The Cayenne has helped define a new segment of high-performance SUVs.
It was a very funny thing, but a lot of people (some of whom I know) actually took personal offense to the news, however many years ago, that Porsche intended to initiate a departure from its traditional modus operandi-that is, building sports cars-and build a fully off-road-capable SUV. The most vociferous naysayers declared the project a work of blasphemy that would mark the company's ultimate demise.
Of course, the Cayenne went to production anyway. And it absolutely crushed all expectations, becoming an instant hit with consumers and contributing to the company's current status as the world's most profitable car manufacturer. So much for doomsday prophecies.For the past 12 months we have been tooling around in our own Cayenne, an S model with the big V8, and we're not ashamed to say that we've enjoyed our time with it. There's a definite benefit to having a vehicle of this stature in the long-term fleet. Even magazine editors occasionally need a big support vehicle to haul stuff around, and as these vehicles go, the Cayenne is one of the nicest. After all, it's still a Porsche.
Two years ago I drove the Cayenne range in the middle of winter in the frozen wilderness of northern Finland, where its competence in various, fairly extreme off-road situations was demonstrated. I'm not sure how many Cayennes sold to date have actually been out in the rough, but it's cool to know they could if they wanted to. We drove ours in dirt a couple times, though never in any extreme sort of situation.
A capable off-road luxury SUV
Equipped as ours was with air suspension and Porsche Traction Management (PTM), the Cayenne is intentionally set up for fairly intense off-road high jinks. It offers six different ride levels, the lowest being 1.06 inches beneath its default ride height for high-speed touring. The highest setting raises the chassis 2.2 inches above the default height for 10.75 inches of total ground clearance. Additionally, Cayenne owners who are really serious about going into the dirt can purchase an Advanced Offroad Technology Package that adds special side-sill protection, a front skidplate and a 100% lockable rear differential, in addition to self-detaching anti-roll bars which allow for improved articulation over extreme terrain.
One area that has been criticized are the factory-equipped tires. At its introduction, Porsche pointed out that the Cayenne was the "world's first SUV to run on Y tires homologated for a top speed of 186 mph." While this speaks well for the Cayenne's high-speed capabilities, it doesn't necessarily say the same for off-road durability. And though we only did a small amount of off-roading, we found rapid tire wear a fact of life when you're living with a Cayenne. In the space of about 20,000 miles we nearly ran through two sets of tires. As I mentioned, ours didn't see a whole lot of time off pavement; if it had, I can't help but imagine that wear would have accelerated exponentially. Conversely, adding dedicated off-road tires would doubtlessly take a toll on any kind of precision handling.