Opinions please - Cayenne GTS vs Supercharged RR or RRS

[robmarrs]

Gents

Has anyone on here had the pleasure of owning the above models and which do they prefer.

I am looking @ Cayenne GTS 08-09, or RR S/C 07-10 or RRS S/C HST for a daily runner doing a 5 mile commute to work then some business mileage as well the weekend shopping & family "runabout".

Thanks for any help as having owned neither I need all the help I can get. I have read all the buying advice on here re the Cayenne, and trawled the Forums on the RR. both seem to have there costs and potential issues.

[off_again]

robmarrs said:

Gents

Has anyone on here had the pleasure of owning the above models and which do they prefer.

I am looking @ Cayenne GTS 08-09, or RR S/C 07-10 or RRS S/C HST for a daily runner doing a 5 mile commute to work then some business mileage as well the weekend shopping & family "runabout".

Thanks for any help as having owned neither I need all the help I can get. I have read all the buying advice on here re the Cayenne, and trawled the Forums on the RR. both seem to have there costs and potential issues.

Good question - not quite in the same boat, but I came from a v8 RRS and have gone to a Cayenne S (2011 model). Comments? Well, while they are similar in markets and focus, the Cayenne is waayyy different. My RRS (not the S/C model but the HSE) was a bit bouncy, soft and generally pretty wallowy. Nice ride on a run, but corners no so much. The Cayenne is totally different and almost feels like its a different class of vehicle. I was thinking GTS but went with the S in the end - the GTS is pretty stiff and harsh (I live in California and the roads can be terrible, harsh riding cars can be a nightmare) so I went with the S - still harsh, but actually rides better than my RRS.

One thing I would note though is that I was generally fairly OK with the fuel economy of the RRS V8 - its the JLR V8 not the BMW V8 that was in the full size early RR's, though same capacity! But the RRS is a big heavy car and even in lighter trim comes in at well over 2.2 tonnes! Boy do you feel it and this hits the MPG hard. Around town I would get 12, increasing to 15 if I throw in a few steady bits of dual carriage way. Best I saw was 25 on a steady 55-60 MPH run on the freeway. For a trip I do regularly I was getting 18-20 MPG on a mixture of freeway / local roads. Not bad, but not great - remember this is US gallons so 15% lower than UK ones. Swap to the Cayenne which has 25% more power (400BHP vs 300BHP of the RRS) and a hell of a lot lighter and I get 25MPG on the same run! I regularly get 15MPG around town and that jumps to 20MPG if I throw in a few steady road drives. I think (I have one of those Automatic OBD things) that I am getting 25% better fuel economy overall in comparison! Thats impressive, REALLY impressive! On a 5 mile drive, expect terrible MPG though, and the RRS will drink it quickly. The S/C model is around 10% more fuel thirsty though, marginal in comparison, but expect it to be thirsty as hell though.

I would comment mine is the 2011 model so the completely refreshed one. Its bigger on the inside, has more rear legroom (critical decision for me with my kids) and is significantly more sporty than I expected. Stupidly expensive in comparison with the RRS and EVERYTHING is an optional extra, but if someone else wants to pay, second hand makes a lot of sense. I found a good non-franchise place to get it serviced and sorted and costs are pretty reasonable too. I knew I had a big service, oil change and a bunch of other stuff that needed doing when I got the Cayenne, and so far its very similar costs to the RRS through an independent too - parts seem similar priced here. One comment though is that a diff oil change and service was $450 on the Cayenne but $800 on the RRS - different 4x4 system and the RRS has low range etc, the 2011 model did away with all of that so is cheaper, but I think the earlier one did, so worth checking this.

[alscar]

My wife has had her 2009 GTS from new and 26000 miles later still loves it as much as she did on day 1.
Barring the last week it has been simply serviced once every 2 years and nothing has gone wrong at all.
Last week the 2 front accelerator sensors went wrong so threw up chassis fault warning issues although the air suspension still operated as normal.Thermostat apparently also stuck open and the handbrake damper needed replacing.
Hers was highly specced including PDCC and I wouldnt want to run one without a warranty.
The noise it makes ( especially in sports mode with the exhausts on ) is fabulous and the main reason she doesn't want to part with it !

[Shaoxter]

If you want something sporty then you can't beat the Cayenne GTS.
Air suspension/PDCC is a must and so is the GTS Red colour

They're not massively ruinous to run as there's loads of good Porsche indies out there. 2 year service intervals, around £200-400. I was also pleasantly surprised that you can get front brake discs and pads for under £300.

Rangies have never really floated my boat (mainly due to the atrocious reliability reputation) and I think the 957 Cayenne GTS is probably the best looking 4x4 out there.

[robmarrs]

Thanks for the input guys, I am now the proud owner of an 09 GTS, in Basalt Black with 66k on the clock. Car has over £22k in factory options, air suspension but no pdcc. So far enjoying the experience, love the noise in sport mode, not quite TVR level but nice all the same.