X3 or 5 Series Touring or...

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by speeder

I know a couple people with new X5 and X6 M models. They supposedly get the worst fuel mileage of any vehicle ever sold. And that observation is coming from people who definitely don't have to sweat paying their gas credit card. I'd guess that 14 city rated V-8 gets closer to 10mpg in real world driving.

The true Ms (555hp) are probably horrific gas guzzlers, but I'm not certain most owners really care. What's an extra grand or two in fuel when you plunked down $100K on a performance SUV?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by speeder

I know a couple people with new X5 and X6 M models. They supposedly get the worst fuel mileage of any vehicle ever sold. And that observation is coming from people who definitely don't have to sweat paying their gas credit card. I'd guess that 14 city rated V-8 gets closer to 10mpg in real world driving.

Anyone purchasing a 500+ HP anything, particularly an SUV, and expecting good MPG is a moron. Greater input requires greater output, energy out requires more energy in. Simple physics. Gearing can do wonders for steady state MPG, but if you're using that power.......forget about it.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Anyone purchasing a 500+ HP anything, particularly an SUV, and expecting good MPG is a moron. Greater input requires greater output, energy out requires more energy in. Simple physics. Gearing can do wonders for steady state MPG, but if you're using that power.......forget about it.

No one said anything about "expecting good MPG". They just were not expecting 5 mpg in the city and filling the tank every 100 miles. That's not something that the salesperson discloses when you're standing there in the showroom with a huge hard-on about to write the check for your new zoom-zoom car.

[Don Plumley]

Update:

For tax reasons, I pretty much have to by a >6000 GVWR vehicle. It's a 22-29% discount depending on the price of the car. So goodbye to wagons, X3's, or any reasonable size car this year.

Drove a 2012 Cayenne Diesel. Wow, that's a nice car. And for $70K + tax/title, it should be. Drove some X5's, just not floating my boat. I have trouble getting in/out over the running board. Drove a 2012 Toureg - like the drivetrain, exterior, but not sold on the interior for the price ($51K TDI Lux).

So I just might pick up a 2010 Cayenne (V6), 10K less than the VW, and the interior is much nicer. Stay tuned...

[Rtrorkt]

after reading all the words in the thread, I am still very happy with my Touraeg TDI. Returned me north of 30mpg on a full lower speed (avg 60mph on some divided but not interstate hwys in SoVA) and is giving me around 24 mpg avg city/hwy. Tourque is quite incredible. I can manuever in traffic with instant grunt. I looked the X5, much more expensive and not quite up to the mileage of the VW, looked at the Merc, and the Cayenne. Figured through the long haul, the VW diesel had the marks

[Don Plumley]

Final Update: Ended up with a 2013 Cayenne gas tip. I liked the low end push of the oil burner, but the $3-5K price difference does not pencil out. I like the more car-like noises of the tip when pushed. Ended up with a good deal, really nice vehicle. Spent a whole lot more than I started out planning to do, but with the tax benefits and need to get it done by the 31st, time and convenience won.

I would have preferred the Toureg, but the super-deluxe interior and amenities are amazing. The gauge cluster screams Porsche, and the multi-function display in the cluster is really cool. Santa said I was a good boy, and you only live once...

Thanks for all the advice.

[BRPORSCHE]

Awesome Don. Enjoy it.

Merry Christmas!

[porsche4life]

Great don! I just spent a while beating on its younger cousin( tip Tiguan). They really are nice SUVs and that tip has come a long way since the 04 Jetta my mom had.


Pics?

[aigel]

Don - congrats!

Is it the 3.6 model?

Man, I can't believe you didn't get the stickshift. That's got to be a hoot in an SUV of that caliber!

Enjoy the car and post some pictures!

G