[stuartj]

Hey IROC- I cant tell you about owning one, although a friend hs just bought the new diesel version and is delighted with it. He also has the big Q9 TT Audi, and that is a hell of a thing.

I can tell you that ten years ago I did a Porsche drive day where we drove all the 996 gen cars and the relatively newly released Cayenne (the V8, S?).

Like many at the time, I coudnt quite get to grips with a Porsche SUV. But- what a machine. In the Cayenne, I held on to pumkins driving Carreras and Boxster S on the high speed track- its plenty fast and handles better than anything that big really should. But- in the hands of an instructor, to go screaming down the road at 110mph, stand the thing on its nose, and turn off the asphalt and drive straight up a STEEP shale incline, stop halfway up and the let the drive magic hold the thing on the hill....on hi-po road rubber- and that was just the start of the 4WD course.

I came away mightily impressed...if the cost of ownership question works out, I wouldnt think otherwise anything could touch a V8 Cayenne for capability as a road car- and certainly not a Cruiser.