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I just came back from the mountains. Snow was mostly gone on the roads but lots of hard black ice. Not the slightest loss of traction and that's on fatty 295s. Put some proper tires on and your experience should be very different. And as others have said, you don't need any offroad settings unless you're stuck.
Some helpful info for those new to the 958 Cayenne:
Use off-road mode if you are not on a paved road. If there is snow on a paved road, you are still on a paved road. If there is rain on a paved road, you are still on a paved road. If there is a pile of dirt on a paved road, yes, you are still on a paved road. 99.9% of the time, there is no reason to use off-road mode on a paved road; the Cayennes with active transfer cases (Base, S, GTS, Turbo) will fully lock the center differential if needed, and will utilize Automatic Brake Differential to lock a slipping tire if necessary. Non-active transfer case Cayennes (Diesel and Hybrid) can reactively mechanically lock the center differential once slippage occurs.
Turning off PSM allows you to stop the Anti-Slip Regulation function, which stops the power-cutoff that occurs when the Cayenne's direction of travel doesn't match the steering wheel's aim. Turning off PSM in off-road mode does enable what Porsche calls a "dune mode" where the transmission will hold the gears at high engine speeds to permit "power sliding" the Cayenne.
Off-road mode limits shifting behavior (holds gears longer to minimize tire slip from driveline speed changes) BUT it will shift. It is not a manual mode when the shifter is in automatic mode. It just revs more than usual which might surprise you if you're used to the standard early shifting behavior. In off-road mode, if the shifter is in Manual mode, the transmission will not shift to the next gear. Additionally, in off-road mode, the kick-down function is disabled.
The center and rear differentials will not "unlock" over 20mph. You can be in off-road mode, if I recall, up to 72mph. It is correct that you have to engage Off-road mode 1 at 19mph and below, as mentioned above. You can disengage it at any time and at any speed. Shutting off the Cayenne will shut off off-road mode and return the programming to the Normal on-road mode.
Just to confirm, no 958 Cayenne has a front locking diff, and only those with PTV+ can lock the rear, correct?
Correct on both accounts.
And that’s what is so great about 958s, is that the rear locker is far more common than on 1st Gen Cayennes. I’ve never seen a 958 base with PTV Plus, but the turbos often have it, GTSs less so, and Ss even less. It’s not available for Diesel and Hybrid.
Last edited by garrett376; 01-24-2023 at 01:33 AM.
I'm also in Colorado and go up to the mountains quite a bit. We have those Crosscontacts on my wife's '18 Q7 and there is a noticeable decrease in snow performance compared to my Cayenne Diesel on Conti DWS 06+. I think I'm going to try out the Vredestein WinTrac Pros next, I have friend that has them on an X7 and he raves about them.
I guess I should also note, Diesels (and ehybrid) have a torsen center diff like Audi quattro vs. electronically controlled AWD like the other models.
I'm also in Colorado and go up to the mountains quite a bit. We have those Crosscontacts on my wife's '18 Q7 and there is a noticeable decrease in snow performance compared to my Cayenne Diesel on Conti DWS 06+.
I run the DWS 06+ on all of my quattros for three season use (the CS has Goodyears) and swap over to Nokian R3 or R5 for winter use.
The difference is quite remarkable. Dedicated *winter* tires are the way to go if you like to go in winter.
While I dont have snow tires on either my P or the wife's X5, I have noticed a very clear difference. Her X5 handles snow ice far better... not sure why.
her old X3 was amazing on the snow ice!! the X5 is good but not as good as the X3 was
I grew up in Wyo so ive driven on my fair share of snow/ice...
im not exactly sure what the lever does either. I dont have the rear Dif electronic lock.
I blew out a tire last week in Downtown Detroit. They were all season but due for replacement anyway.
We've had such a mild winter I installed a set of summer tires.
Today, we're getting 3 to 5 inches. FML.
I will say this, car drives and handles a lot better in the snow with summer tires than my old Trailblazer SS but to stay on the safe side my 10-mile trip to and from my office will be on main roads.
I'll be damned if I buy another set of tires this late in the season.
As others have noted, tires make a huge difference.
I've got a 2014 CTTS. Summer wheels/tires are 21" PS4S. Winter setup is 19" Blizzak.
A few years ago, we got a late season snow after I'd changed from winter to summer setup. Very noticeable that the PS4S were suboptimal in snow; traction very reduced to where stability control and ABS activated several times (yes, I was taking it easy), tires got stiff in the cold and felt like I had four hockey pucks for tires. The Blizzaks make the Cayenne an absolute beast on snow/ice; have never felt even remote loss of control driving through 9" of snowy unplowed road or during ice storm.
Granted, not your vehicle nor tires. Just pointing out what a difference tires make in different driving conditions.
Just to chime in quickly, while off-road mode might be helpful in snow, locking the center diff will likely not help unless you are stuck or driving in deep snow (where other cars have not yet created tracks). In fact, it may make the car more likely to lose traction and understeer or oversteer.
If you car has the rear diff locker, it again might be necessary to lock if you are stuck and a rear wheel is spinning. But, keeping it locked once moving will likely make traction worse and more likely to spin out when cornering.
I ran Blizzaks and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4's when we lived in Boulder, CO, and both were excellent. But, as with any tire, as they became more worn they lost more grip in icier conditions.
While I dont have snow tires on either my P or the wife's X5, I have noticed a very clear difference. Her X5 handles snow ice far better... not sure why.
01-22-2023, 09:38 PM
