Dennis C

I wonder if I could fit the gun rack from my old ford truck in the Cayenne... it would be nice when heading offroad for some upland bird hunting... I think a nice 12-gauge in along the side window in the back would be an interesting touch.

sigs

Not enough room to hang one across the rear side window (as I used to have in my old Bronco), but if you ever get "unstranded" and make it back to Texas, I can show you a couple of custom-made versions. One is an adaptation of the versions you see for more common vehicles that runs across the roof of the back seat. The other is an upright (diagonal) mount for the rear floorboard. Am currently trying to figure out how to adapt the latter to hold two full-length shotguns and an M4.

Of course, we all know that real Texans treat their firearms with respect, so I avoid bouncing mine around in vehicle racks, except when necessary.

jpljr

Well said... It's just the wrong tool for the job.

I can only imagine that people who would think about taking a CTT through the Rubicon have actually never seen a trail like the Rubicon. Or a moderate/hard trail to begin with.

Oh, and M4... As in Benelli M4...? Thats a serious piece. My wife wont let me get one.

sigs

Actually, a Rock River Arms M-4 AR-15, but the Benelli M4 is an outstanding work of art. As for your wife, teach her to shoot, and then you'll just have the same problem I did - she'll take your best stuff. Mine's the same way with my sports cars - she complains about them until she has to drive one somewhere, and then she always comes back with a sheepish "I really like this car." On the other hand - back to topic, sort of - she has NO sense of humor about serious off-roading, especially in a vehicle as expensive to fix as a Cayenne.

Franklin229

But this is the irony-if you have to think twice about taking a vehicle off road-then it's a compromise no matter how you look at it. The Cayenne does a lot of different things but not one really well (sorry-my 2 cents). That's the true issue with "SUV's" and "cross-over" type vehicles. When all is said and done-you buy a heavy machine that needs a lot of horses to carry itself around on the street to run simple errands-sucking gallons of gas along the way-only to find that you still have to think twice before thrashing it around the brush. I am not even talking about rock crawling here-simple shrub laden paths that are destined to scratch body work and ding rocker panels-even further-if you pay for an "off-road " package and still think about how much better a jeep might be, then there lies the flaw.

sigs

Apologies for such a long response, but EVERY vehicle is a compromise. Each purchaser picks the compromise he/she wants to make. For many Cayenne buyers, their compromise is to pay a lot of money and suffer through Porsche-quality service, just to get a vehicle that will function as a minivan, but will "look" cool and will have that precious Porsche badge on it. The off-road capabilities are lost on them, just as are those of the Lexus LX and GX. For me, putting aside having to pay way too much money and put up with Porsche-quality service, I sought the best compromise for a vehicle that would: take up the only remaining space in my garage; be a reasonably fun, all-weather daily driver; blast onto congested metropolitan on-ramps with ease; NOT get me killed during an avoidance maneuver, once I got onto those congested highways; allow me to stop by Lowes on the way home and pick up materials for my latest project; hold 2 adults and 3 dogs, as well as luggage for a week; be a reasonable tow vehicle (I have incandescent trailer lights ! ! !); and easily tackle the modicum of off-road work that I would do in my daily driver. I have dedicated vehicles for dedicated tasks, and my Cayenne doesn't do ANY of those things AS well. However, none of those vehicles comes close to being the all-around performer that my CTT-PK is. It's not perfect, as I would have sacrificed a little handling for a little more cargo space, and should have left off the PowerKit so I could have 18" wheels. But I tried VERY hard to find something else that would fit my needs and wants for a Swiss-Army-Knife vehicle, and there was nothing else out there that was close - even knowing about most of the major issues. I may be far from the average but ths ain't the only crowd in which I'm an oddball, so I'm used to it.

O l\l E

Haha, just remembered this thread that I had started a long time ago...I ended up getting a MB G55 K instead, and have been very happy with it so far.
Was just browsing autotrader again looking for a Cayenne with the advanced offroad package and ended up on this thread...

I remember reading something about a special edition Cayenne for a rally - how has that one been doing for offroad? Forgot the name of it but the pre-release pics looked very cool

DUTCH Vanatlanta

You just missed one. My Transsyberia had the Off Road Technology package and PDCC on 18" wheels. All it needs is A/T tires. It will be on its way to its new owner soon.

For the best off road vehicle, go with an MB G500 or G55. Having had both a G500 and the Transsy, I can tell you that while the Transsy can do a lot of stuff off road, the G500 has it over the Transsy off-road hands (and wheels) down.

CDH-CTT

Im VERY impressed with how mine has done Off-road!! We go out target shooting and everyone piles into my ride and we get really funny looks from everyone else with trucks when I make it up things that they cant....PSM with Low Range and Locked up its a MOUNTAIN GOAT!!!! hahahahaha

bgsntth

The Cayenne is the first SUV that I leave the Stability Management program on while in low-range. I finally relented after nearly getting stuck a few times in the mud and on steep ascents. With PSM on the yellow ! light is constantly coming on, and I still get a lot of wheel spin; but it seems to do a bit better than with it off. I also do not like that it does not have a hill descent control, to speak of. The manual says it does, but it seems in practice to just be engine compression and not ABS.

Regardless, I have much more confidence in my wife's FFRR or my prior LR3. GTS is a lot more fun and "exciting", both good and bad, off-road.

1crazy canuck

I would look at a Range Rover sport spercharged if you want performance on road as well as off.

It will not be as fast as a Cayenne Turbo on road, but with 500hp, or even ~400hp n the 06-09's, it is amazing off road with the right tires.

Nice balance, IMHO

timmhaines

Couldn't Porsche reprogram it with the off road version of their software?

DanaT

I made it to the top of Mt Antero. I will tell you the secret.

Drove CTT from Denver to Mt Elbert in comfort. Had the trunk full of goodies (food/beer/tent/etc).

Camped over night.

Packed up in morning.

Drove CTT to St Elmo. Got the rental ATVs in St Elmo. Left the CTT at the rental shop.

Drove ATVs to the top of the mountain and back down.

Drove from St Elmo back to Denver in comfort. Didn't damage the Cayenne or scratch it.

That said, with off road tires and if you don't mind scratches and wheel scratches, a Cayenne would make it to the top. Stock wranglers and liberties were up there. A Cayenne will do just as well as a base wrangler or liberty.



-Dana

cordsig79

I would recommend the turbo diesel toureg too...........cheap little chugger........youtube has a Bavarian rallye of a modded Cayenne S, removed front and rear plastic........in the end, control arms snapped I think.

bgsntth

The Cayenne does very well off-road. My biggest issue with it was that it spun its wheels very easily and it is difficult to modulate the throttle so that you maintain momentum, but do not spin the wheels to oblivion. Of course, this might be more related to my Cayenne being a GTS manual transmission. With modern Land Rovers, one just maintains an even throttle and lets the electronics and Terrain Response figure it out.

I've driven a lot of SUV's on the family ranch, and can compare their abilities on the same roads/terrain. My list best to worst:
2008 Range Rover w/ OE Michelin Lat's
2006 LR3 w/ Yoko A\T-S
2000 Jeep Grd Cherokee w/ V8 and High-Country Suspension and QuadraDrive
2009 GTS with Pirelli ATRs
2003 Lexus GX470 with Revo's
2005 Subaru OBXT
2002 Subaru WRX
2003 Mercedes GL350 (miserable)

The GTS was a blast to drive, and I really enjoyed heel-toeing between 2nd and 5th gears in low-range, while never exceeding 30 mph. It is geared really low, and blipping the throttle really helped on down shifts.

Pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/2058658...7624134675338/