Just bought a Cayenne S
03-17-2003, 10:36 PM
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Just bought a Cayenne S
My wife and I decided to go check them out this past Saturday at our local Porsche dealer (we just moved to South Carolina from Tampa). Since moving, I've been working out of the house, so my C2 has been sitting in the garage most of the time. We also have a second baby on the way and, while a car seat fits behind my wife's seat, a second one wouldn't fit behind mine - relegating the 911 to extremely limited duty.
My wife had taken to the Lexus GX 470 when it first came out, but I just couldn't warm up to it. And, it was still to expensive to be able to comfortably keep the 911 and buy the GX. We had planned to wait until the Touareg came out, but we decided to check out the Cayenne since they're based on the same platform.
I was immediately impressed by the test drive. The suspension and steering are in an entirely different league than any other SUV I've driven. The vehicle we test drove didn't do much for us aesthetically - it was black with the basic gray interior. However they also had a beige on beige with the smooth leather and olive wood on the showroom floor. It was substantially better looking than the other Cayennes they had. It was also nicely optioned out with PSM, PCM, tow hitch, xenons, etc.
We were both pleasantly surprised by the amount of cargo room and the general roominess of the front and back seats. It's big enough without being to big. We had also looked at the new Range Rover which was much bigger on the outside than the interior room would suggest.
So, we decided to trade in the C2. It broke my heart, but it was the sane thing to do. We still have a mini-van as our beater (for trips to the beach and such), but now we have a vehicle I don't mind driving on short or long trips. My only regret is that the model we bought doesn't have driver's seat memory. It's an inexpensive option, but it wasn't included.
My wife had taken to the Lexus GX 470 when it first came out, but I just couldn't warm up to it. And, it was still to expensive to be able to comfortably keep the 911 and buy the GX. We had planned to wait until the Touareg came out, but we decided to check out the Cayenne since they're based on the same platform.
I was immediately impressed by the test drive. The suspension and steering are in an entirely different league than any other SUV I've driven. The vehicle we test drove didn't do much for us aesthetically - it was black with the basic gray interior. However they also had a beige on beige with the smooth leather and olive wood on the showroom floor. It was substantially better looking than the other Cayennes they had. It was also nicely optioned out with PSM, PCM, tow hitch, xenons, etc.
We were both pleasantly surprised by the amount of cargo room and the general roominess of the front and back seats. It's big enough without being to big. We had also looked at the new Range Rover which was much bigger on the outside than the interior room would suggest.
So, we decided to trade in the C2. It broke my heart, but it was the sane thing to do. We still have a mini-van as our beater (for trips to the beach and such), but now we have a vehicle I don't mind driving on short or long trips. My only regret is that the model we bought doesn't have driver's seat memory. It's an inexpensive option, but it wasn't included.
03-17-2003, 10:45 PM
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I forgot to mention that I was pleasantly surprised by the VW/Audi influences on the Cayenne. The control stalks, sunroof controls, interior lighting, and other elements are derived from VW/Audi designs. I've always been a fan of Audi interiors, so these are pleasant elements for me.
03-18-2003, 10:09 PM
#4
Well, you've owned it a full day now (must be at least a thousand miles on it) so what's the first impressions (before they're replaced with second and later, third impressions) with the new toy?
Adam
Adam
03-18-2003, 11:27 PM
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We have the "entry and drive" keyless entry feature. I had hoped that it would make it easier for my wife to load our son into the car seat, but it only unlocks the front doors rendering it significantly less useful.
The on-board computer lets you program the door lock behavior. You can choose for it to unlock the driver's door only, the driver's side doors (front and rear), or all doors. Unfortunately, setting this option has no effect. It always reverts back to driver's door only.
We went out for St. Patrick's day last night and the bi-xenons are even more effective on the Cayenne than they were on my 911. The cornering lights are a nice touch as well. They do provide noticeable illumination as you enter a turn. The way the turn signals blink three times with just a tap is a thoughtful feature as well.
