UPDATE: I just wanted to provide an update for anyone else in my situation. As I am sure you can see in my signature, I am now the proud new owner of a 2008 Cayenne Turbo CPO.

After reading all the positive praise, reviews and online videos, I decided that no other SUV can give me quite the blend that this one should.

As insurance, I already bought plenty of power-adders before she was even delivered to my door.

After a thorough romp yesterday, I can see both sides of the story more clearly. I think this is a difficult vehicle to see its true potential on a test drive. The reality is that in its stock form, it isn't OMG quick off the line. However, once you get it going at decent highway speeds, I have to say it is pretty terrifying for something so large to pin you to the seats.

Obviously, this is something that I could not do with a straight-face with a salesman in the car, but "wow".

I am hoping that the ECU tune and other power-adders will step in to make up for the low-end torque at slower speeds that I am currently missing.

Guess I will find out in a couple of weeks once all the mods are installed

 

Mine is the older model and I'm leaving it stock. The last thing I would do is add a "booster" because I like the way I can carve corners with the accelerator. Increasing the throttle speed would result in a loss of the mid-range throttle sensitivity.

My local dealer told me no mods--or they would not honor the CPO warranty.

BTW, I take mine off-road.

However, there are a couple of things I can recommend:

The best Premium fuel we have up here is Shell. I get 2-3 more MPG using it compared to Chevron--which I will not use because of what Techron does to the oil that impacts bearings negatively (see Porsche regarding this).

Use 5w-40 weight oil. Motul is superior to Mobile One--especially if you're autocrossing and running her hard. Class V oils have a 10% better reduction in heat--important for the Turbos.

I treated my well broken in engine with tufoil. I used a full quart of tuffoil my first treatment and now follow up with 8 ounces of tufoil each oil change.

As far as mods, I might go with the Evoms air intake system. However, if I really wanted a fire breather, I'd ship her to Mesa and have Evoms apply their full 700 kit.

But, for that kind of money, I would prefer to have a second car, perhaps a Boxster.

 

Throttle steering in an SUV? Impressive.

The fact that we could even discuss such things is a testament of how great a vehicle the Cayenne really is.

 

+1 on that ! With mine dropped a high speed turn is beyond doable. It still feels heavy, but it NEVER breaks loose (below 100).

 

Gee, in the winter I'm generally going very slow but still carving corners. However, I did hit the pass very hard this winter and did something I am not proud of--exceeded the limits spec'd for my tires and I thought I was going to take off! Damn this thing is fast and it's totally stock.

Then, after joining the autobahn club, I jacked her up, put her in low range, locked out front and rear differentials, disconnected the sway bars and went unplowed raw snow roads with a lot of snow. While she moved through that slowly, it was so sure footed it was better than (I'm not saying what speed.) on the highway.

Anyway, I was ill at the time and ended up in the hospital. While my mechanics told me my car was made for that speed and Pirelli's can take such speeds for short bursts (which was all the moutain passes would allow), I feel lucky to be alive and I've been taking better care of myself since.

I really like my SUV and plan upon driving her for years. I doubt the new ones will do it for me because I like taking this one off-road and I doubt the newer ones without a transfer case (and the weight) can do quite as well as this one.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEyZu5WcupI




I beat 27 of the 49 vehicles at the autocross. (mostly Porsches, all high end sports cars).


As for the low end power on the CTT, I might mention that the car ALWAYS starts in 2nd gear unless you push the throttle down hard/fast and/or click the shift down switch, or turn off the PSM. So on a test drive (or a new owner) it will always seem a bit sluggish off the line until you figure out how to access 1st gear.

 

BTW, on my All Terrain tires, she breaks lose rather easily. I am thinking of putting my 20's back on because those are the tires for speed and grip. However, I refrain from taking them on gravel roads and it's a shame they give up after so few miles and cost so much. They are quieter and give better MPG.

 

No, I don't drive as well as Cole. First autocross this season I was the slowest and the biggest. With the extra steel from the Advanced Off-Road package mine exceeds 5,800 pounds!

However, my second autocross, I beat a few cars. Typically, I run 10 seconds behind the fastest car. I still haven't gotten the slalom finessed but I am getting better.

I'm using 18" General Grabber AT2's because they are a long lasting tire and are affordable. In the wet, they give me an advantage. However, to really pickup speed I need to go back to the 20" Michellin Diamari's.

I turn the PSM off to get more power but I really don't need more power. With PSM on, my brake lines are pre-charged once my foot leaves the accelerator, and I really need more brakes. Also, I put the A/C on economy mode but will try completely turning the system off.

When I first got mine I was not too impressed with the acceleration. Then a friend suggest the A/C was robbing my power. One evening when it was cool enough, I shut off the A/C, opened the windows, put her in Sport, lowered her--and howled as I heard the exhaust and got a push I hadn't felt before. That was before I learned one turns the PSM off.

I haven't run this year with the PSM on yet, but last season some of my faster times were with the PSM on. I'm still a sloppy driver. But in the winter I get to practice taking corners gently, trying not to engage PSM.

Autocross instructors caution me not to give her so much throttle on the slalom. I am finding that the turbos require more skill and finesse than I have. Small graceful inputs seem to be the path to precision and speed.

 

No, I don't drive as well as Cole. First autocross this season I was the slowest and the biggest. With the extra steel from the Advanced Off-Road package mine exceeds 5,800 pounds!

However, my second autocross, I beat a few cars. Typically, I run 10 seconds behind the fastest car. I still haven't gotten the slalom finessed but I am getting better.

I'm using 18" General Grabber AT2's because they are a long lasting tire and are affordable. In the wet, they give me an advantage. However, to really pickup speed I need to go back to the 20" Michellin Diamari's.

I turn the PSM off to get more power but I really don't need more power. With PSM on, my brake lines are pre-charged once my foot leaves the accelerator, and I really need more brakes. Also, I put the A/C on economy mode but will try completely trunign the system off.

 

so much fun!

 

FWIW, I have taught performance driving since about 1992 and have LOTS of seat time in a slalom

 

gr8ful, what kind of off-roading do you do? Also, would you recommend the underbody protection and skid plates are? I'm planning on doing some off-roading, but I'm not sure if I'm really going to be doing any rock crawling. Consequently, I don't expect my approach/departure angles to be too steep. I'm assuming that the underbody protection is a good idea, but the skid plates may not be necessary?

 

I just go off the regular roads--not mud stuck nor rocks. I am searching for modest off-road adventures. The real hard core types do amazing things but not me. I also won't go through heavy brush. This part is new to me and I have been hesitant because of all the trouble one can get into.

The worst road I've been on required me to lower my car to get under some fallen trees. That was ducking hunting.

All my car is stock. I don't think you can add those parts and it is very hard to find one with off-road package. I have seen one other that I tried to buy but a banker in DC got that Transsyberia.

 

The underbody protection and skid plates are individual options for 2011+ Cayennes.