6 weeks, 2000 miles with 09 GTS. Needed a daily driver to replace soon to depart 07 X5 4.8. Former Daily drivers: 99 E55, 04 M3 Cab, 05 M3 Coupe, other recent/current toys 95, 96 and 98 M3s, Lotus Elise, Denali, GMC Diesel Tow vehicle, and GT3. Gives you my points of reference.

Simply put the GTS is my E55 reincarnated as a SUV. As a DD it works great, easy to get in and out of, 4 adults fit comfortably, Hauls a reasonable amount of stuff like Golf Clubs and 4 track tires with tools. Can tow a flat bed trailer with track car. Gets in and out of driveways and handles pot holes. Fits in the garage and gets good enough gas mileage.

The technology is there when you need it, but not invasive as the X5s is. I hate iDrive. I hate the electronic shifter, and many other electronic nannies on the X5. The new PCM is easy to use with bluetooth phone, XM, GPS and iPod interface. Personally I like the Bose (it is a car...with road noise, not much, if I want perfect sound I go to the family room). Controls are all with in reach.

The driving experience is very enjoyable. The X5s was as well. I do not have PDCC. Recently attended a PCA instructor school and thought I would use the GTS. It works.....yes it is 5000 lbs which is most noticable when you go to stop it. Up to 8/10ths it is a hoot! Tires and brakes would go pretty quick if you try to push any harder. The Alcantara seats hold nicely. Sport function works appropriately, lower, stiffer, louder, quicker throttle map. Visibility is good but I do find it harder to figure out exactly where the front corners are than say the X5 or Denali. Brake and throttle feel fit my preference. No Active steering, feeling is good at speed and just a touch too stiff when parking, I am being nit picky, the X5 was much stiffer at slow speeds.

Some functions like the adjustable rear hatch are well thought out, I like that I can set it to raise short of hitting the garage door every time I open it, yet can push it up all the way when outside. Even the sunroof dial is convienent to use as opposed to holding a switch. Swiveling Xenon headlights work well and make late night country roads easier on the eyes.

Appearance wise....well that is simply a personal taste issue to me. It is not my favorite looking SUV, but I think it fits in nicely between the S and the Turbo. So far I am happy with the choice. I did read alot of negative experiences with the Cayennes on this forum, so i talk to a close friend who is an independent Porsche mechanic before the purchase and he felt they had worked out many of the problems expressed on the forum, of course time will tell. Some gentlemen on here have clearly made it their mission to pound the table exessively about the fact that this car should not exist, and I suppose if someone has had alot of bad experiences with this SUV it is justified.

Any hoo, take my comments for what they are worth in your own opinion and remember how much you paid for them.

Thanks to the fellow member who sold me his extra S wheels and tires, I will try them out in the snow next month. we will see how it handles snow and some rugged little back roads with a cargo box and boards on top.

Cheers to all and thanks to all for what I have learned here!

 

Bought my wife a 2008 GTS in April and with 7200 miles on it now we are both still very pleased. She drove a Lexus RX 350 before the Cayenne and the seats in the Lexus were terrible on my back. I'm only 5'9" and 160 but the seats offered no support and were too short butt to knee. not so with the GTS. Great seats( and missing three discs in my lower back, I NOTICE SEATS) even my 5'2" wife likes the GTS seats better than the Lexus. While 5000 lbs it does not feel heavy in traffic, very nimble. On the highway it is stable, again much more so than the Lexus. Performance is excellent and the brakes very good. Even my wife (not a car person) was impressed with the brakes. Seating in the back for adults is as good as you can find in any vehicle. As you can tell we are both happy with the purchase.

 

Thanks for the write up. I truly think its one of if not the best option out there, and yes I know I may get flamed for this statement, but I cant think of an alternative in the SUV mkt. And if I could afford it I would take the C Turbo in an instant. Especially now that I am 911-less.

I too had a go in my S on 21' wheels on the track and it was a ball. Helped reinforce my opinion above about it being the best option out there...

 

Great review Kevin!

Agree with Nick 100%. If "S"UV is going to stay at all and "S" represents sport, Cayenne is at the top of the list. There is no substitute.

 

its good to read about others enjoying their cayenne, I love driving my gts. I need all wheel drive and it sucks to park my 993 for the winter, so having an all wheel drive porsche truck is perfect.
for those interested, I'm using the pirelli scorpion ice & snow tires mounted on the 21" wheels and they work great. I've tested on ice, loose snow and compacted snow, no deep fresh snow yet. they stop great, very little slip under acceleration and corner well.
I can also recommend fabspeed's catbypass pipes, very nice sound.

 

i have just started driving my again now that the boxster is pretty much away - it is a great all weather tall sports caar.

good comments -

 

K7, you will experience the best winter road driving with 17" better than 18" wheels/Pirelli Scorpions. I have the 18" CT wheels with these and is awesome (21" winter tires are not prudent according to the laws of Physics) You can't drive Summer tires on snow at all (believe me I know).

I just drove aroung 8 hours yesterday through a big snow storm in WI (9") and passed alot of people in ditches (not fun). The CS handled wonderfully!

 

I don't think you can put 17" wheels on a GTS - the brakes are too big.

 

Don't correct him.....you'll just end up with a STFU.....or something like that.

 

hmm, I must have missed physics class, why would the wheel diameter matter for winter driving?
or maybe you miss typed and are referring to the wheel width?
one way or the other I'm pretty sure the rubber compound is more important then wheel diameter or wheel width when dealing with winter conditions.

tested in 6 inches of powder on top of hard pack ice and snow yesterday, worked great.

 

A narrower wheel will have a smaller 'footprint', thus accomplishing 2 things:
1. applying more contact patch pressure
2. allowing the wheel to penetrate the snow deeper/more easily
(Hint: think snowshoes)

Of course I never took physics....so it's just a guess....

 

your assumption being he thinks wheel diameter=wheel width?
ok, I realize its just semantics and I'm being picky, so lets run with the facts.
21 inch wheel=10 inch wide and
18 inch wheel=8 inch wide.
ignoring the actual contact patch size(someone else can work out the geometry of the patch size) and just working with the width-
5000lb cayenne, 1250lb per tire, the 10 inch wide gets 125lb per inch, the 8 inch tire gets 156.25lb per inch.
that's a 25% increase in weight per tire per inch!

at what depth will my 5000lb porsche stop penetrating the snow?

 

Guys, I live in the land of snow. In fact we have about 2 and a half feet on the ground right now. My wife's GTS has 18 inch wheels for two reasons - better traction due to the narrower contact patch and secondly more sidewall which prevents broken wheels when the potholes come out.

The guy who owns the dealership ran 21 inch wheels/snows on his Cayenne last winter and damaged three rims. He is on 18 inchers this year. This may be a local problem only, so YMMV where the roads are not as bad after freeze/thaw cycles. Lastly 17 inch wheels are not big enough to clear the calipers on the GTS.

Best,

 

I am going to invoke the signature from a fellow Rennlist member here in response:

Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

 

Hey ins't that trademarked to Colm? Give credit perhaps?