Pepper Wagon In Person

[9XI]

I saw my first Cayenne on the street this weekend (Los Gatos, CA). It is not hideous. It's not attractive. It looks like a big Audi. I wonder why they made the wheel wells so big. A lot of wheel well is visible.

The verdict -- it does not look like a Porsche. Maybe it drives like one, I don't know. But, even with radically new designs like the 928 or Boxster, they still had that "something" that said "Porsche, there is no substitute." I don't think they can use that slogan with a straight face anymore.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

It handles extremely well. I drove it both on the track, with David Donohue as my keeper (the new, not-yet-open Barber Motorsports Park, or whatever they're going to call it, right outside Birmingham, Alabama), as well as 300 road miles. (Short-lead-time press introduction about a month ago.) You very quickly gain a lot of confidence in it--we had a fair amount of time on wet roads--and it's sort of like driving what I imagine a 1920s SSKL Mercedes would have been like if it handled really well. I don't mean that as a put-down, I mean that it's...well, a sporting truck.

I've driven every SUV out there, including the X5, various MLs including the AMG version, and the new BMW Range Rover, and the Cayenne handily beats them all. (I hate trucks, by the way, and would no more own an SUV than I would own a riding mower, and my lawn is a hilly acre in size.)

But what really disappoints me is that Porsche didn't do anything particularly imaginative. They have re-invented the Range Rover, rather than out-FX45ing Infiniti or maybe doing something we haven't yet imagined. But nobody ever accused the Germans of being wildly imaginative...

One thing that interested me: the Turbo is _not_ that much more spectacular than the naturally aspirated version. Maybe it's the fact that the thing weighs over 5,000 pounds, but I found the "poor man's" version to be ample. I couldn't imagine paying the premium for the Turbo.

Stephan