Bill911

Purchased from Trailer Depot in CT. I really like this trailer alot. Build quality is excellent, light weight, and the availabilty of options was endless.

ferraristyle

I pull my 28 foot Scarab with my Cayenne S, and I'm trading that in for a GTS next week. Just make sure you pay the $$$ for the Porsche towing system if it doesnt' have one. It's 2K worth of work and hardware but I put it on my S and never had any issues.

Budget M3

Just did a test fit today with my 18ft enclosed V-nose. With my Z1 tied down inside, my X5 towed this without a problem for 3 years. Hope the CTT does at least as well...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28724680@N07/6845499970/

tetice

I'm new to this forum and don't have a Porsche yet but am seriously considering a '08 GTS with Manual trans.

This is a somewhat old thread but I latched on to it as I saw some of the posters with the same '08 GTS I'm considering or an identical Cargo Pro 20' enclosed trailer. If any of you are still paying attention to this thread, I'm curious about how happy you are long term towing enclosed trailers with your Cayenne.

As background, I have been towing track/race cars for 6 or 7 years now. Started with BMW 4.4 X5 and an open steel trailer - great combination as would be a Cayenne. I then moved to the enclosed 20' Cargo Pro (all aluminum and very light). The X5 pulls it just fine and no trailer induced sway issues but the X5 gets pushed around quit a bit in cross winds and especially at higher speeds passing or being passed by 18 wheelers - ultimately I deemed this to be too risky. I solved this with an old Suburban 2500 with a 7.4L gas guzzler motor. It tows the enclosed trailer with ease (slower than the X5) and has no noticeable issues with wind/stability. The vehicle is dedicated to nothing but towing but it's no fun and I have more vehicles than I have places to store them. The X5 is getting a bit long in the tooth and while I need something with this type utility I really want to be driving a manual. The GTS seems like a good fit and if it can replace the 2500 Suburban tow beast that would be a big bonus.

The biggest difference for towing stability between the X5 and the Suburban is simply the mass. The Suburban is about a 6000 lb vehicle while the X5 is only 4500 lb. The Cayenne weighs in at only about 500 lbs more than the X5 so I'm hopeful (yet skeptical) that this is enough to make a difference.

TIA,
Tom

Coulthard Fan

I've been towing around race cars in encolosed trailers for a few years now in my 08 GTS without any problems. Installing a brake contoller yourself was simple with help available here. As for the actual towing, I've always used a good weight distributing hitch so no swaying for me, just smooth sailing.

When I tow my Lotus Elise racecar in my 16' enclosed Wells Cargo (total ~4800lbs) I don't even notice it is back there. However, when I tow my Penske NASCAR in my 24' enclosed ATC (total ~6400lbs) it is more noticeble for sure... although still not a strain for the GTS.

f4 plt

An update to my previous posts of GTS and trailed open trailers. Here is my 2011 Cayenne S and the enclosed Trailex I towed from San Antonio to parade in Ga. last year and back. No problem and easy to maintain highway speeds and pass or enter traffic on the interstates with no problem. The Cayenne is a great tow mule

blazing928

Why not the diesel? Excellent torque.
The Cayenne brochure mentions some sort of tow assist. I gather similar to what Land Rover have on the Discovery 4 [D4]. The PSM detects and helps stop the sway.
Air suspension would be needed for heavy towing, to help level. In OZ we have a higher ball weight than the ROW, so the local dealer as to use a local hitch.
We used to tow race cars, big caravans behind the old classic RR with no issues, so I can only imagine the Cayenne will be light years better.

CanyonBlaster

no issues.

tetice

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad it's all positive as I pulled the trigger on Friday for my Pig. Got the '08 GTS with manual transmission. I got to know the Pig pretty well on my 300+ mile drive home. Now I just need to install that trailer hitch that is sitting in the box in my basement. Installing the brake controller does look to be a piece of cake compared to the install I did on my X5 which required that I run multiple 8 or 10 guage wires from the drivers side under dash to the back of the truck requiring lots of interior removal. Porsche has made this worlds easier with the factory pigtail.

I do have a handful of Cayenne specific questions but will create a more proper thread for those subjects.

Tom Tice
'08 Cayenne GTS (1st Porsche)
'02 X5 4.4 (looking for a new home)
'98 M3/4
'93 325iS SE36 #110

tetice

No doubt! An open trailer is no challenge for a Cayenne. Nice looking rig!

Tom

tetice

The diesel would be great I'm sure. I was less concerned with pulling power/grunt than I am with towing safety i.e. stability due to cross winds, sway, etc. Mostly these are affected by pure mass and "wheelbase" of the towing vehicle. I was also interested in finding a Cayenne that someone else has taken a 50% hit in depreciation since this was somewhat of an experiment (on the towing side).

audipwr1

Any long term updates?

Who is towing a 20ft aluminum enclosed with a pepper? Worried about cross winds not pulling or braking

Over mountains and flat planes in CA the cross winds get real

f4 plt

I traded my Cayenne S for a Cayenne Diesel and it tows even better. Concerns about the Cayenne having a short wheelbase are somewhat neutralized as it has a very wide stance and does extremely well in crosswinds. That combined with it being all wheel drive makes for a great towing mule. The one concern and I think it has been mentioned is tongue weight which is an issue I have had with PCNA techs. The owners manual lists the max towing at 7700 lbs ( apron) yet is lists the max tongue weight at just over 600 lbs which does not follow the accepted principal of having 10-12 % of the total weight of trailer and load on the tongue.

I will admit I have towed with the trailer overloaded in the front (tongue weight over 700 lbs) with no issues but now I keep it right at 600 lbs. If you are going to tow invest in a tongue weight scale so you can balance your load. By the way I do not have air suspension on my Cayenne just PASM and it tows great. If memory serves me Porsche does not recommend an equalizer hitch.

Lastly I agree with another post and that is to spend the 2 K and get the factory towing package. I'll be towing to parade this year. White enclosed Trailex pulled by a Silver Cayenne Diesel.

audipwr1

So no one here has had issues with crosswinds and short enclosed trailers? I thought that's why everyone says don't tow and enclosed??

stronbl

I tow a 20ft enclosed Featherlite with my '13 CD. Try real hard to keep the total trailer weight down below 7000 lbs. My typical routes are up and down I-5 out of SF. On some of the stronger cross winds I'll get a slight push, but never any sway of the trailer. That said, if I feel heavy cross winds I'll cut my speed down to about 50-55 mph. I do have air suspension and I know the load stays very level - love the suspension and not just for towing.