I have a rule with motorcycles - "Never ride a bike you don't intend to buy" - and I should extend this to cars. The P!G is in for it's final service event under CPO, and the dealership nicely loaned me a Cayenne since I had to do lots of airport runs for the holidays.

Problem is - it's a new series Cayenne/S (I think a 2011, might be a 2012.)

It's a VERY seductive truck. As great as the first series Cayennes are, this tops it. Faster, smoother, 8 speed transmission, comfortable, better Nav/Audio/Etc display and utilization. It's very very easy to drive at high price ticket speeds. I've done about 300 miles with it, and I really don't want to give it back.

Guess I've gotta keep the '06 for 2 more years until a '11 CPO drops in price enough to consider it.. but even SWMBO said "This is a really nice car.." and it must feel confidence inspiring since she never once grabbed the sissie handles and hissed even when dodging traffic on I-95 around Philadelphia.

 

I've driven the new ones a few times. Couple of Turbos and an S. They are nice. But honestly not worth the price difference nice!

Know how many other cars and motorcycles I can buy for the price difference? A Lot!!

 

Agreed - a used '11 /S is currently around $50-60k. That's a lot of money for me (apparently not for some people..) But I figure in 2 more years that same car, now with 50k miles on it, and a CPO warranty will come in around $30k. That's new small US or Japanese car turf, and in that case, it is no contest.

There are a few things I don't like a bunch on the new model. The overhead console is an example of over-complexity in an area where you can't really see the controls. It would require memorizing each one in order to use it effectively. The multi-display in the instrument cluster is nice, but offset to the right. It would be better done as a background to the somewhat useless tach (really **** on a bull with an automatic transmission and electronic nannies) which is centered in the display.

The auto stop/start at traffic lights and when stopped in traffic was a bit disconcerting at first. My son looked at me when it first did it expecting to see me mumbling something. I simply took my foot off the brake and it started back up. It is not an instant startup - it took perhaps a full revolution of the engine for it to come up to speed - so it isn't that usable if you're doing traffic light races, or even in stop/go traffic. Luckily, I located the button to turn the "feature" off - and it stayed off even when stopping and restarting the vehicle, so I think my personal jury it out on this feature.

The general controls on the center console aren't as bad - but the all black with small gray lettering on them means you DO have to LOOK at them sometimes, which is a distraction when driving. Luckily the things like the heater controls and seat heater button are obvious and easy to use, and these are the ones I tend to adjust the most. The three stage seat heater (an idea BMW had decades ago) is much better thought out then the silly ***** with no on-indicator that we have in our Gen-1 trucks.

I didn't find the seat as comfortable as the one on my '06. SWMBO found the passenger seat more comfortable. Go figure. She has more padding then I do, I started to get a sore butt after about 3 hours of driving. There was no lumbar support adjustment on these seats, but I imagine for only a few thousand dollars Porsche will provide it as part of some package.

The PCM system (or whatever it's called) is superior to what we have with built-in Bluetooth (including the ability to stream audio, ie - music) and it has an excellent USB interface - using my memory stick with 4,000 songs on it was a real pleasure. It indexed them rather quickly, and allowed selection by artist, album, track - and has a shuffle function. It's about as functional as an iPod and quite easy to use. Sound quality is comparable to our models when fitted with the Bose system (ie - not bad, and sometimes quite impressive.)

The things that impressed me the most:

- Ride quality is improved over the Gen-1 Cayenne. The loaner had the same basic non-air suspension (same as my '06 S) - ride was smoother, yet it tracked even better then mine. It was very confident feeling even in tight high-speed traffic which sometimes required fast lane changes to keep moving with the flow. Cornering seemed almost dead flat, very little body roll - about the same as my current '06/S.

- Engine/transmission package is smoother, and the additional 40HP over mine is noticeable and usable. The 8 speed transmission always shifted smoothly, even when floored in sport mode (where the computers let the RPMs get up to above 7,000 RPM before upshifting.) There also seemed to be more engine braking available. And the engine never stumbled as mine can when driven gently (where it upshifts too soon IMHO.)

- Brake feel was outstanding. It felt smooth, very powerful and completely controllable. Quite an improvement over ours IMHO (even though ours is outstanding for a heavy vehicle - this was "outstanding plus..") It was probably the smoothness of the braking (even when braking quite rapidly) that let my wife relax even when I was driving somewhat enthusiastically. She never flinched, something I'm quite used to in our '06.

Those three items really add to the pleasure of driving it. And that's why it was so risky for me to take this loaner. But it gives me a goal for 2 years down the road, and that's not a bad thing.

 

I actually made the switch.

There are some things I miss from my previous generation Cayenne but the new one is so much better in almost every way. I put about 40k on my cars a year and I get to know the quirks of every vehicle I own rather quickly.

The 8speed transmission equates to much better fuel economy and it finally has a tank to match the thirstiness of the truck. The new PCM unit, center stake control layout is finally up to par for such an expensive vehicle.

I think the new Cayenne's look a little soft compared to the previous generations but there is no denying they have made great improvements to the new one.

I hope you find that Cayenne you want in 2 years, it definitely is going to be worth it!