endless_corners

I can't understand how someone wouldn't be a fan of air suspension on a cayenne.. I can understand not being a fan of spending money and thus weighing against it for that reason.. but in what way are steel springs better?

f4 plt

Well that's what makes us all different. I was just asked my opinion of air suspension after having it on a previous Cayenne and I gave my opinion. Don't have it on the current Cayenne S and did not order it on the Cayenne Diesel for my wife

stronbl

I have air suspension and PASM on my CD and I am very happy with them and the flexibility they offer. I tow a 20' featherlite enclosed trailer with my 911 and tools and gear inside; when I hook up my trailer, I do get some sag in the rear of the CD. After a minute or so the air suspension makes the adjustments and I have a level towing rig - also compensates for hitch height versus tongue height. I can't comment on non-air suspension since I have never had that option, it may be equally fine. I just appreciate the ability to control as much of my tow load as I can. I have used the "sport" setting in PASM only a couple times when towing and that was on rough roads. I believe it helped keep a settled load better than "normal" mode but it may simply be my perception. I do not like and nor do I use "comfort" mode when towing. I got the CD primarily to tow so I was prepared to pay for these options from the start.

With regards to the height adjustment, the air suspension in my '13 CD automatically lowers the CD at high speeds or raises it when engaged in off road mode. I can understand why this is done, but I'm not too sure how frequently I'll be using these features unless I need to travel at 130 mph or ford some 2-3 ft streams.

Beantown Kman

I guess that makes it pretty clear. I will order PASM but not air suspension. Thanks for the feedback. I still don't get why anyone would want the air suspension...

endless_corners

Needsdecaf

More predictable suspension reactions. Less complexity and weight. Lack of having to change settings all the time.

endless_corners

Being able to change settings is a feature not a burden. For the most part mine stays in sport low though. But there have been times when mountain height plus comfort was perfect. I will say that suspension reactions are very predictable though.. But whatever. My point is the reason to not get it is money. Turbos have it as standard...

Needsdecaf

That's your opinion, and I respect it. I'm on my third car now with active suspension (BMW with 3-way shocks and active anti-roll bars and quite honestly, I hate it. I am willing to give up a smidge (and that's usually what it is) of ride comfort to not have to constantly adjust modes to suit what I'm doing. IMO, even the best systems rarely do the "dual nature" thing justice, unless you're talking about a GT3 with mode meant just for the track. In my experience, it leads to too soft of an overall suspension (springs). With air suspension it's better, but I've driven Cayennes with air and PASM and I'm over the whole mode switching thing.

The other benefit to air springs is the ability to maintain constant ride quality regardless of load, and to be able to have a high load rating without having break your teeth stiff springs in normal driving. And that's good, but for me, unnecessary. I don't tow anything and my loads are bulky, but not heavy. Think a bunch of clothes, not building materials. I'm not travelling with 4 adults and luggage.

So while I don't feel it's a useless option at all (quite the opposite) I don't feel it's necessary (saves money) and the constant fiddling detracts from the driving experience, IMO.

Last point - having owned a car with active anti-roll bars, I can say that I can see their use on a high performance track machine. That is, it makes it drivable for the street but still perform well on track. In a luxury machine, such as my BMW or the Cayenne, it is a luxury modification, not a performance one. Just like in the 911's, it allows you to run a high performance suspension but in every day driving not suffer for it.

Again, in every day driving, that leaves things a bit soft and aloof. Having the anti-roll bars disconnected is great for comfort but you do pick up a lack of directional stability from it. And for this driver, who was raised driving analog cars, the lack of predictability is at best bothersome and at worst spooky. When I start getting aggressive with the car, I prefer to have a linear response telling me what the loads are doing. Part of that is roll and pitch. I don't really want a computer adjusting the anti-roll bars to hold me level from 0.2g to 0.5g and then "progressively" allowing more roll up to the limit. In my experience, that makes for a strange transition.

Again, just my preference, but I find that driving my traditionally suspended MDX is a lot more fun than my active-everything BMW, which has every sport package available for it. Sure, I pay for it in a little worse ride quality over the terrible concrete roads we have here, but I always know what the car is going to do. I don't have the computer deciding what's going on. Sometimes I think Johnny is in the suspension module somewhere throwing me random curveballs to see what I'll do...

endless_corners

When you speak of "active anti roll bars" this equates to pdcc on a cayenne? Because I have heard nothing but good things about it. Again the turbos all come with air, PASM, pdcc, ptv+. Porsche must think it provides a superior driving experience unless they are simply included to boost the sticker price.

Needsdecaf

Yes, similar to PDCC.

RS-America

We got the air suspension on our CD for going off road. Thinking of getting 265-65 tires for our 18" wheels. Looking at either BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO or Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor. Only issue to resolve is whether we have enough clearance in front for the radiators. We will keep our 255-55s for street use.

Has anyone else tried 265-65s or gone off road in their CD?