Saw the first live Cayennes...
 

at my dealer on Tuesday. A silver S and a black turbo. Not impressed. They really looked out of place among the 996's... And (IMHO), man are they ugly...
http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/otn/holiday/noel.gif

The questions are :

Based upon comments in this forum, press pictures, etc. were you pre-disposed to having a negative opinion?

Or were you truly open minded?

Colm,
This is just me: I do not like SUVs. I do not like Porsche making SUVs. I did not like the Cayenne next to the 996s.

If this means, I am not open-minded, then OK.
http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/otn/holiday/noel.gif

Phil, putting aside the fact that you do not like SUV's, did you find that the Cayenne looked different than it has looked in the pictures? In other words, do the pictures fail to accurately capture the way the Cayenne looks? Does some visual attribute or characteristic of the Cayenne fail to come accross in pictures that becomes apparent in 3-D?

Phil,

I appreciate your honesty and integrity!

John,
Yes, the photos portrayed the Cayenne accurately I find. It seemed slightly smaller live than I expected though.

Phil,

Not surprised, lets just say light colors won't bring out the best 'er 'um..."lines" of the P-fish. Dark colors should hide them better...

Another area that still needs to be cleared up, can you put 50 pound dogs in the boot? One of my major complaints with the X5 is its oxymoronic concept of "cargo space". The only way I could get one of our dogs in - was sideways... :rolleyes:

Wondering if that is true with the P-fish. But hey what am I thinking, who needs cargo room when you can go 165 mph <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

I too regard the SUV Twin's as, smaller than the pictures suggest.

Viewed from a slightly different vantage point, I came within five feet of a Touareg (7/02) while in a airport cargo facility and having viewed the "T" vehicle for 20 minutes, its smaller than ya think.

The "C" development mules have been viewed many times here in Colorado over the last two years; often in a local dealerships service area.

Nothing really special visually with either one, only the VW is not ugly.

I am getting anxious to see one "in the flesh",so to speak. If they are as "small" as I have been led to believe, then where does the 5100+ pound weight come from?

mpm

Does this mean you're actually considering a Pepper???

I got to call Adler Planetarium and see how many planets are spinning out of their natural orbit...

:D :D :D

M

Why are looks so important? Performance and function supercede that in my book. I bought a Boxster and those things are funny looking! I remember when I first saw one, my thoughts were it looks like the pushme-pullya from the Rex Harrison Dr. Dolittle.

A gas station attendant asked me, "Which end is the front."

Porsche cars look like nothing else on the road, if that means; not the most attractive SUV, so be it. Comparing the looks of any SUV to another is a comparison among toads.

[quote]Originally posted by dawktah:
<strong>Why are looks so important? ...Comparing the looks of any SUV to another is a comparison among toads.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Let's turn the question around. Why shouldn't an expensive car (or SUV) look nice? Should you have to accept an ugly "toad" at those sorts of prices? Wouldn't you like the Cayenne even more if it looked as good as it performs?

Why do people lust after Ferraris? Certainly, you can get nearly equivalent performance in a much less expensive Porsche, or even a Mitsubishi Evo. I suspect it has a lot to do with the beautiful styling.

Both interior and exterior styling mean a lot to me, as does functional ability and build quality, of course. I am certainly not a Cayenne-hater, but I could not get myself to accept the appearance (and ultimate sport-car-like performance in an SUV was not so important to me), so I bought a '03 Rover.

Plus, I wanted the absolute worst MPG possible. ;)

My thoughts exactly, Anir, on all points.

As for MPG, if I opt for the X5 as I'm currently planning to do later in the year, I won't be doing much better in that department.

[quote]Originally posted by Mike in Chi:
<strong>I got to call Adler Planetarium and see how many planets are spinning out of their natural orbit...

:D :D :D

M</strong><hr></blockquote>

Mike,

Thanks for the laugh...I got married during the total planet harmonic convergence - that won't happen again for another 100+ years, 'bout as long as it'll take for the looks of the P-fish to grow on me.

Nope, if I were in the market for a ute, the value play would be the T-egg and the luxo-ute would be the Rover. Like Anir, I have no need for speed in my utility ride, besides the allroad looks like it specs out well with the base P-fish. And an allroad loaded goes for less then $45K - with 3 dogs in the boot ;)

Happy New Year Mike, hope business picks up for all of us...

Looks like the Hundai has got some competition! so is it any bigger than the santa fe? oh and we arent the only ones that think it looks like a hundai, several mags have said the same.

I for one hate SUV's unless im actually going off road, for which ill take a modified fj40 landcruiser(with ambulance doors)

but otherwise im buying a 5 series touring wagon.