Cayenne loaner

[equ]

I got a 2010 base model to drive around while my cayman is in for an oil change and some minor complaints (warranty will be up soon). I don't drive this class of car much (SUV and/or slushy) but here are some tidbits:

Pros:
-steering (nicely weighted and somewhat responsive)
-handling (for the class)
-brakes (the usual german stuff that's nice overkill for the US streets)
-Tiptronic fairly smooth & responsive (again for a slushy)
- would be a good ski/bike trip car and not much else
- it does seem to have controls for locking center and rear diffs

Cons:
- driver seat is uncomfortable to me, my thighs don't fit between the bolsters (like in e90 ZSP's)
- ride is so-so (even with somewhat low PSI's)
- with a v6 engine it just doesn't move (my a4 2.0T is way way faster than this)
- sounds harsh when thrashed (thnks small animals in pain, you learn not to do this much)
- pain to pull in to my garage (no rear-view camera even though it has nav)
- climate control bits feel super-cheap

I seem to get around 17-18mpg's. It is a lot better than the Lincoln version of the Edge-thingy that was last year's service loaner. It's been a while since I've driven it, but my memory of the Q5 is that it is much better on tarmac. It's also a lot smaller, but the Cayenne is supposed to be shrinking for '11 as well (losing 400lbs apparently, as well as the diffs).

The vw/audi/porsche overlap/cannibalization is interesting. There is so much redundancy, yet they probably make more money this way... for now. Sort of like a German GM.