Please don't flame me for being in the wrong forum...

[OVRSTR]

but a quick observation on a highly volatile topic. I was driving by my local Porsche dealership yesterday and the white shrinkwrapped "bubble" parked outside was undoubtably the infamous Cayenne. Parked, went inside and to my eye the one in the showroom was MUCH better looking in person than in all the car rags. A lot lower, longer and with a very wide track. I'm not vouching for anything other than the asthetics or whether or not our beloved mark should even had produced it, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting a true pig.

[Stuttgart951]

I had a smiliar reaction at the Philly auto show. They had a Cayanne Turbo open - got to poke around inside. The fit and finish is pretty good - interior feels good - and youre right, the vehicle looks much better in person.

They'll sell it.

[old_skul]

That's good news. Personally, I think the BMW X5 is the best-looking, neatest *sports* util out there. The Cayenne, I hope, will one-up BMW.

[tryan]

i willl throw a pepper mobile in the back of the G and take it anywhere it needs to go. the 10 year old wants one, but unless a different p car dealer rolls into town, it will never happen. jr's porsche suv will be diecast or plastic.

[juanbenae]

i knew you haters would eventually warm up to the ute. i was neutral in the whole deal, a regular swiss position. whats that bling-bling saying,, "dont hate the player, hate the game"

bling-bling

[Randy Webb]

The fundamental problem with the Cayenne is that it is not a vehicle for the purist, for someone who is willing to give up some comfortable aspect of being in a car (back seat space, say) to gain an edge in performance. It is a vehicle for the sedan owner, not the sports car afficianado. While that opens Porsche up to a new group of buyers, it dilutes the purity of the brand. And that problem is independent of how well it performs off-road or on-road. It is an evolution of the BMW,
not of a Porsche.

[old_skul]

I'm still curious (and dreading, really) the 997 with a Cayenne Turbo engine in it. Please, please don't let them further pollute the sacred 911 platform into another also-ran. I can deal with progress; I just can't deal with sacrelige.

[jhugh]

I'm of the opinion that all sport utes are SICK, WRONG and TOTAL *****. So don't listen to me if you have a problem with that.

I am so ashamed of the Cayenne. When someone told me it was coming, I thought for sure they were telling a bad joke. My only hope at this point is to see one upside down on the side of the road someday. I just wish Porsche would lose their shirts over the deal. But they won't.

~sigh~

[Wayne 962]

jhugh, what do you haul your parts around in? I love my Nissan Pathfinder, as I just pile tons of stuff in there all the time. Home Depot, here I come!

I don't think this Cayenne is for me - I need something that I can beat up, and toss leaky 911 engines into. I was disappointed in the fact that it seems really small. I still would have liked Porsche to produce a real vehicle for this purpose - like a fast Hummer. Porsche has always built no-compromise sports car. Porsche is to sports cars, as Hummer is to off-roading. I would have liked to see more of a 'real' off-road truck. That would have been cool. Instead, this seems like an X5 clone with a big engine.

Just my opinion...

-Wayne

[VWpete]

I'm going to go check out the Cayenne on Saturday... I can't wait to roll up to the dealership in the '77 911 ! It's supposed to be a beautiful day near 70 degrees! My mother got a special viewing invitation, so I'm going to pull the top down and make it an excuse for a nice drive. My mother is thinking about a NA Cayenne to replace her Jaguar XJ-8 that has given her so many problems. I'm not sure that reliability will be the best reason to look at the Cayenne because it's production is so fresh, but I guess we'll see in a year or two. One part of me thinks a P-car would be cool for her, but the other part of me thinks Porsche and sports car are the only way. A bit of cognitive dissonance for me I guess!
We'll see.
Pete

[jhugh]

Wayne, I am ashamed to admit that, against my wishes, my wife does insist on keeping her pre-SUV-era SUV - a blue & white '73 Landcruiser FJ55 wagon with a Chevy 350 in it. It has a classic look, but talk about a high-center of gravity, polluting gas hog.. and she's never had it off-road either. I'd much rather have a VW bus instead, but she's blase about those (her pop is an rGruppin' Teutonophile from way back).

The LC is just the Home Depot mobile. Most of my Porsche-related parts & tools ride in the cavernous Saab trunk, if not the 911 itself! I don't need the SUV, man.

[adscab]

If you think the trunk of a Saab is cavernous, take a look in the back of any SUV. Whether or not you need one or not, you HAVE ONE. The Landcruiser started it all. Duh!