Canadian Cayenne Diesel - vs competitors, my 2c on options and first week
08-25-2012 | 04:53 PM
#1
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 81
Likes: 1
From: Canada
Canadian Cayenne Diesel - vs competitors, my 2c on options and first week
Thanks to everyone for all the posts. Going to try a bulleted post/review, you can pick and choose what you like!
BACKGROUND - Just gave up a leased 2009 A5 (3.2l V6, near full load (no nav or S-line package), Audi Drive Select (adaptive dampers, steering, throttle). Other car is 2009 GL320 Bluetec. Smaller prairie urban center. CD is daily driver. Trying to set this up as a very long term (like 12years plus) car.
SELECTION - I wanted a larger vehicle for lake runs, getting bike (bicycling) back and forth, more cargo/passenger space. Didn't want to give up sporty ride. Initial decision was compact vs. midsize SUV. Love the efficiency of our GL diesel. Didn't want it for my own DD, too sloppy to drive (though reasonable for what it is) and overkill for size as I am usually just driving myself. Also wanted safer vehicle re. mass, higher off ground.
excluded - X5, MDX - last of this generation now, clearly outdated. MDX a pig, sucking premium. X5, outdated, read too much about ride compromises for handling, although the size (cargo/passsenger capacity) was great.
considered- Touareg Execline TDI. Price topped out where CD began! That was the lure....(rest is history). Obviously different equipment levels for price to get in to the Porsche. Note that the '13 Touareg TDI and Q7 get the CD's upgraded 240hp turbodiesel.
Before I took delivery I was wondering if I should have just gone for the Touareg from a value standpoint. Dealer was not good to deal with, initially not interested in negotiating price at all. Also would be similar idea to buying the most expensive house on your street. You would be paying luxury car pricing and lining up for mainstream brand service. We're used to better servicing, loaners, etc. at this point, for better or worse.
ML Bluetec. Also considered this. Could easily have maxed out a build for this for much lower than my CD build. "Would be two of the same car" my wife said. True. Roomier than CD. Never test drove it but wouldn't have been as sporty for sure. Drove Jeep Grand Cherokee, sister vehicle to ML as you all know. Would have considered JGC Diesel with 8 spd but lease deadline was bearing down on me. Also, in truth wanted upscale brand service experience.
Q7 - larger than what I needed. A few friends have 2012 TDI's with the 8 spd and having been driven in one helped to seal my decision for the CD, given power, handling. Also due for redesign.
On compact size end of things, Q5 too small. X3 3.5i faster/more efficient than my A5! Slightly small in size (I'm 6'2" 195). On test drive, my wife said the interior was not up to snuff for a $62k CDN (top end) X3. Also, not fond of dealership experience and may not have been a car I would have kept long term based on 1/2 size too small and other things
BUILD
white
natural leather espresso
premium plus
20" RS spyder - "performance all seasons"
Bose
Pano
PASM no air
Porsche entry and drive
tow hitch
roof rails aluminum
Porsche crest front headrest
Colored crested wheel center caps
dealer options - 3M rockguard, oil pan heater. Pulled trigger on extended warranty; if I could have gotten longer coverage, I would have bought it.
will get dedicated winter rims/tires. Plan on 18" Cayenne S III rims.
OPTIONS AND IMPRESSIONS
Spec'd this for long term ownership. Have had enough experience with cars to get a feel for what I wanted and would prob. not miss.
TIRES/RIMS I had requested summer performance 20" tires for the RS rims as I was going to get full on winter rim/tires anyways (wanted the best season-specific performance). Salesman informed me that it only came with "performance all season" which he drove and said were definitely performance biased. They are Pirelli Scorpion Verde, V rated. Slightly disappointed in this. I guess upside might be slightly better fuel mileage and wear if harder compound. Not really planning on drifting this thing anyway, probably not a huge deal.
PASM Ride quality is great! Choice was really air or no air. With our GL, we've had suspension air bags replaced already (also friends with ML also had airbags blow - both rears while they were out of town!!). Re. long term ownership, didn't want this as a repair/financial liability. We have adjustable height on GL up to 11", so at least 1 vehicle for the rare take-you-out blizzard.
