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2005 Porsche Cayenne Mid-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle
Yes, it's a Porsche: Cayenne SUV has obvious sports-car roots
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New Car Review of the 2005 Porsche Cayenne Mid-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle
Base MSRP Range: $41,100-$89,300
Base Invoice Range: $35,808-$78,007
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MSRP As Tested: $65,470
Versions: Base, S, Turbo
Vehicle Category: Mid-Size Luxury Sports Utility Vehicle
Engine Location: Front Engine
Drive Wheels: All-Wheel Drive.
Standard Engine: 3.2-liter, Single Overhead Cam, 24-valves, V-6, 247â€' horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 229 lb-ft torque at 2,500 rpm.
Optional Engine as Tested: 4.5-liter, Dual Overhead Cam, 32-valves, V-8, 340 - horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 310 lb-ft torque at 2,500 rpm.
Optional Engine: 4.5-liter, Dual Overhead Cam, 32-valves, Turbocharged V-8, 450 - horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 460 lb-ft torque at 3,250 rpm.
Transmission: Six-speed automatic, Six-speed manual.
Fuel Economy (city/hwy): Six-speed manual 15/20, Six-speed automatic standard 15/19, Six-speed automatic S 14/18, Six-speed automatic Turbo 13/18.
Standard Safety Features: Driver and passenger airbags, Front side airbags, Side curtain airbags, Four-wheel anti-lock brake system, Antiskid system, Front- and rear-obstacle-detection system(Turbo).
Competition: BMW X5, Cadillac SRX, Infiniti FX.
I love old Porsches for a couple of reasons.
One, they're the only Porsches I'll ever be able to afford without winning the Powerball. And two, they're so wonderfully raw and mechanically sensual that they feel alive -- like a steel extension of your own body. They represent the epitome of what a sports car should be.
That's why some Porsche purists -- myself included -- were skeptical when the suits at Stuttgart decided to create the Cayenne in a move that seemed to contradict everything the German company stood for. Until the Cayenne, which was jointly developed with Volkswagen, Porsche had spent nearly five decades making nothing but high-performance sports cars and grand tourers designed to be fast, agile and reliable.
Porsche's announcement was the equivalent of the pope saying, "Forget this celibacy thing. As of tomorrow, we're turning the Sistine Chapel into 'Playboy Vatican' and letting Hugh Heffner run the church."
It rocked the automotive world.
Before I drove the Cayenne this spring, I was definitely counted among the skeptics. For one thing, I knew people drive Porsches because they enjoy high-performance driving and people drive SUVs because they need to haul stuff. Nobody buys a 911 to take their four kids to soccer practice, and nobody buys a Ford Explorer because they want to win SCCA races on the weekends.
In addition, I'd driven the Touareg -- the Cayenne's equivalent from Volkswagen -- as soon as it was introduced, and I couldn't imagine putting a Porsche badge on it because it was way too soft and luxurious. It was a wonderful SUV, but it wasn't anything I'd want to take to the racetrack.
So when Porsche offered me the keys to a 2005 Cayenne for a week, I couldn't resist -- if only to lambaste it for being disgustingly sacrilegious.
Boy was I wrong.
As soon as I took it around the block and over a couple of speed bumps, I had the same thought that enters my head every time I drive a car I love:
"My wife's gonna hate this thing."
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