MIKE S : Review


Hi guys, this is the long awaited review between three great SUV's! I'm sure they have been tested against each other countless of times by professionals(take note I am not one myself), the problem is they just test the cars to their physical limit - I am however, going to give you my driving experiences and opinions with the car on a being used for an everyday basis.

Powerplants

Ok, let's start off with the different types of engines. I'm just going to state the basic numbers these engines put out, for those who are not familiar with them(although I'm sure many of you already are).



Above we have the engine which you get in the Cayenne Turbo.
Details:
engine V8
aspiration Bitubo
displacement 4511 cc
power 331 kw @ 6000rpm
torque 620 nm @ 2250-4750rpm



Above we have the engine which you get in the X5 4.8iS.
Details:
engine V8
aspiration Normally aspirated
displacement 4799 cc
power 265 kw @ 6200rpm
torque 500 nm @ 3600rpm



Last but not least, the engine which is found in the Touareg V10.
Details:
engine V10
aspiration Biturbo
displacement 4921 cc
power 230 kw @ 3750rpm
torque 750 nm @ 2000rpm

Perfomance Impressions

I must say all three cars are really wonderful in their own way. We have the Cayenne which totally blows ones mind away, it takes away the misconception that all off-road cars are slow and handle like ox-wagens, instead it shows us that something so big and heavy can move really quick! Then we have the X5 which shows you that you don't need turbo's to move fast either, it takes a bit to get the momentum going but, once you're over the "hill" you'll be on the brakes more than on the accelerator! The Touareg I suppose would be the odd one out, when someone says the words diesel powered, the first thoughts to come to mind are Massey Fergusson. It could not be further from the truth, let me tell you that this car performs AWESOME, for a diesel! It really takes away ones perception that diesels will never be able to perform like a petrol engine can.

Who wins on a straight line? Obviously the Cayenne hands down. Not far behind would be the Touareg and lastly the poor ol' X5.

Brakes

When one is moving so quick, the brakes are just as important if not more than the accelerator. I thought it would be interesting to compare the brakes of each vehicle.


I personally haven't tested these brakes so hard that I've noticed any brake fade. Braking in general the Cayenne's is quite good, but as RC stated they are a bit small for such a big car that can accomplish such feats of speed, but not real complaints about it. The X5's is by far the most sensitive and it brakes really HARD! Takes quite a while to get used to, it's too sensitive in my opinion, maybe my car is a dud! The Touareg's brakes are a bit sluggy, I'd say it is the worst out of the three, but when you're comparing to cars such as the Cayenne and X5 - being the worst is still better than most cars, even sedans! If you also take a close look, the Cayenne is the only one with it's brakes situated closer to the front of the car.

Interesting Comparison : Cayenne vs Touareg

Seeing that the Cayenne and the Touareg share the same platform etc. and everyone says they're so similar. I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify that. I have only had the Cayenne for a little while, but from the second I climbed into the car, I could immediately feel the difference. The Touareg handles great but, it's not a Porsche! The Cayenne is so steady on the roads where as the Touareg is a bit bouncy. Here is a picture to illustrate the reason. The two cars are side by side and you can clearly see the wider width the Cayenne has!


Sorry to go off topic, but I can't just leave the X5 alone when I've spoken about the other two's handling! The X5's handling is good, but it is a lot worse than what I thought it would be, so such stiff suspension, it handles quite horridly actually, it understeers very badly, maybe because it has such wide tires at the rear(the widest by far out of the three).

Going back to compary the Touareg and Cayenne, below are some more picture to illustrate the similarities they share. The doors are exactly the same, the aluminium door sills are also the same. As a matter of fact when I collected the car, I already knew half the features about the car, because the Touareg shares the exact same.

By the way, in the picture below, on the left is the Touareg and on the right is the Cayenne, see how similar it is?



Pictured below: See the shape of the door how they are exactly the same? Once again, on the left is the Touareg and the right the Cayenne.


Panoramic Sunroofs

I know this is quite a pointless point out, but maybe there are others like me who like nice and big sunroofs! The Cayenne has the new option - panoramic sunroof(the first one with it in the country!), the X5 also has a panoramic roof. I'd just like to compare the 2. The Touareg unfortunately does not have such an option. What is nice about the Cayenne's sunroof is that it is BIG, MUCH bigger than the X5's. It also opens MUCH bigger, the picture shows how much more the Cayenne's open when fully opened compared to the X5(both are fully opened).


!!!Conclusion!!!

Every one of these cars has it's own fortés. The X5 is the nicest sounding out of the three! But it unfortunately lacks in most of the departments, handling, performance, the only thing I was impressed by was it's brakes really. The Touareg and the Cayenne as you can now see are very similar to each other, but do I regret getting both? Absolutely not! The Touareg is just so impressive that it can do what it can do , having a diesel motor and all! It really is the best bang for the buck(so to speak) SUV I have purchased so far! The Cayenne, well... what can I say? It's a Porsche! It really does feel better than all the others, and by far too! It's bigger than the X5, faster than the Touareg, more comfortable than any other car I've driven! It is a bit pricey, but well worth it!

Well enough of my blabbering, good gosh I've typed a lot, took me for ever, here is the last pic of the three together(sorry for the blurry picture, not tripod and tried to take in night mode). Hope this review was informative and will helpful! Farewell!