Was initially going to get 19" wheel, PASM less of an issue. The sales guy said to start considering it at 20" and above re. ride comfort. Even in sport mode, this thing rides softer over potholes better than my A5 (19" 35 series) and is better riding overall than our GL (20" allseason run flats) which has air springs but is not adaptive.
Handling is great. Can definitely feel the increased mass cf A5 but expected this. Cliche, but the car does shrink around you. Incredibly solid going down the road, a big advantage of the Germans over others (previously had Japanese), then becomes a cost/benefit re. higher ownership costs etc. cf. Japanese makes. Subjectively, though it is extremely satisfying. As many prof/consumer reviews stated before,the ride-handling balance is extremely impressive in this thing.
NATURAL LEATHER (Espresso)- Wanted dark interior color for practical purposes. Only other option was standard black. On GL have leather pkg which covers dash, very nice. As you all probably know, natural leather is a large option. Dealer said "it will be as nice as anything this side of a Bentley". Heard some people say it's like being in a Coach bag.
It is very nice. Leather definitely superior quality, softer. Dash, upper door trim, grab handles look awesome. Flipside is ? wear over long term. GL has more basic leather, seems to wear well 3 1/2 years in. Have the 14 way seats, but still climbing over side bolsters and rubbing them when I get out. Glad I didn't get the 18 ways due just to the ingress/egress, also would have stolen away space on seat bottom in middle rear. We'll see how it does. A little apprehensive about applying any treatment/protectant to it as I could see it easily completely screwing up and marring the finish.
Again, re. long-term ownership years down the road, not sure if basic leather or natural leather would be better. Will post again in 2024... For now it definitely feels very luxurious, no questions on that end, for the price of the Burmester, or Air and other stuff...you get the idea.
BOSE - When looking at used non diesel Cayennes, base stereo only was basically a dealbreaker for me. Wasn't really thinking Burmester at all. A5 had Bang and Olufse 1100 Watts 15 speakers. Figured, barring Burmester, anything else would be a downgrade. GL has Harmon Kardon fine/ok. Figured Cayenne Bose would be comparable to GL HK.
I noticed one poster describing initial Burmester experience as poor, and he figured out it was the source (low qual MP3). Found Bose is similar in this regard. Best quality sources I have so far I would say are quite good sounding, better than GL HK, poor quality sources sound bad. Not quite as clear/crisp as B&O, but, whatever. I'd consider this a good quality upgrade, though haven't heard the base stereo.
PANO - Really wanted this. Brightens the (darker) interior. Not sure if it structurally compromises the vehicle safety-wise. Also have heard re. ?was it recall on Q5 pano's for exploding in extreme cold or something? Also, liner is fabric, will see how it does for keeping temp down on ++sunny days. Great feature.
ROOF RAILS/TOW HITCH - No towing needs, just bike carrier. All the respect to the guys who want a "clean" look sans rails, but it IS a utility vehicle, and the rails can't be retrofitted.Personal preference/ usage, for sure. Anyways...
PORSCHE ENTRY AND DRIVE - had this on Audi and do on our GL. No brainer. re. convenience. Find it hard to go back to loaners. Grab the handle and get confused/frustrated when it doesn't just open, then have to dig for the fob, oh, the horrors. The left sided (looks permanent) dummy key is an interesting nod to Porsche heritage. Gotta get something for the price. Currently, I find myself grabbing at the light switch dial, though, as it falls more easily to hand.
Porsche crest front headrest Colored crested wheel center caps
Nice flourish. Headrest crest I added after the sign off/deposit. Neat addition. I have read 1 poster going on about how these types of things are basically superfluous, vain. Gotta laugh. Like, REALLY laugh. It is a PORSCHE for crying out loud. If we were all not a little superfluous and vain we would be posting on the Kia forums (no offense, I think they're actually good cars).
Re. brand, vacillate between brand bashfulness and pride. Did not do the badge delete. Hopefully the "diesel" cursive on the front flanks will quell some of the haters. I try to explain to people that I got a "diesel SUV". If you've not had a Porsche or car of this calibre before (like me), at the end of the day, you have to decide that if you step up you'll have to deal with this in some way. Our center is small to mid-size, this may be less of an issue in a large center where you are. Curious how Porsche drivers may be stereotyped or categorized. The white color should make the vandalism less obvious...
