I currently have an 05 e55 with some decent mods. I was think about letting her go for a cayenne. The main reason is for awd and we have a second little one on the way. What does it take to get the cayenne to trap 120mph and are these vehicles suitable in snow with all seasons?

It will be a tough decision

 

A lot. You'd need to start with a 958 Turbo (2011 and up), and you'd be looking at a bigger turbos, custom fueling, the works, custom ICs, downpipes, meth injection, the works. It's going to be at at least a 10K investment. Even then, I'm not sure it' possible. The cayenne has a large frontal area, lots of drivetrain loss, and it's heavy. They can get off the line quick, but they're not quarter mile cars.

They're fine in the snow with A/S tires if it's a 255 or 265 sized tire. 275 or 295, and you're going to need to be really careful as you'll be at a disadvantage to most cars. If you live in the mountains, you'll need snow tires. Our Audi A4 with A/S tires was much better in the snow than our old Touareg with A/S tires, and much better than out CTT with 275 A/S tires. If you live up north where it's cold and wintery all season long, you'll need snows. A/S are fine if you occasionally have snow, but is otherwise balmy.

 

Your e55 is MUCH lighter than a cayenne. That said, there are few vehicles that check as many boxes. The cayenne really is such a versatile machine. I would recommend driving a 957 turbo (2008-2010) and a 958 (2011-current) to get a reference point. Just know it won't feel anything like your low slung amg metal.

Ironically the best snow car I have ever had was a 2007 X3.

 

So you want a 120mph tow vehicle to carry small children. Interesting.

 

I figured some kind of tune would get somewhat close? The factory turbo/fuel has no wiggle room? Yeah I was figuring the tire size should be downgraded for winter driving. How about the trunk? I'm gonna have 2 baby seats so I won't be able to fold the second row ever. I love the look of the 11+ cept for the slightly girly tails haha. My other choice would be the 12+ ml63 which I know is a little bigger.

Or worst case I'll just keep the e55 and run dedicated snows I guess. I'm sure it would be ok. But it's always been garaged and feel bad introducing to salty conditions.

 

You might like this thread then ---- Cayenne Turbo - Softronics Tune + Bolt-ons - Results ~ 726 hp / 808 tq ......

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/c...hp-808-tq.html

 

A B5 S4 needs roughly 400 whp to trap 120 mph. They weight 3800 lbs making a power to weight ratio of .105. Assuming that the Cayenne has the same aerodynamics and drivetrain loss (it has worse aero and more drivetrain loss), you'd need to have at least 550 whp. The B5 S4 has about a 30% drivetrain loss, so optimistically, you're talking about 711 hp at the crank on the Cayenne. You can chip the CTT and get maybe another 50 HP, but to reliably get over 700 at the crank, and you're talking bigger turbos and a different fueling setup.

An E55 weights 4K lbs, is more aerodynamic, and is RWD. The Cayenne is an SUV with a chassis and drivetrain that can create more ground clearance than a 4Runner.

Cayenne before 2011 (955, 957) have a really small trunk. Smaller than an A4 wagon. If you want space in the trunk for kid-stuff, you'll need a 958 chassis (2011 and up). The cayenne will handle better and be a much better driver's car than the ML, but it's smaller, too. The ML will be bigger, is still quick going straight, but it's a much bigger car. You really need to drive both to decide as they are quit a bit different SUVs.

 

Some great advice thank you. I definitely like cayenne interior much much better the ml. I'll def. Have to drive both. And I had no idea the trunk is bigger on the 958 chassis. It's a pretty important thing in my list.

 

If I read thru all of this thread right this is a 2008 CTT a 957 with stock Turbos .......

Cayenne Turbo - Softronics Tune + Bolt-ons - Results ~ 726 hp / 808 tq ......

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/c...hp-808-tq.html

 

That's a 957, which will be heavier than a 958. He's also running a race-blend gas and meth. If his tune is based on running meth, it'll have failsafes built in that put the car into limp mode if he runs out of meth. So, you need to be committed if you want to daily drive it. My napkin math was conservative at best. Dynojets often read a bit high, and he's only using 22% drivetrain loss, which I fail to think is accurate. Most of the stock dyno's I've seen are at least 25% loss. Evom's stock 957 CTT did about 370 to the wheels on a mustang dyno, for comparison.

There is one tuned Cayenne running a GT700 kit that did a 60-130 time of 10.7. Comparative AWD cars with that type of number are in the mid-high teens for trap times. So, 700 hp isn't going to be enough for a 957 to trap 120.

If a CTT could trap 120 with stock turbos and just a tune with simple boltons, I think we'd see a fair amount of tuned Cayennes running around because that's fvcking stupid fast for an SUV that can tow 7700 lbs. I also suspect it's why some of the big HP Cayennes never post a strip time - it's probably embarrassing. I mean, huge HP is great for off the line rips, and passing power, but you can't outrun drivetrain loss and aerodynamics once you crest the 100 mph mark.

Trapping 120 is no sweat when you're in something lightweight and aerodynamic like a 997tt. Also, the guy with that tune never posted his 60-130 time, unless I missed it. He's also not listed in the official list that 6speed has.

 

Great points thx

 

So they trap around 109 stock. I bet it can get up to 115 with some bolt ons/tune.

 

Be a responsible father. Use the Cayenne for the baby mover vehicle that it is. It's a crossover mini van replacement.
It is not or ever going to be two vehicles in one . You are going to need two vehicles if you still want to be a boy racer.
No wait , the Grand Cherokee SRT Hellcat (Trackhawk) is coming out . All wheel drive and 707HP. JMO

 

Nobody said you couldn't. Throw enough money at it and you can trap 120. Just saying there is a reason why very few threads are dedicated to performance, let alone performance at the strip. I can't recall when the last time I saw a dyno slip or drag slip get posted.

If you buy a CTT, you're going to spend $1k-1500 annually just in upkeep. That's after dropping a few grand in catchup maintenance. Double that if you don't do any work yourself.

If straight line performance or trapping 120 is important to you, keep your AMG and find a used Q7. Same great chassis as the cayenne, but *much* more space inside.

 

I honestly doubt he's going to hoon it with babies on board. Let's assume Forcefed just wants one vehicle that is as close as possible to doing it all for all situations. If there is any vehicle that will come close its a tuned cayenne. Its like shoes—you wont win a race in hiking boots and you wont like backpacking in running shoes. There is NO vehicle that can excel in all categories at once. When you run all the numbers, though, the cayenne checks a lot of boxes pretty well—especially when one considers its mass.

FWIW a 2008 ml63 and 2008 cayenne turbo both weigh about that same (just over 2 1/2 tons). I dont see how the ML is such a bigger vehicle. Are you sure you arent thinking of the GL?