Crown

Because of a slighty bigger family going forward will change from a 993 Targa to a Cayenne S with panorama glass roof to keep the targa feeling. Waiting list is 6 months, because of the weak euro still some interesting discounts here in Switzerland.

Main Specs:

EB1 2+2 yrs warranty (free)

PS2 Porsche Swiss Package Free (Homelink, SWA, park, heated seats, etc)

R6 Sandweiss

QJ4 Ext package black

VA Leather Espresso 

3FU Panorama roof (liked it on the demo car)

CP5 20" RS Spyder design wheels

1ML Sportswheel with paddles (only for the sporty look)

PCM, bluetooth, Ipod conn, airbags back, Bi-Xenon, 100l, privacy windows, roof railing, auto mirrors and some small stuff

So far haven't selected the PASM. Only makes sense with air supension, according the dealer, and that would be another CHF5k. Played around a bit with it during the testdrive but wasn't too impressed. Sportssetting was comfortable enough for me with the 20" wheels. 

Any comments and feedback appreciated. 

... other than get a BMW X5M 

 If you're replacing a 993 with a new Cayenne, maybe you are thinking of keeping the Cayenne for a few years?  I think the Cayenne is a better choice over the X5 from a longterm reliability standpoint.  I think comfort over uneven pavement and superior off-road capability are the main reasons for PASM.  If you primarily drive on smooth paved roads, the steel suspension may be a better choice.

My friend who has bought a Hybrid recently is very enthusiastic with the air suspension both on road and off. I wouldn't omit it in spite of the added cost and also consider PDCC with it. The S is a powerful car with which you can do very high speeds cross-country and around the Alps, so these options are important

There is a also PASM without air suspension with 3 modes for the dampers. Why did you pass that one by?

"Form follows function"

Congrats on the future addition to the family Tim!
 

The cayenne will be a blast, but deep in my heart I can not do anything but weep for the loss of the 993! ;-)

On very bad roads, over time, any kind of electronic suspension become a pain in the ass because sensors will start to fail (vibrations). No fun in having the car serviced so often. Sometimes on really bad roads steel suspension is better.

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There is no try. Just do.

Get the PASM and air suspension.  Even though you think the sport setting is comfortable enough now, over the long term you will want the softer ride sometimes.   The harsher ride will become irritating.  On my Cayenne, I use sport when I am by myself, but comfort setting when I have the family.  Believe me, your family will thank you.  If budget is a concern, eliminate other options.

993Targa:

 

Any comments and feedback appreciated. 

... other than get a BMW X5M 

Get a Cayenne Turbo. 

Seriously: Congratulations. 

Stupid question: I know it costs a lot but have you tried the PASM/PDCC/PTV Plus combo? It makes out of the Cayenne S half of a sports car, very agile drive feel. Try it, you're gonna love it. The air suspension also has the advantage in winter time, you can raise the chassis and drive even in very deep snow. 

No sport exhaust? Highly recommended too.

Trust me, with the sporty options, you have much more fun with the car...ehmm...truck. 

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

Pentium:

On very bad roads, over time, any kind of electronic suspension become a pain in the ass because sensors will start to fail (vibrations). No fun in having the car serviced so often. Sometimes on really bad roads steel suspension is better.

 How often is often?  I've driven on many rough roads (off-road) at very high speeds for extended periods, sometimes hours at a time.  My Cayenne is now eight years old and has 155k miles.  Still no problems at all with the PASM. 

PASM on the standard suspension is fantastic. It is really noticeably different in the three settings. I use it all the time and would highly recommend it. Your dealer is wrong in saying it needs to be spec'ed with air to be worthwhile.

I also wouldn't bother with the paddleshift steering wheel. The multi function one is far more useful in a car of this type and the scrolling functions it offers on the screen in the dash display is very useful. The 8 speed ZF gearbox is so good that you'll find you rarely bother shifting manually yourself. Just select Sport or Sport Plus and you get progressively more aggresive shift patterns making the paddles redundant IMHO.

Wheels are down to individual taste but the turbo 2's really suit the Sand white especially with the black exterior package. With PASM the ride quality is excellent.

