RyanH.

I've had a 2013 base Cayenne since 2016. It's been a solid car for us with minimal issues but for me, it's just a car. Nothing too exciting or interesting. A couple years ago my wife got a G wagon and after spending time driving that, I had a little better appreciation for how a 5k lb SUV handles, particularly in the mountains, but, still, it's not an exciting car for me so 99 times out of 100, I'd rather drive the G wagon somewhere. Also, for the past couple years, I've had my eye on swapping out the base Cayenne for a GTS. I finally pulled the trigger on that the other week and procured this one that was at a small dealer in Vegas:



Stuck in traffic on my way home back from Vegas on a Friday afternoon:


This is the interior, which is getting some updates over the coming days:



I've had the car for a few weeks now and all I can say is that I regret not having made this swap sooner. This is twice the car that the base Cayenne is. When I have more time, I'll post a longer comparison of the two as well as some of the upgrades/mods that I'm doing on the car.

leftlane

Congrats - I love my GTS. Yours looks awesome.

PFDGSB

2016 GTS owner. Checks a lot of boxes for me.

Rootwitch

Recently picked up a 2016 Turbo S. I can't believe how well it handles, there is practically zero body roll. Amazing vehicle.

RyanH.

I've been super busy so haven't had time to do a proper build thread and document the recent changes but here's a quick version:

First order of business was swapping the wood trim out with piano black from my other cayenne:


That was a pretty straightforward and quick job.

Next job was swapping out the secondary cats with Soul secondary cat bypass pipes and permanently enabling sport exhaust mode by disconnecting the vacuum line and plugging it. OMG...soooo much better. This car is now a riot going around town and burbles on the downshifts without being too too obnoxious like the BMWs. Here's a quick, crappy clip that I made:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hGkhpxU7MWyG61K49

After that it was installing the Mr12Volt Android Auto/Carplay module which was a bit of a tedious, annoying project. The electronics part was pretty straight forward, it is just an annoying process to fish the wires through. I don't want to do that again but having Android Auto made it worth the time and effort. Didn't take any photos...

Then last week I got a new rear cargo setup for my pup so she should move around a little less while driving. She seems to struggle with Weathertech mats.

Test fit:



This also came in last week after about a month:



A little annoying that you have to remove the drivers seat and disconnect the battery that way but the swap only took about an hour and looks significantly better:



So, that's about caught up for now.

Sam_M

great upgrades,
is the new steering wheel from aliexpress? how’s the quality? do u mind sharing the link?

RyanH.

I believe it came from China but appears OEM as far as I can tell:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404934425542

They let you customize all aspects of the wheel which was nice. Not sure what's going on with how they are able to get the wheels customized...probably a buddy runs the manufacturing facility for Porsche...

RyanH.

Oh, one other thing I forgot about: second key.

This car only came with one key and I didn't want to pay almost a grand to the local Porsche dealerships (plus wait several weeks). I took a gamble with a local lock smith (Los Angeles Locksmith - 818-984-5948), for $380 the guy came to my house, worked on the key for about 30 minutes and now I have a fully functional second key.

RAudi Driver

Thanks for the LA Locksmith info. I'm going to call him for a non working key of ours.

Also, to disconnect your battery all you need to do is to lift that flap at the base of the front seat and unscrew the negative terminal. You do not need to remove your seat.