Car-respondence - Porsche Cayenne Turbo

Pure Porsche

Thanks for the great article on the Cayenne. I had spent some time with a Cayenne S [385 hp, no turbo] last year and was amazed at the performance and handling of such a heavy vehicle. It drives the way a Porsche should. The worst part is that my Corvette and Boxster S buddies won't even give it a chance.

Mitchell R. Scott

Who Are You Calling a Wimp?

Neat vehicle.... unquestionably a technology showcase.... but calling it a truck won't cut it. To be properly called a truck, it would need to have a substantial cargo capacity (weight-wise). It should also be able to tow a heavy trailer... a trailer that outweighs the towing vehicle. Last, it should have body-on-frame construction.... not as light or as stiff as [unit-body] construction, but far better suited to the demands of a real truck. This, of course, overlooks the fact that probably 95% of all the light trucks on the road are used as passenger cars rather than trucks.

Wayne W. Beebe

FCR: The Cayenne Turbo has payload capacity of 1731 lbs a tow rating of 7716 lbs, with a braked trailer. The #1 selling “Truck” in America, the Ford F-150, can carry 1660 lbs and tow 8300 lbs in standard four-door SuperCrew trim with four-wheel drive and the most powerful engine available, the 5.4L V8. The Cayenne can tow more than all F-150 models equipped with smaller engines.

You’re Right, It Can Pull Two

I have had the pleasure of owning 18 Porsches, three of which I still own; 1954 356C, 1994 C4S, 1998 Twin Turbo S. I also have a 2008 GT2 which is currently on a boat scheduled to arrive within the next week. I tell you this, before the next sentence so you’ll know where I’m heading. The Cayenne is a great vehicle, but it has too many limitations as a SUV. I would love nothing more than to pull into a concours event with a Cayenne towing my trailer. Unfortunately, it can’t even pull a Prius! That’s why I bought an H2 Hummer.

Just my two cents worth!

Thomas Brenneman

FCR: A Prius weighs 2932 lbs, two weigh 5864 lbs, leaving 1852 lbs of towing capacity for all of the money you’d be saving on gas compared to the GT2.

Half Price Performance

Very nice vehicle but it ought to be for that amount of dinero. Off-road worthy is a nice attribute but those that buy these will not likely ever be off-road on purpose. Seems if I were buying on a reasonable budget, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 would be a more practical choice. Not likely I’d take it off-road and it would be more than half the price and would still be quicker to 60 MPH than this Turbo Cayenne (Jeep claims 4.7 sec to 60 MPH). The Jeep also gets real world mileage of 13 mpg if one behaves themselves.

For the dough, Joe, I’m in a Jeep SRT8

Mike Walsh, Houston, TX