turbolite:
Congrats RC, the SRT is a great choice!!
Porsche and their crazy pricings really are over the top. Great cars but a SUV is a SUV no matter what badg it carries. As thr saying goes, Andere Mütter haben auch schöne Töchter! so i am lookimg forward to your experience with it over time.
I would also be curious to know the fuel consumption when cruising round 130 on the highway, cause that' s what we are forced to do here in Switzerland most of the times...
Don't get me wrong: I would have loved to get that Cayenne Turbo S I've been offered and yes, this car plays in a completely different performance league than the SRT, no doubt about it. However, 2000 EUR more per month(!) just for a family car I barely use? No problem with a car like the 991 Turbo S (which is surprisingly cheaper but thats a different story) but for a family truck? I really hesitated but this time, I did NOT ask my wife for advice because last time I did (with the Panamera), I ended up with a car I returned to the lease company after only one year.
The SRT is an experiment and Lars is to blame for it (hear it? If something goes wrong...I know where to find you... ). I really like how the car looks and I always wanted a US car with such an engine. I also have to admit that the dealer kind of was the final decision point, I never met such a friendly, flexible, straight-forward and service oriented dealer like this one. Also had checked on him if this is only show to get the car sold but everything he promised, he kept the promise and asking around about him revealed the same good service with other people, so I decided to take the deal. Just one example: The exhaust is hand made and the two guys who manufacture/install it were doing overtime to get it installed in time. Yes, I checked...I was there (was in the neighborhood and just wanted to see if somebody is still there) at 7.30 pm (they usually close the repair shop at 6 pm) and there were still there, my car was up on a lift and they were installing the exhaust. Amazing.
To make it short: The Cayenne is an amazing product but the Jeep is surprisingly close in my opinion and if Chrysler decides to put a 600+ hp supercharged engine into the next generation, it will be the hell of a competitor. Similar to what the Corvette is to the 911. Only thing is: I can drive a Jeep here, nobody calls me a pimp, they rather would say I didn't have enough money for a Cayenne but with the Corvette, this is unfortunately a different story.
Bottom line is: Porsche isn't alone anymore in the performance SUV category and while the ML63, GL63, G63 and X5/X6M came only close to Cayenne performance and fun factor, the SRT already gives the Cayenne S/GTS and maybe even the Turbo a run for it's money and I don't want to know how much the next gen supercharged SRT will change that.
Exciting times for SUV owners.
Btw: The Macan is really a nice SUV but luggage room is too small. Compared to the Cayenne, the price tag is highly attractive (especially when comparing the Macan Turbo to the Cayenne GTS/Turbo models) but Porsche needs to be careful here. They are already on the expensive side and if Chrysler and GM are clever, they do not leave this performance SUV segment to Porsche. They would be fools. Chrysler seems to have understood this, not so sure about GM though.
If Chrysler succeeds in reducing the SRT weight by 150 kg, at the same time adding that supercharged Hellcat engine to it and maybe working on the fuel consumption in the higher speed range, they would have the hell of a competitor. They could even offer some sort of hybrid, which wold make the whole deal even more attractive to buyers. Add a three year warranty (right now they have two years plus two years special offer), make this car under 100k EUR (current SRT has 79k EUR official price tag), offer good lease offers and this car will sell like crazy over here. Once they make a reputation for themselves, it will be a piece of cake.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S, Porsche Boxster S (981), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014), BMW X3 35d (2013)