cobalt

Just spent the past three days in VT with the CT. What a blast, very stable in the snow and it ran almost flawlessly. The real value of these vehicles is really apparent on the back roads and in such adverse snowy conditions. Using the manual on the tip really allows you to control the vehicle at high speeds on snow covered roads and keeping the revs in the 3 - 4k range really allows you to play like you are in a 911 throug the turns. While following several well respected vehicels such as jeep cherokees and RR's on the snow covered roads I was surprised to find them slipping around while the CT just gripped beautifully.

I must admit I was rather surprised to see so many nice Cayennes.(especially in Jarama Beige) Came accross at least 15 or so mostly S's. There was a very nice White (I believe) CS at Johnny Seasaws Saturday night. It appeared to have a supersprint exhaust and Mass plates. A rennlister by chance?

I have only 3 complaints. The first is that with all the snow and salt on the roads the windshield wipers do suck. The windshield appears to get a film build up and makes it somewhat difficult to keep clean. The second is the factory ski racks and cross bars on the roof rails make a tremendous wind noise which is rather anoying and in high winds it seems to act as a sail pulling the CT around at 80mph.

The last issue was rather strange. On the drive up i had no problems, on the way back I found that for about half the drive back i had a wheel shimmy that I had never experianced before. It was not apparent until after I had cleaned some salt off the car in Manchester at a car wash and was persistent until I made it midway down the thruway. I originally thought i might have thrown a weight but all is in place. The shimmy only occured between 65 and 80 mph. Once down in NY about half way down 84 it just disappeared and all seems to be fine now. If this is a sign of the infamous shimmy that everyone is complaining about, now i can see why it is so dredded. It really destroyed the ride quality of the car. I hope it is gone for good and don't understand why it was there and now gone but I am happy to say it is gone. (possibly ice build up throwing wheel out of balance?)

Just thought I would share my experiance, I still think there is no other vehicle like the Cayenne, especially for winter driving and weekend ski trips.

Enjoy

bjwebster

I Have The Cross Bars And Ski Racks And The Whistle They Made At Speed Was Unbearable, But I Finally Realized It Was The Bars Catching Air In The Tracks, Not The Ski Racks. The Rubber You Have To Remove To Put The Racks In Keeps The Racks Quiet When There Are No Attachments On Them. I Simply Ran Some Wide Electrical Tape Carefully Across The Tracks, It Looks Pretty Good, And Isnt Noticeable From The Ground. It Made The Racks Almost Silent At Speed.

Here Are Some Pics:

cobalt

I have the roof rails with the factory cross bars. They give you a rubber strip that fills the opening so I don't have a whistle as much as a rumble. The racks do a great job but the noise is annoying and the resistance I feel while driving is a bit more than I would like. Never noticed this on any other vehicle I owned with ski racks.

Bj,

Were did you locate the front cross bar on yours? The instructions said I should place the front cross bar in a location just above were the moonroof opens at the rear. It appears by your picture that yours sit more forward. Maybe I should try adjusting them forward? BTW your car looks great, nice color combo and upgrades.

bjwebster

Mine sits a bit forward on the sunroof. The rails will only lock into certain spots on the tracks, so that determined where I placed it.

cobalt

Thanks for the info.

The roof rails won't let you place the cross bars that far forward but i will try to move them a few more inches forward and see if it makes a difference

TimC.

Hey Anthony, just got back from VT this weekend as well and found every scenario that you explained !!
I have the same setup as bjwebster and I heard that whistle the entire time we were driving....made me nuts. But now I see his solution and it makes perfect sense !! I personally moved the racks as far back as I could....the skis were sticking past the rear of the truck about a foot , but it made a big difference for me. It makes sense though because if you look at the aerodynamics of the hood and windshield the more forwards the skis are, the more you risk disturbing the airflow causing the skis to be pushed up and vibrating.
Also, I think we all know this, but the manual showed tips of the skis should be at the rear of the truck curving down for the best airflow.

cobalt

Tim,

I will try moving the racks back as you said. I just want it known that my tips have been facing the right direction since I have been driving. Never understood why people face them forward while driving. Hope the conditions were good.

alex911s

I got the same issue if you guys read my previous post, I returned the roof transport(which I bought after buying the car) and bought a Yakima Tower instead, had noise but very minimal, but when I installed the Yakima Ski Rack it went away, so I just leave in on. Last advice I got was remove the roof transport if not being used( I guess that's what the manual says). But it looks good with it doesnt it?