PERFORMANCE - More than sufficient for expectations, usage, past vehicle history. There are not many freeways where I could wind up a higher horsepower powerplant, so torque-rich power suits my locale and usage. Handling - great. Engine NVH is extremely impressive, significantly more subdued than our GL. Very quiet overall, moreso than the V6 gas we test drove months ago, pleasantly surprised re. apparently decreased wind and road noise cf. previous.
MILEAGE - Tried to find official Canadian ratings. When I picked up the car, the window sticker listed "10.6 l/100km (26 mpg) city, 6.7 l/100km (42 mpg) highway" ( Imperial gallons), first "official" numbers I've seen in Canada. Couldn't find this info to confirm on the NRCan website. It is not broken in yet and trip computer reads around 9.1 l/100km (31 mpg) on my 15 km trip to work; I drive with sport mode on, don't gun it but don't baby it either. For a non-broken in 4800 lb SUV, I would describe this fuel mileage as "hilarious". A5 3.2l gas was 13-14 l/100km in sport mode, sucking premium. GL320 around 11 l/100km in city, 8.4 - 10 l /100km hwy (depending on payload, wind conditions, roof box or not).
NEW GLITCHES/WEIRDNESS - As I stated above, 5 pages ago, the courtesy seat excursion only intermittently returns to the memory setting position, a little weird and frustrating. I wonder if this courtesy function can be cancelled somewhere in the settings.
Rear view camera will "hang" after shifting into drive. Weird. Also intermittent, after shifting into drive, rear view camera is still displaying on PCM monitor for 8 - 10 seconds after, distracting at the least.
Clock died! New for 2013 standard dash mounted center analog clock; gives it that sport chrono look which looks cool, but it is only now useful twice a day at 9:12. Will get them to look at it when it goes in for dealer option installs right away.
These glitches give me pause...BUT overall, what can I say, it is a phenomenal car. Does pretty much everything.In selecting a vehicle you could pursue a more singular characteristic (eg. power/acceleration) but at the cost of another (efficiency). I think it is on balance probably one of the single best vehicles available at the moment (Not that I would be biased at all...).
Looking forward to RTFM'ing this afternoon. Have a good one.
BACKGROUND - Just gave up a leased 2009 A5 (3.2l V6, near full load (no nav or S-line package), Audi Drive Select (adaptive dampers, steering, throttle). Other car is 2009 GL320 Bluetec. Smaller prairie urban center. CD is daily driver. Trying to set this up as a very long term (like 12years plus) car.
SELECTION - I wanted a larger vehicle for lake runs, getting bike (bicycling) back and forth, more cargo/passenger space. Didn't want to give up sporty ride. Initial decision was compact vs. midsize SUV. Love the efficiency of our GL diesel. Didn't want it for my own DD, too sloppy to drive (though reasonable for what it is) and overkill for size as I am usually just driving myself. Also wanted safer vehicle re. mass, higher off ground.
excluded - X5, MDX - last of this generation now, clearly outdated. MDX a pig, sucking premium. X5, outdated, read too much about ride compromises for handling, although the size (cargo/passsenger capacity) was great.
considered- Touareg Execline TDI. Price topped out where CD began! That was the lure....(rest is history). Obviously different equipment levels for price to get in to the Porsche. Note that the '13 Touareg TDI and Q7 get the CD's upgraded 240hp turbodiesel.
Before I took delivery I was wondering if I should have just gone for the Touareg from a value standpoint. Dealer was not good to deal with, initially not interested in negotiating price at all. Also would be similar idea to buying the most expensive house on your street. You would be paying luxury car pricing and lining up for mainstream brand service. We're used to better servicing, loaners, etc. at this point, for better or worse.
ML Bluetec. Also considered this. Could easily have maxed out a build for this for much lower than my CD build. "Would be two of the same car" my wife said. True. Roomier than CD. Never test drove it but wouldn't have been as sporty for sure. Drove Jeep Grand Cherokee, sister vehicle to ML as you all know. Would have considered JGC Diesel with 8 spd but lease deadline was bearing down on me. Also, in truth wanted upscale brand service experience.
