where are the Porsche cayenne expo builds?

dreadlocks

Well-known member
A diff locking diesel w/air suspension would be a bigger unicorn than a 6MT if such a configuration ever sold.. just getting one with diff locks is hard enough to locate
 

Cayenne-958-TDI

Active member
Depends on what you intend to do under the broad term 'Overland'
A Cayenne would not be my first choice for rock climbing or Mud-holeing. For long distance mulit-week overland travel we have gone everywhere we wanted where fuel was available. Think 6,500 mile trips. A North American diesel is not able to travel to Central or South America as ULSD fuel is not available. Mexico is starting to see ULSD distribution in major population areas. Even in NA we could not travel further north than Coldfoot, AK as fuel was not available, going there again this winter
While the diesel only has a center locking differential - the computer controls and air suspension are excellent. In six years we have been winched out twice - once intentionally as part of vehicle recovery class - the second time intentionally while having fun in deep snow. We did use our winch to pull two stumps on our property.
For info on what we do and our build see link:
.
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
I'm completely open and find the EDL does an admirable job on trails, its a lil disconcerting at first when your coming down a decent grade on a trail and abs is firing off left and right, but it does its job keeping power down and vehicle on track.. I think the diesels are going to do better on trails because that instant low range torque really makes up for not having a low gear transfer case.

Air Suspension is the tits tho, its like you get 3 vehicles in one.. slam it to the ground and go smash some mountain twisties and its easy to forget your in an SUV and not a sports car, put it in middle/comfort for the long hauls across the country with excellent towing characteristics.. and then lift it up to max, get as much clearance as most stock jeeps and go explore some trails and back roads.

Diesel + Air Susp IMO makes best expo rig on this platform if your doing mild overlanding, lockers would be good insurance like a winch, but ideally very rarely used so its not required, they have potential to get you into situations these vehicles cant conquer fast if you start over-using the locking capability.. they are not rock crawlers obviously.
 
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Mr. Merk

Member
I tend to tow in sport mode as well. For one it starts out in first gear and feels much more stable. Probably doesn't make a difference but I figure being lower to the ground might aid in aero.

What do you guys that tow do?
 

SSG

Member
Thanks for the details. I am not going to do any rock-climbing or MOAB type obstacles, mostly doing long road trips comfortably and getting to camp sites that are accessible via "rougher" trails and terrain. I currently have a 2018 Toyota 4runner TRD PRO and although this vehicle is off-road capable it is not as pleasant to drive daily or on long road trips as the Cayenne I test drove and fell in love with, the interior of the Porsche is amazing to me, the 4runner's is just outdated and boring, 4runner does not excite me, I don't look back at it and say wow, love that truck.

So I would prefer having at least a locking center or rear diff.

I definitely prefer the diesel, I just prefer diesel engines. Not looking to travel to South America but definitely road trips to Alaska for sure.

Is the air suspension reliable on the Cayenne? I have owned some Range Rover l322s and an L405, nice vehicles but something about the Cayenne just resonates with me. I would probably just start out with some great all terrain tires and some under body protection/skid plates to protect the undercarriage. Also a roof top tent which I have seen some on here have mounted.
 

Mr. Merk

Member
Is the air suspension reliable on the Cayenne? I have owned some Range Rover l322s and an L405, nice vehicles but something about the Cayenne just resonates with me. I would probably just start out with some great all terrain tires and some under body protection/skid plates to protect the undercarriage. Also a roof top tent which I have seen some on here have mounted.

Apparently the suspension is very good. The only failure I've really read about was the team that did the BAJAXL rally with a 1st gen Turbo. They replaced one ORIGINAL air shock.

Call or Message Joey at Emotion Engineering in Orange County for any overlanding gear like bumpers/skids/lifts etc. He's developing new Bilstein air liftstruts for these things too.
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
Adaptive Air Suspension is really rather reliable from what I've put together.. I did a bunch of research on em after knowing how terrible the old Audi Allroads were but it seems alot of lessons were learned from those and implemented in ours.. there is now safety features on the air pump so it wont run it at full duty cycle until it burns up.. they now use correct metallurgy so fittings are no longer corroding and breaking off.. so on and such forth.

Seems the most common issue is check valves getting stuck, and they made those easily replaceable.
 

SSG

Member
Thanks for all the great info everyone. Still thinking on whether to pull the trigger on a Cayenne or wait for the New Land Rover Defender...
 

mep1811

Gentleman Adventurer
Depends on what you intend to do under the broad term 'Overland'
A Cayenne would not be my first choice for rock climbing or Mud-holeing. For long distance mulit-week overland travel we have gone everywhere we wanted where fuel was available. Think 6,500 mile trips. A North American diesel is not able to travel to Central or South America as ULSD fuel is not available. Mexico is starting to see ULSD distribution in major population areas. Even in NA we could not travel further north than Coldfoot, AK as fuel was not available, going there again this winter
While the diesel only has a center locking differential - the computer controls and air suspension are excellent. In six years we have been winched out twice - once intentionally as part of vehicle recovery class - the second time intentionally while having fun in deep snow. We did use our winch to pull two stumps on our property.
For info on what we do and our build see link:
.

All we saw in Deadhorse were late model Ford and Chevy diesel pickups . There must have been the correct fuel up there.
 

mep1811

Gentleman Adventurer
Picked up my new off-road trailer.
Towings beautifully behind the Porsche.
I have to make a slight modification to the external tire carrier to clear the hitch.
 

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Cayenne-958-TDI

Active member
Mike, that is good news!
In the winter of 2016 ULSD was not available north of Coldfoot. 4'x8' sign 'No ULSD available north of Coldfoot'
We will be driving to Tuktoyaktuk then over to Coldfoot this February, will let you know what we find.
 

Cayenne-958-TDI

Active member
Excellent point about clearing the spare tire and giving room to open the tailgate.
What brand did you chose and will y'all have a RTT on top?
Are you able to fit Cayenne wheels on it to have common spare tires/wheels?
.
We looked at several models at the NWOR this weekend. Very good selection including Bruder, Conqueror, Patriot Campers, and many others. We were very impressed with the Patriot X1H. Still trying to grapple with whether or not we want to go the trailer route vs ground tent. Main concern is carrying that much weight climbing technical sections of trail. While we did not top having four Cayennes' at the event this year, we did have one join us on a trail run we led.
.
 

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