Wonderbar:

Get the PASM and air suspension.  Even though you think the sport setting is comfortable enough now, over the long term you will want the softer ride sometimes.   The harsher ride will become irritating.  On my Cayenne, I use sport when I am by myself, but comfort setting when I have the family.  Believe me, your family will thank you.  If budget is a concern, eliminate other options.

+1, at least the PASM part of the equation.  I drove the standard suspension Cayenne a few weeks ago, and while on perfect roads it was fine, on a slightly patched up and uneven pavement, the Cayenne bobbed and fidgeted in a way that was not just not acceptable to me  (it reminded me of my departed Subaru STi, a car famous for its poor ride in stock form...).    I expect that based on how PASM improves the 997 ride it would do similar for the Cayenne.   The air suspension option, as others have noted is mainly about adjustable ride height and you would have to decide how often you would need this. 

2010 Audi S5,  2009 Porsche 911S

Once a month is often enough? I got this info from one of the local Porsche dealer's mechanic. We were chatting about PASM and air suspension in general. He was talking about the first gen Cayenne, some early 997 cars (I believe 1st gen PASM) and also about 1st gen Audi A6 Allroad.

But indeed it depends on the driver too However please keep in mind that around here sometimes the definition of a road is a series of deep, large and random shaped and placed potholes...

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There is no try. Just do.

 Thanks for the feedback . A couple of options are still open and I might change them:

- Espresso leather

- 20" Wheels

- PASM

Have two months to sort this out. Can't wait until delivery 

Pentium:

Once a month is often enough? I got this info from one of the local Porsche dealer's mechanic. We were chatting about PASM and air suspension in general. He was talking about the first gen Cayenne, some early 997 cars (I believe 1st gen PASM) and also about 1st gen Audi A6 Allroad.

But indeed it depends on the driver too However please keep in mind that around here sometimes the definition of a road is a series of deep, large and random shaped and placed potholes...

??Once a month?  Sorry, that's just not my experience.  I have still not had a single problem or issue with the air suspension at all.  Mine is a 2004 first generation Cayenne.  I understand you may have some rough roads there, so maybe that's the difference.  Here are some photos of the roads I'm referring to:

Congrats for the new family member and for the new Cayenne!!!

In future we must do an off road meeting!

997TT RS Tuning stage II,2011 Cayenne Turbo

 Thnx, delivery for all will be in 6 months. Let's see who will be first 

GM Austin:

 I understand you may have some rough roads there, so maybe that's the difference.  Here are some photos of the roads I'm referring to:

 

 Even potholes in the roads are bigger in Texas!  

fritz

I think part of the difference lays in the way you approach the environment. In Texas you approach that road aware of what is laying ahead of you. On my local roads you get a nice part of the road, you gain speed and after the next turn, out of the blue, BANG!, a deep and wide pothole completely unavoidable. When you hit it at 80km/h or more stuff breaks

Or if you hit many smaller ones, over time, sensors do fail.

BTW another common thing for local SUV owners (especially true for the large and heavy SUV's) is to bend rims.... I lost count how many time I've seen it...

There is no try. Just do.

Actually the photos above are not from Texas but Utah.  All three are from the Elephant Mountain trail in Canyonlands National Park.  Below are two Texas photos and then one more from Utah.

I am questioning the information received from the Porsche dealer about the PASM sensors needing service every month.  Again, I have had zero service or repairs on my air suspension/PASM in 150k miles of driving.  And am I cautious in my approach to the road?  Not really!  I'm cautious in the sense of trying not to let the vehicle bottom out or scrape the underside.  I want to avoid a hole in my oil pan or gas tank.  But I haven't been entirely successful.  I've broken some underbody parts and had to replace them.  I imagine this is from hitting large rocks at high speed.  A pothole at 80km/h?  I routinely travel at 120km/h+ over rocky roads.  And yes, I hit some unexpected dips and bumps.  Bent rims?  are those on the 20" wheels?  I don't think you should use wheels larger than 18" if you are expecting rough roads.  I have not had any bent wheel problems.  I broke a wheel one Christmas while playing in the snow.  The tail of my car slid sideways into a concrete curb!  Ouch!  Took 5 days to get a replacement wheel.  Is my experience unique?  I don't think so.  As you can see below, I have several friends that dirve their Cayennes off-road and to my knowledge none have had any Air Suspension/PASM problems.  I also took some time to search Porsche internet forums that I am familiar with that deal more with technical, reliability and do-it-yourself-repairs and I am not finding anyone else having recurring problems with the PASM either.  In fact, very few reported PASM problems of any kind.