Q7 - larger than what I needed. A few friends have 2012 TDI's with the 8 spd and having been driven in one helped to seal my decision for the CD, given power, handling. Also due for redesign.
On compact size end of things, Q5 too small. X3 3.5i faster/more efficient than my A5! Slightly small in size (I'm 6'2" 195). On test drive, my wife said the interior was not up to snuff for a $62k CDN (top end) X3. Also, not fond of dealership experience and may not have been a car I would have kept long term based on 1/2 size too small and other things
BUILD
white
natural leather espresso
premium plus
20" RS spyder - "performance all seasons"
Bose
Pano
PASM no air
Porsche entry and drive
tow hitch
roof rails aluminum
Porsche crest front headrest
Colored crested wheel center caps
dealer options - 3M rockguard, oil pan heater. Pulled trigger on extended warranty; if I could have gotten longer coverage, I would have bought it.
will get dedicated winter rims/tires. Plan on 18" Cayenne S III rims.
OPTIONS AND IMPRESSIONS
Spec'd this for long term ownership. Have had enough experience with cars to get a feel for what I wanted and would prob. not miss.
TIRES/RIMS I had requested summer performance 20" tires for the RS rims as I was going to get full on winter rim/tires anyways (wanted the best season-specific performance). Salesman informed me that it only came with "performance all season" which he drove and said were definitely performance biased. They are Pirelli Scorpion Verde, V rated. Slightly disappointed in this. I guess upside might be slightly better fuel mileage and wear if harder compound. Not really planning on drifting this thing anyway, probably not a huge deal.
PASM Ride quality is great! Choice was really air or no air. With our GL, we've had suspension air bags replaced already (also friends with ML also had airbags blow - both rears while they were out of town!!). Re. long term ownership, didn't want this as a repair/financial liability. We have adjustable height on GL up to 11", so at least 1 vehicle for the rare take-you-out blizzard.
Was initially going to get 19" wheel, PASM less of an issue. The sales guy said to start considering it at 20" and above re. ride comfort. Even in sport mode, this thing rides softer over potholes better than my A5 (19" 35 series) and is better riding overall than our GL (20" allseason run flats) which has air springs but is not adaptive.
Handling is great. Can definitely feel the increased mass cf A5 but expected this. Cliche, but the car does shrink around you. Incredibly solid going down the road, a big advantage of the Germans over others (previously had Japanese), then becomes a cost/benefit re. higher ownership costs etc. cf. Japanese makes. Subjectively, though it is extremely satisfying. As many prof/consumer reviews stated before,the ride-handling balance is extremely impressive in this thing.
NATURAL LEATHER (Espresso)- Wanted dark interior color for practical purposes. Only other option was standard black. On GL have leather pkg which covers dash, very nice. As you all probably know, natural leather is a large option. Dealer said "it will be as nice as anything this side of a Bentley". Heard some people say it's like being in a Coach bag.
It is very nice. Leather definitely superior quality, softer. Dash, upper door trim, grab handles look awesome. Flipside is ? wear over long term. GL has more basic leather, seems to wear well 3 1/2 years in. Have the 14 way seats, but still climbing over side bolsters and rubbing them when I get out. Glad I didn't get the 18 ways due just to the ingress/egress, also would have stolen away space on seat bottom in middle rear. We'll see how it does. A little apprehensive about applying any treatment/protectant to it as I could see it easily completely screwing up and marring the finish.
Again, re. long-term ownership years down the road, not sure if basic leather or natural leather would be better. Will post again in 2024... For now it definitely feels very luxurious, no questions on that end, for the price of the Burmester, or Air and other stuff...you get the idea.
BOSE - When looking at used non diesel Cayennes, base stereo only was basically a dealbreaker for me. Wasn't really thinking Burmester at all. A5 had Bang and Olufse 1100 Watts 15 speakers. Figured, barring Burmester, anything else would be a downgrade. GL has Harmon Kardon fine/ok. Figured Cayenne Bose would be comparable to GL HK.
