ImpliedConsent

Show me. The ones I see are the decorative aluminum front and rear. Decorative. Useless. I'm talking about 3/8" steel skid plates with at least 1" offset from oilpan, transmission, rear diff. That's the kinda off-roading I'm talking about.

JDailey

There's a good chance we're talking past each other. There's "Off Roading" and then there's OFF ROADING. For the Forest Service roads here in Washington, Oregon and Utah that I've done, my X3 and Q5 were plenty. But when I was back country hiking in Canyonlands National Park (Utah) or bicycling the Poison Spider trail in Moab (Utah), any SUVs that drove by me were *heavily* modified. They had >1 foot of ground clearance and suspensions with massive travel. They would suck to drive on a road, but out there they were perfect. So it really depends what you consider "off roading" and what you're willing to tolerate on the streets.

-James
Seattle, WA


PS: Agree that the Porsche skid plates are "decorative". I considered them but decided to pass.

wwahl

Maybe the two of you ought to communicate with Porsche about your thoughts on what skid plates ought toi be made of. Have you given consideration about this? They may not have as good a view of the wild west as you do.

ImpliedConsent

Yep, you're my soul-brother when it comes to forest roads. That's exactly how I describe my off-roading - back country and sketchy. I don't do sketchy solo, I usually go with a group of friends so we can navigate roads and trails. The Macan doesn't have the wheel travel, but it does give a good 9" of clearance (air suspension "off-road" button). That's more than many, many AWD/4x4s. Adding about 30lbs of skid plate protection will reduce clearance, but well worth it.
My big issue as of now are tires. I love me street tires. After skid protection, I'll get some decent AT tires/wheels. Looking at the MASSIVE brakes, I doubt I can get smaller wheels than 17s (maybe 18s?) with some good meaty tires.