Outstanding Bob! As an outsider to your group I didn't catch the humor in your post. I went to another site with Cayenne owners that were an extremely nasty lot on warrantee weenies and even less helpful than what I received here.

My questions may have seemed low tech to you but up here in the great white north the closest dealer is 180 miles away. I would prefer to find a social site of enthusists and just talk cars.

Now, You need to see I'm a serious Porsche guy and a real seat of the pants reverse engineer. Some of you may have figured out what I'm up to. Some may have not.

So, Meet the Alien.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241813868.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241813927.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241813968.jpg


Anyone wishing to see the car in the raw I will be in So Cal next weekend at the WCR. Here's a link to the event posted here on the Pelican 914 site. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=453820

I was on that other forum and they treated you the same there as here. You just are like an itch in you grundle. Fun to pick at but annoying as hell in public.

So, I guess I'm too serious by nature because if you making a joke I still don't get it.

And what's with the bling jocky and warrantee weenie treatment? Are the Cayenne sites more like the jock crowd at a high school trying to impress the girls or are there serious Porsche enthusist's on these sites?

Who are the real gear heads here?

I'd say the majority of the Cayenne owners aren't DIYers but they still might be enthusiasts.

I'm more a fan of Pelican due to the DIY nature of the board, the other ones don't really seem to have that attitude.

There is one board with some DIY articles, but they are for pretty basic stuff like oil change and brake pad change. On one of the sites I posted a DIY install of a Dension Gateway 500 with instruction on how to make a custom bracket and basically got blasted for it. So I really don't post anything useful on that site anymore because of it. I should probably post it up here at Pelican since the people here might find it interesting.

However, I think it'll be a little while until more DIY articles start appearing because the majority of the cars are still under some sort of warranty.

I guess that defines on what you call a gear head. I'd consider myself one and I'm sure other people would consider themselves one as well. Some people just aren't as comfortable tinkering on their new car - which I can understand - as they are an older one.

Knock on wood, but, things really haven't had a chance to go wrong and have solutions known like the air-cooled 911s, 928s, 944s, etc. where there is a nice long history of problems, solutions, preventative fixes.

I spend most my time tinkering on my 911 either fixing or upgrading it. I'm glad my Cayenne Turbo has been reliable and is under warranty, I don't mind doing the maintenance on it. The inspection lists are easy to find and most of the maintenance comes down to change fluids, check pads, check the drive line.

I'm just rambling now, but this is just my 2 cents.

I am a do it yourselfer, but I know my limits. My 79 does not have a computer, ECU, or any options. It's fun to work on.

My Cayenne probably has 12 computers, and I am glad it's under warranty. I've changed the plenum, air filters, cabin filters, oil and next is the cat bypass pipes. I don't wish to do anymore as that's what the warranty is for. If it was out of warranty (and reliable) it would be a 650 HP beast :D

The issue is expense, mods are expensive and repairs are even more. I'd rather spend my money on the 79 to keep her going.

If you want answers to good questions please post them here as we need to get this a more technical board, but either not much goes wrong with them, or they're too expensive to fix.

Cheers

Would my job be tons easier if there were only 12. A base 986 has about that. A fully loaded cayenne can upwards of 20+. I feel bad when I need to sell a control unit out of warranty. I need to learn to fix them.

How do you like the plenum upgrade? I was impressed when I looked at the hoses into the plenum and saw Porsche installed metal bands on them to prevent them from deforming when in boost.

I agree on the 650HP beast, I love looking at the EVOMS 650/700 kit.. but then I remember the CTT is my DD and I rarely get to use its 450hp (but I find excuses to use it).

+1

The problem with the newer control units is the design of the circuit board itself. If you look at the old Motoronic ECUs, the traces are actual wire between the components where with the new units they are traces inside the silicon. Fixing a frayed or disconnected wire is much easier than fixing a trace.

Granted, you could cut the trace with an exacto knife then solder a wire to complete the path.. of course, then you run the risk of throwing off some real time system with the added resistance and impedance of a wire vs. trace.

Plenum made a good difference, it breathes much easier now (plus the BMC's) and a lot of the lag is gone. Is it worth the money; probably not, is it the way Porsche should have had the turbo's in the first place; absolutely.

Once I get my cat bypass pipes on I think all the mods will come together nicely.

Vastly overpriced VW Toureg for people that need to have a Porsche Crest on their vehicle.

That's my take.

Stick to swooning over American Idol contestants in Off Topics ;)

Hehehehe.

I've repo'd a few Cayennes, a standard model and an S. I drove the **** out of them to decide if they deserved to wear that gold crest.

My impressions: The base model, no way. The S model, 'maybe'. I am sure the Turbo would be fun, but that thing is a boatload of cash.

Whatever you go with, good luck!

The turbo is definitely the way to go. I highly recommend lightly used since their depreciation curve is pretty damn steep. Plus, it leaves more money to dump into your second car which you can now haul with the Cayenne Turbo..

Rich,

Just got an 09 GTS with the 6 sp. manual.
It is black/ havanna alcantara.
I will post pics as soon as my daughter will forfeit some of her precious time to show me how.
I love the GTS. Hit the sport setting for the exhaust and the sound is terrific.
Suspension in comfort mode is truly smooth, yet little body roll.
Suspenion in sport is excellant, a true difference can be felt when driving.
Got the optional 21" wheels with 295's. I usually have the suspension at the lowest setting for driving. The truck looks squat and fat. there is one lower setting for loading but can't drive in that setting.
I do know the engine is not shared with audi. This is a 405 hp NA PORSCHE engine.
No regrets.
IMO the 6 sp. manual is the way to go. I have driven the other. SOS.
I realize this is mostly subjective info. and not some of the specifics you asked for.
Hope this helps a little.

Matt F