“In the good old days, Porsche made smallish, nimble cars that had great SPM and MPG ratings”. I got a close as I could – a Cayman S – 20% less podgy than a 911, 30-50% less pricey and the latest SPMs happened just a little bit ago on my way back from lunch. Hint – just forget the top 2 gears exist. And speed up in corners.

Well now that they’re involved with VW, why don’t they let VW/Audi take care of the people-movers and keep Porsche focused on what it does best?

Why the anger? They don’t owe you anything. As long as the new models don’t compromise the way the sports cars drive, why complain?

I think it is wise for Porsche to adress a problem they always had throughout history: How to stop losing customers only because they become parents. Early ideas to solve that problem:

1962: http://www.356registry.org/articles/beutler/images/1962%20type695%2011a.jpg

1990:
http://www.autoweek.com/files/weekart/2005/0822/porsche989.jpg

Only building sportscars is well and good, but it doesn’t deliver enough volume to be able to pay for modern car development (Safety, emissions etc.). VW takeover came after the development launch of the Panamera.

So what do you prefer, an independent sports car fundamentalist company dying or a thriving performance car companies which also happens to make some of the best sportscars in the world?

Oh and btw., I bet the Panamera wipes the floor with the competition in terms of handling.

this is an old discussion: how many SUV users go off-road vs how many sports cars drivers take to the track. Obviously we have a different philosophy. I won’t try to convince you that yours is wrong, but I’ll illustrate mine.

A good sports car, or a sporty car, provides driving pleasure *all the time*, because it is involving, because it provides feedback, because the human-machine interface is great. Smiles per miles, as it were.

In addition, I can tell you that living as I do in Europe, I have taken cars to 120+ mph often, and enjoy cars that deal with that kind of situation well.

A SUV is often a nasty drive. The ride-handling compromise is poor because of a high center of gravity and the requirements of offroad capability. Thus, the benefits of a SUV are mostly limited to offroading, which in my book is ridiculous if you never go offroad.

Give credit where credit is due. Porsche makes the vehicle, what the purchasers do with said vehicle is their own business. My understanding is that if you order and equipe a Cayenne correctly you will have a vehicle capable of challanging a Wrangler, G-Wagon, or Range Rover off-road. The last weak link was the gas powered highpeak engine.

For the sake of argument what is the percentage of Porsche Boxsters, Caymans, and 911s that ever see speeds in excess of 120mph or spend time on a real racetrack? I will bet that it is larger than the 3% of Cayennes that make it off-road but I think you get my point. I guess I could make the same argument about the number of sportcar Porsches that are currently being sold with good ole torque converting autoboxes.

Lets also extend the same arguement to all of the “super-sedans” on the market today. Exactly how many AMGs, BMW M, Audi S, and Lexus F series cars will actually be used at their level of potential? These are all “show” cars just like 95% of ALL Porsches being sold today.

Porsches have changed a great deal since even the late 1980s. Gone is the old quirky “pure” 911 and it has been replaced by a larger, heavier, electronically controlled 911 than is actually also serving the needs of the former 928 drivers. The truth of the matter is that vast majority of folks that can afford a Porsche today do NOT want a cramped, poorly ventilated, harsh riding, speed mobile with a heavy clutch. They want a nice car that will make their firends and enemies alike go oh and ah! The performance is all in the fun, a fast blast here and there, and the joy of driving a winding road a few mph faster than the guy in that “regular” car. Just like the guy in the Cayenne that will become the hero once the road turns to broken pavement, dirt, or gravel with a inch or two on fresh snow.

Cars like the Cayenne and PanaAmerica may not appeal to the guy who has had Porsche dreams most of his life and can now afford his dream car, but they do appeal to the target that Prosche is aiming at today; The guy/ family with a lot of money who can actually afford MORE than one Porsche.

Porsche can rot in Hell.

F*** Porsche.

I appreciate your words, but I think this is where we’ll have to agree to disagree. The statistics seem to say that less than 3% of Euro-SUV owners have *ever* gone off-road. So making the Cayenne a theoretically better off-road vehicle, while sacrificing two *major* brand points, sounds like a bad move to me.

Farago thinks the Cayenne as such is incompatible with the Porsche brand. I think that’s too strict: what was important was that the Cayenne was the Porsche of SUVs, so to speak. But it no longer is.

I think it is time to make a mental decision here. Is Porsche a brand of “real” sports vehicles or it is strictly a brand of poser-mobiles?

The last time I check the Cayenne was designed to be a real off-road capable SUV first and than a high-powered oxyimoronic poser-mobile second. No off-road vehicle worth a damn need a thirsty gas drinking V6 or V8 with a relatively high torque peak. For a real off-road vehicle, a low stressed high torque diesel engine will always be more appropiate than a high strung gas engine. In this world of performance driving RANGE and low-end grunt are what matter NOT peak output! Nor do I need or even want a wide powerband, what would it be worth in the sticks?

A Cayenne Turbo fitted with 21″ street wheels/ tires and a ground effects kit is the STUPID brand destroying vehicle. It is the epitome stupid and is meant to only seperate a non-enthusaist foolish poser from his gold.

I think you are totally missing the point here, the diesel engine actually makes the Cayenne a “real” off-road sports vehicle. It allows some folks with disposable cash to actually buy something different yet quite capable, to take on the trails with the correct type of powerplant for the job. You might actually make it to the end of the trail without running out of gas and or overheating!

ohh… look it came back. nevermind.

How about a VW Polo TDI? How about that MINI 1.6L Diesel (65 MPG!) How about an Audi TT TDI? (make mine a convertible please.)

I could care less about glorified station wagons on truck chassis. thankyouverymuch.

–chuck