Horsepower is over-rated. If used as a proxy for performance, then ok, but from a literal perspective, HP is at best half of the story. Along with power comes the need for traction, probably 75% of which has to do with the tires and not much else. Debating the Cayenne's -- or Toureg's or any other vehicle's -- off-road performance potential without recognizing the incredibly important effects of tire traction is worthless (take a Class 7 racer into the desert with the wrong tires and you are toast). Also important is articulation (or the lack thereof), and of course ground clearance. This is why a 3-ton H1 with only 205 HP (but 440 torque and tall gears) can crawl through or over virtually anything, including handling 60% grades! So no, power is not the only, or even the primary, ingredient.

The Cayenne TT has all the power it needs. You might question whether it's in the right PLACE (i.e. where in the power band it is developed), whether it has optimum gearing, and what the torque generated is. For offroading, it's mostly needed in the low-end; for on-road, I would say an even split among all three would be nice (the TT actually favors the mid-to-upper band -- typical of European cars; less so of American). So, yes, the TT is a compromise of sorts. Still, in the right hands it is a capable off-roader. Not that it has the extreme articulation of rock-crawlers, nor is one likely to plant serious off-road rubber underneath it. But hey, it does have the (theoretical) clearance!