No more SUV shopping

[Josh (PA)]

Wasn't sure where to put this observation, but figured this was as good a place as any.

I have a base Cayenne as a loaner today. The 911 has a minor leak at the water pump (wide ranging issue), so I dropped it off at the local dealer for a warranty fix of that, a broken plastic latch and the PA State Inspection.

It only has a big sunroof and 14 way seats as options and lists at ~$75k. For the money, I am not impressed. The steering is quite light and darty (similar to recent BMWs), the transmission downshifts more roughly when slowing down than I'd expect and trunk, while pretty large) has the sloping rear glass that doesn't give a lot of room for my dog. It also floats / pogo sticks a bit more than I prefer. The X5 rides more roughly but is also more controlled. From my month + of 911 experience, I would say it doesn't have a lot of Porsche DNA.

If I had to choose between this or the X3 b58 loaner I had last year, I'd take the X3 by a large margin.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

Wasn't sure where to put this observation, but figured this was as good a place as any.

I have a base Cayenne as a loaner today. The 911 has a minor leak at the water pump (wide ranging issue), so I dropped it off at the local dealer for a warranty fix of that, a broken plastic latch and the PA State Inspection.

It only has a big sunroof and 14 way seats as options and lists at ~$75k. For the money, I am not impressed. The steering is quite light and darty (similar to recent BMWs), the transmission downshifts more roughly when slowing down than I'd expect and trunk, while pretty large) has the sloping rear glass that doesn't give a lot of room for my dog. It also floats / pogo sticks a bit more than I prefer. The X5 rides more roughly but is also more controlled. From my month + of 911 experience, I would say it doesn't have a lot of Porsche DNA.

If I had to choose between this or the X3 b58 loaner I had last year, I'd take the X3 by a large margin.

I got a Cayenne loaner in late 2015 when I was selling the 997TT and brought it in for the universal joint boot repair and I was not impressed at all. Pretty inside, but felt and sounded awful and moved slowly with the base engine.

[robg]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

Wasn't sure where to put this observation, but figured this was as good a place as any.

I have a base Cayenne as a loaner today. The 911 has a minor leak at the water pump (wide ranging issue), so I dropped it off at the local dealer for a warranty fix of that, a broken plastic latch and the PA State Inspection.

It only has a big sunroof and 14 way seats as options and lists at ~$75k. For the money, I am not impressed. The steering is quite light and darty (similar to recent BMWs), the transmission downshifts more roughly when slowing down than I'd expect and trunk, while pretty large) has the sloping rear glass that doesn't give a lot of room for my dog. It also floats / pogo sticks a bit more than I prefer. The X5 rides more roughly but is also more controlled. From my month + of 911 experience, I would say it doesn't have a lot of Porsche DNA.

If I had to choose between this or the X3 b58 loaner I had last year, I'd take the X3 by a large margin.

Funny you mention the transmission behavior. The Cayenne uses the prolific ZF 8 speed. I've now had that transmission in 3 different vehicles across 2 manufacturers. They all exhibited jerky downshits when slowing down to a stop. Funny that reviewers universally praise this transmission and no one mentions these annoying "drivability" type issues.