Galion

dspvend

Amen... that's why I wanted a Cayenne S!! Tired of seeing every soccer mom in my neighborhood driving one. It's a chick car in my opinion and a girlfriend of my wife said to me she thought it was a not masculine for whatever that's worth? Seeing to many old lady's and old men driving them!

JCWLS3

Not stupid to me. Mercs and BMWs (AMGs and full-on Ms included) of all types are utterly common in our neck of the woods. Well, maybe not our immediate neck -- we live in a semi-rural area with a county address, but we still consider ourselves Dallasites. In the moneyed parts of Dallas, you'd stick out more buying a white Accord. So yes, we can totally relate. One of the reasons my wife wanted a Porsche was because, by the nature of their low sales volume, they're comparatively rare. On the Cayenne front, there are lots of base models and older e-Hybrids running around. Very few S models, and far fewer GTSes and Turbos.

She wanted her Porsche to be unique and rare. We didn't exactly buy a GT3, but the car got her what she wanted. She had zero interest in anything BMW or Mercedes offered, simply because they are so common. (But I did try my best to get her into an E63S Wagon. Now that's a unicorn!)

So, I say get that S if you want it. I've posted my thoughts a million times on Porsches, which for us boil down to this. They make no sense, financially or otherwise. I'm not buying anyone's "objective" decision to purchase one. They're unique, cool, unusual performance cars that have earned their cachet (and ultra-premium price) in my book the hard way -- on the track, over the last seven decades or so. So, you say you want to buy a Macan GTS and have it PTSed in Barbie Pink with a fluffy quilted LTS interior? Hell yes. Go right ahead. I'll clap my hands and ask for pics. Makes just as much sense as buying a white, base model to me.

We've really gotten lustfully deep into the brand in the few weeks we've been owners. What a stupid, expensive, joyous habit this could become. We are not one percenters. Who needs to retire? I'll just work until I drop dead to feed our newfound Porsche addiction.

Zak

I drove the base model then bought the S. I feel the power flow is smoother in the S and felt the base needed to be driven in Sport mode to meet my driving preferences. The S has less of a turbo lag and on the highway you really notice it. Didn't go for the hybrid as I am mainly a highway driver and decided I would stick with gas, for now. Also, something they don't tell you is that the hybrid has a much lower wading depth than the gas vehicle. This was a big surprise for me and I didn't notice it until I had ordered my S. As I use my Cayenne to pull my boat in and out of a lake I get in pretty deep so the lack of wading depth on the hybrid could have been a serious problem for me.

dspvend

That's interesting never gave that much thought! Congrats on the new S you made a great decision! I just thought the pick up and power where important also and I really definitely felt it on the few drives I took in the S. When you drive a car it should bring a big grin to your face and the S did that for me in spades!! Hopefully I'll see mine sometime end of June.

Zak

Good luck with your delivery, another reason to go S rather than hybrid is the lack of a spare tire in the hybrid, as I do long distance highway driving I don't like the idea of not having a spare, even if it is an inflatable. While the sealer will help with a simple puncture if you shred a tire (can happen with road debris) you are in big trouble in the middle of nowhere without something to get you home or to help.

500RJC

The new 3.0 turbo engine makes a much more compelling case for the base these days...

Captain Scurry

Base model is great value for general driving and plenty of power. However, if you tow a car or boat often, the S or Turbo is the way to go. Despite the equal tow ratings , the extra torque and HP helps, especially up inclines.

raydog9379

I'll throw my 2 cents in for whatever that's worth. I have a '16 SEH, it's a heck of a value for the $ in my mind. Yeah I was worried about the battery situation when I bought it, and resale down the road. For now, I don't care and it's really an awesome SUV... and fast! I'm also hoping that if I ever run out of warranty and the battery dies that the technology will have forced the price down at that point (or that it goes kaput right before the warranty ends). When I went in for annual service a few weeks ago, the service manager and I were talking when I went to pick it up right before close. He said most people don't understand the value for performance in what we have.

My take would be to go w/ an S at minimum. I don't see a ton of Cayenne's around, but when I do they are 99% of the time a Base. I see the plain exhaust and base rims and think they cheaped out. Many people wouldn't understand the difference, they just see a Porsche and think wow.... car people know the difference.

