'm thinking that you really can't see around, or ahead, of a truck and that may cause valid safety concerns for drivers of mere cars, no?

Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L

kokkelix

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Zigzagn:
<strong>whether or not to allow the Cayenne in our autocross events.
Yes or No and why
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Yes. It's a Porsche.

kokkelix

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Zigzagn:
<strong>whether or not to allow the Cayenne in our autocross events.
Yes or No and why
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Yes. It's a Porsche.

Stuttgart

While trucks maybe large and heavy like an SUV the are not as likely to flip. It would be very hard to flip a truck with its very low center of gravity over the rear axle, and more importantly its long wheelbase.
To those that say it won't flip, i've heard from the scca folks that they have had a bimmer and vw flip in an autocross.

Now im not saying that the cayenne will flip over with a flick of the wheel, b/c i do hate the bad rap that suvs have gotten b/c some ford explorer owners forgot to check their tire pressures and over reacted when the had a blown tire.

But given a very grippy surface like a concrete parting lot and a somewhat off camber highspeed chicane, i do believe that if a cayenne where to get very out off shape(i.e. perpendicular to its direction of travel) i think it could roll.

On another note, the stiffer springs and swaybars, in comparison to other suvs, probably decrease the likelyhood of it rolling

///bmwm3n528

better question, should any SUV/truck be allowed to autoX??

in my opinion no, Porsche can name it SAV/crossover all the want, in the end its a suv/truck. These types of vehicles shouldn't be competing with sports cars, maybe have a series of the own, X5/Cayenne autoX

HarryD

See the Cayenne on the Autocross track here:

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