Well, I am really-really glad to hear that for you everything runs fine. Somehow things are not the same around here. I am sorry but I don't know exactly why. The mechanic I was chatting with has no reason as far as I know to lie to me or to exaggerate the facts. Perhaps those drivers are completely idiots

There is no try. Just do.

Look, I called him again: he claims that usually the PDCC optioned cars give the "Chassis System Faulty" message on and off and again, driving people crazy. So people need to come back again and again.

There is no try. Just do.

Mmmm...could be.  I have no experience with the PDCC, the anti-roll system.  It looks like a cool idea, but maybe overly complex.  The PDCC is not a necessary addition to the Air Suspension.

I drove one of the first 997 cars (got it on August 4, 2004 before the official launch) for almost 5 years and almost 90.000 km, day by day around here (including winter). All the other 911 guys had 15.000km after 4 years on their cars! I had the standard suspension (and it was a manual). The PASM was just being introduced. Never had one problem. However, some plastic case/holder of  spark plug cracked because vibration which made the spark plug to move out of place and suddenly I had 3 cyl only Also I lost because of vibrations not only my rear license plate along with it's frame (funny when I remember NOT so funny back then) but the whole black rubber on which you place the license on (the rubber was fixed in place with 4 screws!).

And I can keep telling stories about noises and cracks... All because of vibrations.

Truth been told, the sport exhaust was always ON 

On a new toy I bought, the new BMW Z4, I stayed away from the electronic suspension. Last time when I was servicing my car there was a guy there with a black Z4 complaining about a "yellow warning on my screen". Guess what? some susp problems.

Crazy land man, crazy land around here

On my Scuderia I stopped the car to refuel after a VERY spirited drive and a kid asked me so nice to open the engine bay. Despite my hesitation I did it. I spent the next hour trying to fix the lock mechanism (car wouldn't start if the engine bay is reported open). Cause of the problem? A screw was loose inside of the locking mechanism (vibration and heat dilatation combined if you ask me).

On my Audi A4 the plastic part on the back of the driver's seat detached because some plastic clamp was cracked... That one was not funny because it happened while I was doing max speed over a bumpy road and the chair become "spongy" suddenly... I was lucky that I managed not to make a sudden move while I was holding the steering wheel...

There is no try. Just do.

OMG, what kind of roads over there? Now i want to see pics haha. Some crazy stories.. certainly a good idea to keep your car's setup simple if vibrations are common on your commutes.

indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine..  I happen to like both :) 

On the contrary on bad roads variable damping systems like PASM, isolate to an extent vibrations to the body of the car and other parts. The active dampers might suffer more on such roads but normal ones would anyway.

"Form follows function"

 Updated my order with some new 2012 options available:

- dark head and tail lights should look nice with the white paint and black exterior package, also "camouflage" the big taillights a bit 

- Sportendrohre Tequipment  (4 tailpipes); thought about the sport exhaust, but decided against it. Most of the time you don't want to draw extra attention driving a big SUV these days 

Also there is a new plain white available, but I will probably stick to sandweiss. Think the softer white will go better with the Espresso interior.

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Cayenne S White/Espresso delivery Oct 2011

993Targa:

 

Also there is a new plain white available, but I will probably stick to sandweiss. Think the softer white will go better with the Espresso interior.

 

IMO a plain white would do wonders for this car. 

 Have you seen sandweiss in real life? It's as white as the white on the 997. The 997 has a bit of grey blue and the sandweiss a bit yellow. Don't confuse it with the creme that is offered on the 997. 

A plain white might look like a delivery van, because it's too hard. But anyway whe are discussing shades of white here  I think both will look similar, only parked side by side you will see the difference. I'll stop by at my dealer and have a look at an espresso interior and ask his opinion.

Cayenne S White/Espresso delivery Oct 2011

espresso looks smashing on the cayenne - good choice !