Cayenne Off Road Good and Bad

[darrinsmith]

Hi everyone,

I have just returned from my first real off-road holiday with my 2003 Cayenne Turbo. I am hapy to report that (on standard 18" rims with road tyres - Pirelli P zeros!!!!) the car performed fantastically, surpassing my exectations, and really surprising our travelling companions (driving a Lexus LX470 ie Landcruiser 100 series and a Toyota Hilux). The ground clearance and approach angles are second to none, easily traversing muddy slippery rock that had many other "real" 4WD's stuck.

The only problem occured in really boggy sand (keep in mind I was towing a camper trailer that weighed almost 1.5 tonnes!). When trying to get up a steep hill, you need lots of momentum.

Unfortunately when the wheels start to slip, you need to apply a little more power. The cayenne unfortunately reduces the power to limit the wheel spin. While this works great in mud and on rocks, in sand it causes you to lose momntum.

The end result is you get bogged two-thirds of the way up the hill. Not good when you have to get out and back down with a trailer attached. I understand there is no way to turn off the traction control.

However if anyone knows of any aftermarket mods that can accomplish this then I would really like to know.

I have posted a couple of pictures to this thread so you can see what we were doing. Word got around up and down the beach that some psyco had their Porsche down there. At one point we were cruising along the beach and went past a bunch of guys parked near the water. They gave us a really loud cheer. Some other interested campers from near by (including one real Porsche fan) made the trip to our camp on 4wd motorbike to take a look at the car.

For those who are interested we camped at a place called Alexander Point, about 100 or so km's east of Esperance, Western Australia (you can google earth it if you want). Access is only by beach driving, and you have to negotiate several rocky, steep headlands to get there, but the trip is worth it, it's a top camp spot with a really nice sheltered beach for swimming.

Cheers!

Getting the Trailer over some rocks, No Problem!

Down the Really Steep Sand Hill, Unfortunately this hill defeated us (traction control-GRRRRR!) on the way back.

The eye-popping beauty of Alexander Point with the eye-watering beauty!?!? of the cayenne!

Lunch on the beach at Isralite Bay (4 hours in and 4 hours out, quite a drive!)

Yep, She'll need a wash at some point.

Paused on the beach waiting for the rock crossing to become clear on the way back.

[stealthn]

Cool post. The trick with sand is you have to drop the tire pressure, drop all 4 down 5 lbs and try again, then once out use the built in pump to fill them up; you kind of need to float over sand not get bogged down in it.

Cheers

Edited January 6, 2009 by stealthn

[Bill_SoCal]

Beautiful place to go try your Cayenne off road! Great post! ;)

I went on the Cayenne off road event with the Porsche Club of San Diego back in November...we had a blast. It is amazing what the onboard computers will do when 4WDL is engaged and you're going through some gnarly terrain. I found success using the tiptronic going down hill to control the speed (letting the computer do it's thing) and I used drive up the ravines and through soft sand. These vehicles really do well off road.

I ended up replacing two new 20" tires on the front of my Cayenne due to sidewall damage (one had to be replaced on the trail) :soapbox: ...we went through some rough stuff! I guess that's what I get for going off road with performance street tires.

All the best,

Bill B)

[wvicary]

However if anyone knows of any aftermarket mods that can accomplish this then I would really like to know.

Maybe start with some proper tires and the correct tire pressures. I think you'll notice a huge difference in what the Cayenne can do.

[darrinsmith]

However if anyone knows of any aftermarket mods that can accomplish this then I would really like to know.

Maybe start with some proper tires and the correct tire pressures. I think you'll notice a huge difference in what the Cayenne can do.

I was running 18PSI anyway. I didn't want to run any less, our traveliing companion in the Lexus was unfortunate enough to pop the bead on one of his front tyres (he went down to 12 PSI which was probably a little too low).

Off road tyres wouldn't make much difference in this type of sand, if anything the agressive tread pattern tends to dig you in even more.

Anyway, it was still a blast and I have more adventures planned.

Cheers

DS

[tXster]

Sweet, nice pics, looks like you had a great time

[darrinsmith]

Hi

By was of a follow up our next off raod trip was totally awesome, super tough rocks, boggy soft sand, washed out rivers, so far from anywhere (do a google earth search for Zydorpt wreck).

Anyway I found that when you are stuck in sand, you can "feather" the throttle, and partially "defeat" the traction control.

We were able to crawl out (with a couple of people pushing!) which the camper trailer (pop-top to you Americans!) attached.

Go off-road today! the scratches polish out!

Cheers

Darrin Smith

Perth Western Australia.

Best Beaches in the World!

[3ball]

I understand there is no way to turn off the traction control.

I have a button on my dash that disables traction control. Red triangle, top dead center button above the display for radio/nav. I'd expect you have the same, but no guarantees.

[Transsiberia]

I understand there is no way to turn off the traction control.

I have a button on my dash that disables traction control. Red triangle, top dead center button above the display for radio/nav. I'd expect you have the same, but no guarantees.

I have had the same experience with my Cayenne but have a remedy that is simple and comes from years of light off roading with my GWagens. Use two feet. One lightly on the brake and the other controling the throttle. THis will defeat most of the antislip and allows for better throttle modulation even with the electric nannies. Only problem is added brake wear and occassional rotor overheating. which becomes clear with a small amount of sponginess on brake pedal. I have not had to do this with my Transsyberia though as I believe the algorithms for slip are different and better.