I noticed one poster describing initial Burmester experience as poor, and he figured out it was the source (low qual MP3). Found Bose is similar in this regard. Best quality sources I have so far I would say are quite good sounding, better than GL HK, poor quality sources sound bad. Not quite as clear/crisp as B&O, but, whatever. I'd consider this a good quality upgrade, though haven't heard the base stereo.
PANO - Really wanted this. Brightens the (darker) interior. Not sure if it structurally compromises the vehicle safety-wise. Also have heard re. ?was it recall on Q5 pano's for exploding in extreme cold or something? Also, liner is fabric, will see how it does for keeping temp down on ++sunny days. Great feature.
ROOF RAILS/TOW HITCH - No towing needs, just bike carrier. All the respect to the guys who want a "clean" look sans rails, but it IS a utility vehicle, and the rails can't be retrofitted.Personal preference/ usage, for sure. Anyways...
PORSCHE ENTRY AND DRIVE - had this on Audi and do on our GL. No brainer. re. convenience. Find it hard to go back to loaners. Grab the handle and get confused/frustrated when it doesn't just open, then have to dig for the fob, oh, the horrors. The left sided (looks permanent) dummy key is an interesting nod to Porsche heritage. Gotta get something for the price. Currently, I find myself grabbing at the light switch dial, though, as it falls more easily to hand.
Porsche crest front headrest Colored crested wheel center caps
Nice flourish. Headrest crest I added after the sign off/deposit. Neat addition. I have read 1 poster going on about how these types of things are basically superfluous, vain. Gotta laugh. Like, REALLY laugh. It is a PORSCHE for crying out loud. If we were all not a little superfluous and vain we would be posting on the Kia forums (no offense, I think they're actually good cars).
Re. brand, vacillate between brand bashfulness and pride. Did not do the badge delete. Hopefully the "diesel" cursive on the front flanks will quell some of the haters. I try to explain to people that I got a "diesel SUV". If you've not had a Porsche or car of this calibre before (like me), at the end of the day, you have to decide that if you step up you'll have to deal with this in some way. Our center is small to mid-size, this may be less of an issue in a large center where you are. Curious how Porsche drivers may be stereotyped or categorized. The white color should make the vandalism less obvious...
PERFORMANCE - More than sufficient for expectations, usage, past vehicle history. There are not many freeways where I could wind up a higher horsepower powerplant, so torque-rich power suits my locale and usage. Handling - great. Engine NVH is extremely impressive, significantly more subdued than our GL. Very quiet overall, moreso than the V6 gas we test drove months ago, pleasantly surprised re. apparently decreased wind and road noise cf. previous.
MILEAGE - Tried to find official Canadian ratings. When I picked up the car, the window sticker listed "10.6 l/100km (26 mpg) city, 6.7 l/100km (42 mpg) highway" ( Imperial gallons), first "official" numbers I've seen in Canada. Couldn't find this info to confirm on the NRCan website. It is not broken in yet and trip computer reads around 9.1 l/100km (31 mpg) on my 15 km trip to work; I drive with sport mode on, don't gun it but don't baby it either. For a non-broken in 4800 lb SUV, I would describe this fuel mileage as "hilarious". A5 3.2l gas was 13-14 l/100km in sport mode, sucking premium. GL320 around 11 l/100km in city, 8.4 - 10 l /100km hwy (depending on payload, wind conditions, roof box or not).
NEW GLITCHES/WEIRDNESS - As I stated above, 5 pages ago, the courtesy seat excursion only intermittently returns to the memory setting position, a little weird and frustrating. I wonder if this courtesy function can be cancelled somewhere in the settings.
Rear view camera will "hang" after shifting into drive. Weird. Also intermittent, after shifting into drive, rear view camera is still displaying on PCM monitor for 8 - 10 seconds after, distracting at the least.
Clock died! New for 2013 standard dash mounted center analog clock; gives it that sport chrono look which looks cool, but it is only now useful twice a day at 9:12. Will get them to look at it when it goes in for dealer option installs right away.