The on-board computer lets you program the door lock behavior. You can choose for it to unlock the driver's door only, the driver's side doors (front and rear), or all doors. Unfortunately, setting this option has no effect. It always reverts back to driver's door only.
We went out for St. Patrick's day last night and the bi-xenons are even more effective on the Cayenne than they were on my 911. The cornering lights are a nice touch as well. They do provide noticeable illumination as you enter a turn. The way the turn signals blink three times with just a tap is a thoughtful feature as well.
03-19-2003, 01:53 AM
#6
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Jim Lamb:
<strong>ut it only unlocks the front doors</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I played with this at the dealership. I guess you've read through the owner manual and fiddled with it, but I was pretty sure that if you approach either front door or the rear door and tap the door button twice, it would open all doors. Maybe you also had to pull the front door open to convince it to release the rear doors. Based on experience with other recent Porsches, I'd assume the service guy will have a bulletin or something explaining how to reprogram things like the auto-locking "feature" etc.
The main thing that I disliked about the key was the very close proximity to the car required to activate the sensor -- I practically had to hip-check the car to get it to beep.
Not that I'm a great advocate of the FX, but its system (aside from being effectively only a few dollars as part of a larger package rather than $995 for the Cayenne) worked nicely as long as you turned so that the fob was on the side of your body closest to the car (I guess the signal is blocked by your body) but I could put it in either pants pocket and just get in and go very quickly (yeah, I fiddle with things like this ... I spent too many years as a product manager to let the details go unchecked ...) whereas the Cayenne (and I was fiddling with this just today) is less responsive. Not quite as useless as you suggest, but certainly the demo car quickly convinced me this was $995 I would keep in my pocket instead of that funky fob. Plus, I just like reaching forward and putting the key in to the left of the wheel ... hopeless ...
<strong>ut it only unlocks the front doors</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I played with this at the dealership. I guess you've read through the owner manual and fiddled with it, but I was pretty sure that if you approach either front door or the rear door and tap the door button twice, it would open all doors. Maybe you also had to pull the front door open to convince it to release the rear doors. Based on experience with other recent Porsches, I'd assume the service guy will have a bulletin or something explaining how to reprogram things like the auto-locking "feature" etc.
The main thing that I disliked about the key was the very close proximity to the car required to activate the sensor -- I practically had to hip-check the car to get it to beep.
Not that I'm a great advocate of the FX, but its system (aside from being effectively only a few dollars as part of a larger package rather than $995 for the Cayenne) worked nicely as long as you turned so that the fob was on the side of your body closest to the car (I guess the signal is blocked by your body) but I could put it in either pants pocket and just get in and go very quickly (yeah, I fiddle with things like this ... I spent too many years as a product manager to let the details go unchecked ...) whereas the Cayenne (and I was fiddling with this just today) is less responsive. Not quite as useless as you suggest, but certainly the demo car quickly convinced me this was $995 I would keep in my pocket instead of that funky fob. Plus, I just like reaching forward and putting the key in to the left of the wheel ... hopeless ...
03-19-2003, 01:29 PM
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I hadn't thought to try pressing the button on the rear-door handles to unlock them. The manual only mentions that they can be used to lock the vehicle upon exit. I like the concept of the system immediately, even if the implementation was imperfect. My wife was less receptive. It will take her some time to warm up to it.
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03-25-2003, 11:25 PM
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Congrats on your S. I bought a Turbo, but if the dealer had had an S in the same color, I would have been tempted with an S. The power and handling of the S are great.
You can set the enter and drive to open either all doors or the doors on one side only, but you have to have a real key in the ignition. I have the Turbo and the setting is under the Comfort menu. I am not sure about the S.
You can set the enter and drive to open either all doors or the doors on one side only, but you have to have a real key in the ignition. I have the Turbo and the setting is under the Comfort menu. I am not sure about the S.
