Cayenne Review pt. 1, Auto Show
 

Having seen the Cayenne in the flesh I wanted to post what can be a three part post. The first will be my opinions of the Cayenne at the Chicago auto show. The second part will be at the time of delivery, first test drive which will be somewhere around the first week of April. Lastly, if I choose to take delivery, a final review after about a month after the notorious Porsche break-in period.

At the Chicago Auto Show they had one Lapis Blue Cayenne TT on a turntable and one Silver Cayenne S on the floor open for examination. My first impressions of both were as mentioned before, “they are much smaller than anticipated!” For this vehicle to weigh in excess of 5,000 lbs you can see now it’s all “ballast.”

The exterior was well put together with one exception. The door handles were plastic and hollow which gave you the feel that after some use it will break and have to be replaced.

The hitch without ball, although functional and reminded me of the Land Rover’s integrated hitches, changed the lines of the rear of the vehicle. The electronically retractable would have been better, but I guess it’s a no go in the U.S. The engine compartment is not as previously described in other posts. The aluminum colored parts are metal. The black tubes which I assume are part of the intake manifold are metal covered with some sort of insulating plastic. Attempting to move them reveals a heavier metal inside and beneath. This same plastic covers the air intakes which does not appear to give access to allow you to change your own air filters. The only fluids that I could see that you can change yourself are windshield washer and oil. There is a dip stick however if similar to my Porsche car there should be an electronic read out of the oil level.

My first impression of the interior was made about 10 feet away, because there was a pair of teenage girls seated inside playing the sound system as loud as they could tolerate. Upon closer examination I found this most irritating. Opening the rear cargo areas floor board revealed a subwoofer that entirely filled where the spare should go. The doors however had these small, poorly placed Bose speakers. Now why Porsche didn’t choose a company such as Canton to provide the speakers is beyond my understanding? The Front door could have easily taken a set of the Canton Pullman CS 3.22 and pair of Canton Pullman CS 3.26 in the rear doors would have provided a more balanced “artist intended” sound as opposed to the Bose bass over-compensation. Why does anyone think these are good speakers???

From the rear seat I was able to sit comfortably with the front seat all the way back. The driver and the front passenger would have to move the seat up a bit for long trips to provide enough room. However for a vehicle that is a small as it is the room is adequate. The seat itself was comfortable and had heat controls. The ventilation appears to be more than adequate with two vents in the center and two in the B-pillars. The seat was not raised higher than the front seats as you find in many SUV. Once in the driver’s seat I was able to take a good look.

The driver seat held me well; I am 6’ and 230 lbs. I had to move the seat up from its rear most position to reach pedals comfortably. The seat moved smoothly in all directions. I was very pleased with the amount of thigh support underneath the knee. So I look forward to long drives. All controls were in easy reach and weren’t hard to identify without taking your eyes off the road. The interior reminded me of the cars. Nowhere near as luxurious as the Range Rover but no interior of a Porsche is that luxurious. The center armrest compartments were hard to open and would cause you to take you eyes off the road until you become tactilely familiar with it. The PCM was large and easy to read, but again would take some time and explanation on how to use it. Also, buttons seemed redundant. It appears the same as the European version so I am hopeful that I will be able to order the integrated cell phone. The view outside of the vehicle was classic Porsche. I look forward to my test drive!

The overall fit and finish was excellent. There was a good amount of plastic being used, but was used in appropriate applications. It was better than almost every vehicle except the Range Rover. The thing is it’s just not flashy. Compared to the Touareg it clearly is more refined. The reason I think so many people have ranked it higher than the Cayenne is its familiarity with the Passat. The Cayenne although similar to the Carrera and Boxster it stands completely on its own.

Well, as far as public opinion goes, it was a crowd pleaser! Actually I ran into a patient at the Auto Show, who came in for a follow up exam today and remarked that it was her favorite vehicle from the show. Styling? It appears the hard nosed enthusiasts and magazine reviewers may be too opinionated. I don’t know if this will be a good or a bad thing but the Cayenne will be debuting in someone’s music video.

I do feel cheated in the fact I will have to take delivery without the dark wood package and the four zone climate control. Porsche having a long history of being exclusive, hurt them at the show IMHO. I was more impressed by the Chrysler Pacifica display than the Cayenne’s. Chrysler along with many other makers had young ladies introducing and demonstrating the vehicles to you. For the Cayenne to be a new vehicle with all it has to offer, they could have spent less money on the information sent to me in the mail and hired the ladies to talk about the vehicle instead of standing around handing out brochures, unable to answer nary a question. They could have at least had the last video sent to me playing?