AutoX'd the Cayenne today!!

Vipergrün · 08-30-2003, 07:31 PM

Went to the Cayenne Experience today at the Pomona Fairgrounds on an invitation from Porsche.

They had mentioned a food court, goodies, and something about off-road and performance driving.

As it turned out, they had an AutoX course setup on one side and an off-road course on the other....and the visitors got to drive!

After signing the various waivers and checking out the displays, we headed out to the Performace Experience tent. We found out that we would each get to drive around the course in both the 'S' and the Turbo. At first we figured we'd just be riding along because of the way they were being driven.

I managed to sneak in an additional run in the Turbo, so that made 1 in the 'S' and 2 in the Turbo.

Let me tell you, this is unlike any other SUV/Crossover vehicle you have ever driven. I had driven my father-in-laws 'S' once before, but getting the chance to go balls out in the Turbo was amazing. First gear off the line was impressive, nice deep exhaust growl too. Then came second, and did it ever come on! Down the straight, pedal to the floor and deep into the braking zone. Solid and predictable braking, the 6-piston front calipers really perfomed well. Remember, this is a ~5500 lb SUV we are talking about. Throw her into the first turn, not knowing what to expect, and hoping it would not act like a Ford Explorer. Tight and sure-footed thru the turn, on the gas and down a short straight thru a couple more turns and finally to a long right hander. The instructor kept telling me to push more and more and the Cayenne just kept going and holding. The second time thru the course was much better cuz I remembered the line.

The off-road course was equally impressive. 38 degree inclines, burms causing one wheel to be 2 feet off the ground. Driving thru 21" of water, which is higher than the bottom door seal. Boy, this thing can perform really well off-road too!

Anyway, I came away very impressed with the Cayenne. Is it ugly? Perhaps. Does it stray from Porsche heritage? Very much so. Is it designed and engineered to be worthy of the Porsche badge? Definately.

Whatever your thoughts or emotions with regards to the Cayenne, I think all of you would be impressed, if not a bit proud that Porsche could do what they did with an SUV

Now, where did I park my SC

pwd72s · 08-30-2003, 07:36 PM

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

What a bunch of freakin' morons Porsche is. Tom and I both signed up for this, and neither of us heard anything back from Porsche. You would think that we would at best be slightly influential, and it might have been useful for us to have looked at the cars. But no, Porsche really needs to get it's act together, or they will certainly be going out of business real soon. Tom and I have indeed discussed contingency plans in case Porsche goes under (it would be a major problem for us).

-Wayne

surflvr911sc · surflvr911sc's Garage

Wouldn’t a majority of your Porsche business still be there (us)? I doubt much of your business comes from new Porsche owners.

EDIT: sounds like a fun day Brad. When's the poker game?

pwd72s · 08-30-2003, 07:55 PM

Wayne, with your net savvy? Porsche going under would bother you about as much as Studebaker folding. It's Summit and the other hot rod suppliers who should be nervous. I have to admit, this whole Cayenne thing has had me thinking of bailing from the P car scene, despite having been a PCA member since '67. Just haven't found anywhere I'd rather jump to.

Schuey · 08-30-2003, 08:04 PM

I can't understand why guys get so excited about a SUV...a sup'd up VW for too much money...

a real Porsche is the 911...

a real SUV is the Chevrolet Suburban...

I know I own them both

also Wayne...if Porsche folded, why would that affect you big time? I'm assuming that most of your business comes from 1990 and older model years...

krichard · krichard's Garage

If porsche went under wouldn't it mean that you could mark up the prices ~10000000000000000000%?

Vipergrün · 08-30-2003, 08:43 PM

I cannot understand why you guys get so worked about the Cayenne thing. Did you honestly expect Porsche to build the early 911 forever? The only fact that I am trying to convey is that Porsche did a superb job executing the performance aspects of the Cayenne.

Wayne, bummer about them not getting back to you. I received both an email reply and a postcard with my confirmation number. I was actually looking for you and other Pelicanites. Guess everyone else was to embarassed.....

Oh, and Schuey, remember, we are all driving souped up volkswagens, and REAL Porsches are air cooled. I notice you own a 944

As far as the Suburban, I have vowed to never by another POS like a Chevy again.

BGCarrera32 · 08-30-2003, 09:20 PM

Personally, I think it sounds like a blast. I'd love to jump in one and haul some rear. I wasn't thrilled at the Cayenne idea at first, and the first press release shots looked horrendous, but the thing is growing on me. A little pricy in my book considering the paint quality and interior, but the meat and potatoes underneath is impressive.

Quote:

I have to admit, this whole Cayenne thing has had me thinking of bailing from the P car scene

Bye! Don't let the door hit ya in the arse in the way out...

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

Hmm, you guys are missing the big (HUGE) picture. If Porsche "went out of business" and shutdown, then gone would be our *largest* supplier. A lot of stuff that we sell, we get directly from Porsche (or a dealer, or a supplier, depends upon what it is). If Porsche suddenly came into financial trouble, about 60% of the parts in our Porsche catalog would suddenly be NLA. Not a good prospect for us, or the people restoring these cars either, huh?

Sure, you'd be able to get a brake disc here, or a pilot bearing from there, but forget about any and all interior pieces, and some harder-to-find stuff. Trust me, it would be bad news for all...

-Wayne

Paul Thomas · 08-30-2003, 10:32 PM

Go out of business? Where was i when they stopped being the most profitable car company in the world?

Porsche is a high performance automobile company and the Cayenne is a high performance automobile. I should check out the BMW boards to see if they complain constantly cause BMW makes a friggin station wagon!

rcwaldo · 08-31-2003, 06:42 AM

I did get the Cayenne postcard in the mail for the Pomona event. Wish I could have gone, but am currently out of town on business (CART race at Denver).