These glitches give me pause...BUT overall, what can I say, it is a phenomenal car. Does pretty much everything.In selecting a vehicle you could pursue a more singular characteristic (eg. power/acceleration) but at the cost of another (efficiency). I think it is on balance probably one of the single best vehicles available at the moment (Not that I would be biased at all...).
Looking forward to RTFM'ing this afternoon. Have a good one.
08-25-2012 | 07:09 PM
#2
Racer
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 405
Likes: 2
From: Canada
Welcome on board, sure are allot of Canadians here! May want to add it to your location info.
I have these as well in 20". From your intended use of this vehicle from the rest of your review, I think you will be happy. You will be especially happy when they last three times as long as the Michelin Latitude Sport and other summer tire options. Skipping a couple of $2000 changes, may actually save you more money than the Diesel fuel does 
If you are still not sure look them up on tire rack, on two instrumented tests they were the #1 tire in the test. And on the consumer survey results, they are also #1 in their class. I was weiry at first since they are being pushed as an "Eco Tire" ... just trendy marketing Speak for "High performance touring tire".
LOL,
make sure to sign the guestbook on the dead clock thread, and join the b!tch!ng and fun over there!
https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...-2013-ctt.html
They are Pirelli Scorpion Verde, V rated. Slightly disappointed in this.
If you are still not sure look them up on tire rack, on two instrumented tests they were the #1 tire in the test. And on the consumer survey results, they are also #1 in their class. I was weiry at first since they are being pushed as an "Eco Tire" ... just trendy marketing Speak for "High performance touring tire".
Clock died! ... only now useful twice a day
make sure to sign the guestbook on the dead clock thread, and join the b!tch!ng and fun over there!
https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...-2013-ctt.html
08-25-2012 | 07:35 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 81
Likes: 1
From: Canada
Hey steve_cayenne, thanks for the welcome! You're probably right re. the performance all season Pirellis, I did look them up before and as you mention they rate well.
Thanks for the link re. dead dash clock. I should order a couple extra at the dealer.
Re. comfort entry function, Cowboy5 in particular if you're out there, I just turned it off - Multipurpose display >vehicle>settings>locking then uncheck. Saves the headbanging when it doesn't return properly.
Thanks for the link re. dead dash clock. I should order a couple extra at the dealer.
Re. comfort entry function, Cowboy5 in particular if you're out there, I just turned it off - Multipurpose display >vehicle>settings>locking then uncheck. Saves the headbanging when it doesn't return properly.
08-25-2012 | 09:15 PM
#6
Nordschleife Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 7,913
Likes: 20
It is very nice. Leather definitely superior quality, softer. Dash, upper door trim, grab handles look awesome. Flipside is ? wear over long term. GL has more basic leather, seems to wear well 3 1/2 years in. Have the 14 way seats, but still climbing over side bolsters and rubbing them when I get out. Glad I didn't get the 18 ways due just to the ingress/egress, also would have stolen away space on seat bottom in middle rear. We'll see how it does. A little apprehensive about applying any treatment/protectant to it as I could see it easily completely screwing up and marring the finish.
That said, I didn't do the full leather option in my CD (though I really wanted the blue interior) but I don't regret it (sans wanting the blue).
I noticed one poster describing initial Burmester experience as poor
So this time I didn't bother with an upgraded system. We'll see I suppose, though after causing all kinds of electrical gremlins in my Escape I most definitely will not be upgrading the sound system.
Congrats on getting it, I'll be jealous for another couple of months
08-27-2012 | 12:01 PM
#7
Track Day
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: Calgary,Canada
please let me know the price of extended warranty, I decide to buy extended warranty by the time I pick up mine on early nov
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08-27-2012 | 01:02 PM
#9
Track Day
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: Calgary,Canada
08-27-2012 | 11:27 PM
#10
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 81
Likes: 1
From: Canada
Paid $3500 for my extended warranty as well. Also just had my CD in for 3M rock guard and oil pan heater install. Had 997 C4S cab for loaner, ?2010 MY. Nice to drive a convertible, nice car but actually preferred the CD. Heads and shoulders improvement, I thought, in NVH, interior quality, general solidity. C4S wins on looks for sure. Also interesting to compare power delivery, the carrera was obviously faster, but it lacked that effortless thrust of torque down low...