Everyone has their preferences, so my tastes are different than others.

disden

I'm going with a base model. I don't buy SUVs to be sporty, they are to haul kids and all their crap from point A-->B. I have a GT3 RS and a 718 GTS to drive around the tracks if I want to feel Sporty. Just my thoughts. Towing would be only reason to consider stepping up, otherwise get a base with nice wheels and hope the kids don't destroy the inside.

dspvend

I don't think your necessarily buying a SUV to be a replacement for a Boxer or a 911! Most people who have teens and younger kids don't want to drive in boring cars to schlep their kids around to sports and dance and school. At least that's my reasoning for buying a Cayenne in the first place! As far as the power is concerned I felt of do feel that the base car was adequate power wise certainly not slow but didn't accelerate as hard and push me back in the seat as much as i would've liked honesty! Yes I will admit I like to stomp on it occasionally when the family isn't in the car and the S just begged to be driven harder and loved the sound of the exhaust note crackles, burbles and overruns when stepping off accelerator! The base didn't sound as menacing and was a bit tame in my opinion. I'm not trying at all to down the base and offend anyone so please this is just one mans opinion! Actually my wife pushed hard for the base and said you don't need the extra horsepower and speeding might result in tickets but I went with my heart and i said a resounding yes for the S bescause the car just felt more alive and playful and that's why chose the S over the base..

Zak

After over 20 years of Porsche ownership, 911's, Cayenne's I have learned that there is no right answer for everyone, just what makes you feel good. I am reminded of a friend I had many years ago who bought a sailboat. He said he laid in bed without sleep night after night trying to justify the purchase of the boat.....then one day he realized that "it was just because he wanted it" and he slept well after that. There is no "is it worth the cost" on a Porsche. It is a matter of setting in priority what you want against what you can afford. Whatever that ends up at is the right answer..... just enjoy it.

leek

I drove 08 CTT for 10 years and 150K miles. I loved that car but I got 10% of the original price back and paid a lot of outrageous dealership service bills and a pretty large indy rebuild of the transmission.
Driving 17 Jeep SRT with normally aspirated 475 hp hemi. From 0-80 it is very comparable to the CTT. I did have to modify (lower) suspension and there was no air solution for the SRT but it is very good for the $.
After 1.5 years and 20K miles only added costs for maintenance has been wiper blades. If I need an oil change it is less than $100. I think MB helped Dodge out with fit and finish when they owned them. Interior is solid.

911NV

Just test drove a 2019 Cayenne S. I thought there was considerable turbo lag. Was not to my liking for my style of driving (high altitude mountain roads in and around Tahoe). I've had 6 Cayennes over the years including an S that was naturally aspirated. I drive a 2012 Turbo with the 4.8 and am looking to get a 2020 model so I thought I'd test drive a few things and do some homework. I always thought the S was the best bang/buck but now that its turbocharged I didn't care for the lag, and once I add all the options I want I might as well get the 4L turbo. If you're not into the sport driving so much or are fine with minimal options or want to save the money then I can see the S would be fine in that case.

JCWLS3

I managed to drag my wife to the Jeep dealer to look at a TrackHawk during the whole which-ridiculous-SUV-do-you-want phase. I loved it. She was not a fan.

Full disclosure: I drive a 2016 Chevy SS 6MT. You can connect the dots as to why the TrackHawk appealed to me. And I was a little surprised it didn't appeal to her, because she fawns over our Chevy. But I will say that for $100K, all you're getting is a standard Jeep Grand Cherokee with a fat-*** engine and a slightly gussied interior. But man, that engine sound. Loved the supercharger whine...

I dig what you said about your Cayenne experience. I figure we'll keep her Turbo for four years, then bail into either another Porsche (if the Cayenne has been reliable) or maybe an AMG (if it hasn't). I think it's cool that you went from a Cayenne to a Jeep. There are too many people who turn their noses up at a brand, without truly evaluating how a car well a car is put together, and -- wait for it -- actually drives.

Good luck with your SRT. Cool car in my book.