SUVs let's hear it!

[nola911]

I am on the fast-track to buy a new SUV. I am concentrated on the cayenne s and the x5 4.4

I will be towing 6k lb boat with it almost every summer weekend, and need it to be "cute" enough for my wife to drive durring the week. The fx and lexus are out with no tow capacity. If you have other suggestions that fit the guidelines, let them fly.

I have driven a brand new caynne s and a 70k mile x5. The stearing and throttle response is good on both of them, but the x5 feels like it has a sloppy suspension (70 miles?) They are both comfy, and I need to hear some pro/cons. Mostly cons, let me know if one is dangerous and should be avoided.

[Burg Boxster]

Lexus out, why? Other than if you mean the RX b/c of tow capacity.

With a 6K # boat, I'd personally insist on something that'll definitely tow it w/out any problems what so ever. Highway is one thing but hills/mtns (up or down) and boat ramps are another. Cayenne will, X5 might, 4Runner will, Explorer won't, why not the Lexus GX470? Tow capacity is 6500# w/ std hitch. Lots of power, good suspension, and all sorts of creature comforts. I have an enclosed 5x10 trailer I pull w/ my GX and honestly even when it's loaded, you can barely even tell it's there. With the back up camera & height adj rear suspension - it's about as simple as can be to hook up.

Take a look again at the GX. Yes, it's bigger than the Cayenne and X5, but definitely smaller than a Yukon, Expedition, Sequoia, etc.

[John V]

You want to tow that big of a load with an X5 or Cayenne? I don't suggest it. The tow rating on an X5 is 6,000lbs and that doesn't allow for much wiggle room with regard to payload (i.e. are you going to have anything else in the truck when you're towing the boat? Probably...) The Cayenne is 7500 lbs or so if I recall correctly.

Personally I'd much rather have a body-on-frame to tow that much weight, and I'd really want a diesel. We tow a 3,000lb car on a 2,100lb trailer routinely. With a decent payload in the truck (tires, tools, jack, passengers, etc) the truck is routinely hauling over 6,000lbs. We use a Nissan Armada and it has no trouble with it, but that's a full-frame truck, and if we had any more weight than that I would really want more truck - diesel pickup, diesel SUV (Suburban et al).

I can't understand the appeal of driving ANY of these vehicles as daily drivers, but to each their own.

[Triumphblack]

With a 6k boat plus trailer, you want something with a frame and not unibody construction. Unless you want to replace transmissions, find something that has a towing package as an option. You also have to consider weight, you don't want the tail wagging the dog. My Sequoia works great, I would look for something similar.

[nola911]

I'm coming from a 2007 tundra, a 2002 tundra, a 1996 range rover, a 1996 land rover, and a 1995 z71. I know the benefits of the large truck, but I have danced it enough to know I can get by with much less.

I estimate the boat 6k, if that, fully loaded with fuel, ice, offshore rods/tackle, ect. If the little SUVs cannot handle it, I have the option of making someone else drive. Anyone who would be coming with me has capable cars/trucks, but I think I will be fine with either of those two options.

Burg, you are right, the RX is out because of towing, and the GX is out because of size. The 4 runner feels old to me already, and I am not overly impressed with the driving experience. The new highlander cannot tow for me.

Triumph- same problem with the seqouia, my dad has one, fantastic truck and it tows my boat with ease, but, too large.

John, have you driven any of them, the cayenne makes great daily driver, and with child on the way, it beats the hell out of a minivan.

Let's do this, since I may not get the best of both worlds, towing aside, do you have any hesitations with either of the cars, or any suggestions with anything else in the size range.

[jmatta]

My friend has a large, enclosed trailer that they tow the GT3 around in. Has a Cayenne Turbo, but prefers to tow with their Ford F250 "BFT" (i.e. Big F*****g Truck). I think you are way on the limit with that kind of weight, towing with a Cayenne.

[drburton]

I have a V8 Touareg and love it. The Touareg is based on the same platform as the Cayenne and is in my opinion much better looking. You would also save big money by going with the Touareg. In addition, you can get a V10 Diesel Touareg that is stacked with torque, so you could pretty much tow a house.

Some of the Touareg benefits:

- Great engines 355HP V8 or V10 Diesel
- Good pricing
- Beautiful interior
- Comfortable
- Lots of towing grunt
- More space than an X5

Let me know if you have any additional questions specific to the Touareg.

[porsche986spyder]

I've always wanted a Porsche Cayenne with the TechArt Body Kit and Hood. Check out this bad boy!

[70Sixter]

Just bought a new for 07 X5 3.0 for Mrs Sixter. I can only guess the one with 70k miles was clapped out, cuz this one handles great with all the sport options. Also got to track (and off-road) similar one at Spartenburg, SC, as part of factory delivery. (Highly recommended. Woo hoo.

We have no heavy trailer requirement, and it is her daily driver. She loves it. We just put 6k miles on it during trip to NorCal for T-day, and it is a wunnerful road car.