Later last year, my wife and I were invited to the Volvo XC90 driving event at the El Toro MC base. What a blast and a first rate, high quality show. We all got to 'autox' the XC90 SUV and walked away VERY impressed!

I wish I could have driven the Cayenne though.

Chris

tdorsey835 · 08-31-2003, 07:18 AM

If Porsche was able to limp out of the early 90's when it was selling maybe 4000 cars tops, only to rebound with the 993 and regain focus and return to profitability, why do you think the Cayenne spells it's doom? In this day and age of mergers and buyouts, (i.e. Chrysler to Benz and Jaguar to Ford) if Porsche would have stayed the course with only the Boxster and 911 with such limited markets, they too would have been (and maybe still are) ripe for a takeover.

I see the Cayenne as this company's saviour. Although the purests don't like it, this business has become all about turning a profit in the mass market, not just satisfying a handful of enthusiasts. I think the reaction to Porsche's new direction is overreaction- do you remember when the 944 was the 'aging' 911's replacement? If the Porsche can build a solid 'SUV' that can turn a profit and become it's bread and butter AND still offer cars like the twin turbo (styling preferences aside), GT2, Carrera GT and the 'out of the box' world class race cars like the GT3 cup and the GT3 RS what's to complain about? As Paul Thomas points out, BMW builds some of the finest 'race' sedans in the world in the M3 and the M5 but still realizes it would quickly be doomed if this was all it it has to offer, therefore it also sells the X5 and the 3 and 5 series wagons for the mass market.

Face it gang, although the SC, Carrera, and all the watercooled 9 series cars were fantastic cars in their day, the company has to evolve and try new things to stay viable. It's all about meeting the demands of the market.

Kurt B · 07:55 AM

Everyone is getting used to the Cayennes. I am. I see em a lot more these days. I see probably one maybe two a week these days here and there. Always an S. I thought the S was the turbo until i read the posts ( don't keep up). So there's no Cayenne per se. The S and the Turbo? Not the way they usually do things. Anyway, I think they're cool.
I just want Porsche to stay in business and evolve any way it wants.

Let's face it, the 924 was a joke and a mistake. The 914 was gentleman's agreement that pretty much was a mistake. Everyone I ask about early cars totally digs the most ancient beat up 911 but rebukes the fanciest 914 as "too square." And the wonderful reviews on the Cayenne are very nice. We have the new sportscars to look forward too now as well with the additional cash flow they have.

I got my own probs. My paint gun broke. Some plastic keeper broke, and I mickey moused it together with black tape so I could redo my front bumper again (rock chips and crap), and DAMNIT if I didn't get huge bubbles everywhere. So I sanded it off, and did it again, and damnit, if I don't have the god awful pinholes. I'm so pissed.
My g/f is going to kill me blowing entire weekend on the goddamned front bumper she wasn't even convinced needed to be resprayed.
Those close to me secretly wish the paintgun would disappears, I know they do, 'cause I dream up reasons to take parts of the car and redo.
anyway...hear hear, long live the Cayenne.
Long live Porsche.

plain fan · 08-31-2003, 08:28 AM

I've always been leary of Porsche building a SUV, believe the words WTF are they doing came out of my mouth. Then I drove an S, uh wow. Sure it isn't a sports car and yes it does wander from the very reason why I first started checking the marque out, racing, but it is very well engineered and at least I'm not ashamed to mention that it is a Porsche. For what the vehicle is it handles amazingly well. If I was in the market for such a vehicle and had the $$ I would own one, no questions, qualms or problems here.

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

Kurt, I think the non-S, plain-vanilla "Cayenne" will be the upcoming 6-cylinder version. -- Curt

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

The Wall Street Journal quoted Porsche as saying that they needed to sell 25K of the Cayennes this year in order to "break even." Estimates are that dealers are selling about 1000-1400 per month, well below this goal. Also, this "break even" point was calculated when Boxsters and 911s were actually selling well (they aren't these days). If Porsche doesn't sell 2000 of these Pepper Wagons a month, then they might be in some trouble. I know nothing about the financial condition of the company's balance sheet, but I would guess that they borrowed heavily to invest in building the Cayenne.

I would guess that there is quite a bit of nail-biting going on in Stuttgart right now...

-Wayne

pwd72s · 08-31-2003, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BGCarrera32
Personally, I think it sounds like a blast. I'd love to jump in one and haul some rear. I wasn't thrilled at the Cayenne idea at first, and the first press release shots looked horrendous, but the thing is growing on me. A little pricy in my book considering the paint quality and interior, but the meat and potatoes underneath is impressive.

Bye! Don't let the door hit ya in the arse in the way out...

You're right! So, what am I offered for possibly the best original '72S coupe left in the USA, perhaps even the world? Seriously, I am getting more than a little POed about the current P-car scene, and I DO think I could survive without it.

BGCarrera32 · 08-31-2003, 07:07 PM

Quote:

I know nothing about the financial condition of the company's balance sheet

Apparently, neither does anyone else. I can't remember where I read it recently but Porsche AG is also refusing to jump onto the German stock exchange or the NYSE for that matter I think it was, due to the fact that they would have to produce quarterly balance sheets which the company feels is an "excessive" amount of work to produce. They are looking at listing on the London exhange or something similar where financials only have to be reported yearly.

Yeah, wanna sink some money into that if all ya get is a yearly update...?

pwd72s · 07:20 PM

ENRON...PORSCHE? Only 1 letter more...cook the books, and the investors flock in? That what you're hinting at, BG? Could we all be like Studebaker enthusiasts, circa 1962???