Cayenne not a good option as dealer is 2.5 hours away, and one car going there is enough. New Jeep not option cuz she came to hate hers. Considered VW, Acura/Honda, Mercedes, Mazda, Volvo, and even Suzuki.

The new X5 is bigger'n we realized. Tried to park in the garage spot behind my 914 previously occupied by 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Wouldn't fit!

Don't rule out the X5 until after driving a new one. Our dealer's test drive was best & most exhilerating ever and really sold her on the car after driving the Benz.

[nola911]

[QUOTE=drburton] V10 Diesel Touareg QUOTE]

I never knew such a thing existed.

I completely left out the Toaureg, didnt even think about it. I have an appointment for a test drive tonight! I like the looks of it, the size is perfect, the dealership is 2 minutes from my house (45 for porsche, BMW, Mercedes, and lexus) We will see about this.

Topless, you are speaking my language. As long as the car can pull the boat up the ramp and over 2 bridges, I am fine. No hills, no speed, no dangers.

Spyder, truly beautiful cayenne. The techart kit probably cost half of my whole car budget.

[Topless]

Max,

A little perspective from an old river rat.

My big boat is about 4500 lbs dry and though I have pulled it with a v6 4Runner I prefer to pull it with a BFT Tahoe, Silverado etc. We have mountains... big ones. I need plenty of pulling power, super cooling and tons of stopping power.

You are in Louisiana. No mountains. You could probably get your boat to the ramp and back in a Rav4 but the tail would want to wag the dog. The Cayenne or X5 should be ok on flat ground. The only thing I don't like about the X5 is the small cargo area in back. A tradeoff for a smaller SUV. Good hunting.

[John V]

Originally Posted by maxferran

Triumph- same problem with the seqouia, my dad has one, fantastic truck and it tows my boat with ease, but, too large.

John, have you driven any of them, the cayenne makes great daily driver, and with child on the way, it beats the hell out of a minivan.

I could never deal with the image of owning a Cayenne (it's the ultimate yuppie poseurmobile) but they're definitely nice vehicles.

It sounds like you don't have to tow very far, so I suppose either would work out OK. I would certainly prefer the V10 TDI Toureg if you can deal with the VW unreliability.

cayenne hands down the best suv

[racer_d]

Why are you hauling a 6K lb boat every weekend instead of leaving it docked somewhere? Would it be "cheaper" to pay a marina fee and just drive a regular car down to the boat?

What about passengers? How are they getting there? In the tow vehicle? 4-5 people can be another 1,000lbs to take into consideration in addition to the 6000lb "trailer" rig.

Touregg Diesels are hard to come by. Taken off the market last year do to lack of low sulfer diesel. Plus, they run about $60K new. Then again, 550 or so FT-LB of torque can pull a heck of a lot.

To me, "can" you make a T-Egg or Cayenne work? yes. It might be on the more marginal side of things though.

What is the "dock" like where the boat goes in. I'd be concerned about the short wheelbase of the T-EGG/Cayanne and the front wheels getting air trying to pull 6-7K lbs (wet) on a lippery boat ramp, with water lapping up on your $2k muffler and do it every weekend? Or even every other weekend?

Get the right tool for the job.. You want to pull a boat, YOU get to drive it.. F350 Dually, Diesel if you want Load up the trailer bed with a jet ski, wet gear, etc as well.


In another unpopular vote, SUV's and kids are hard too.. Climbing up on step rails, in the wet, to reach a middle infant seat is miserable. even more so if the rear door openings are narrow. Then, as the kids get older, worrying about them opening the door into other cars (whether your Porsche in the garage, or a ******************** box at the mall). I never wanted a minivan, but a minivan is the perfect tool for the job. Simple to maintain. easy to drive. Get some power sliders and hatch and it makes life SOO much easier. Leaving room for a sliding door is a lot easier than for a full size "conventional" door. .. Besides, "one on the way" usually means even more to come

Good luck with the decisions.. Who knows, once the kid is "out" maybe the boat will be gone.

Max, what about an Explorer with the V8? Can't it handle the weight?

How about the Tahoe with the hybrid engine?

[mts]

I have a 2004 Cayenne and used it to tow a track car and open car trailer (5,000lbs total load) and it worked brilliantly with the tiptronic. I honestly didn't think the V6 would have enough grunt and I was only going to use it as a stop-gap until I got a diesel truck, but the ability to tip down a gear on hills made it work really well as a tow vehicle. The V8 would likely handle your open boat trailer and 6,500lbs with no issues at all, especially with no hills. When I go to Road Atlanta and VIR I have to go through the mountains and that's a bit more of a challenge, but it handles it just fine.

I still have the Cayenne, but retired in from tow duty. I now pull an open 2 car trailer to events and use an F250 turbo diesel for the task (about 10,000 lbs tow weight), but if I do tow a single open trailer and don't have too much junk I prefer to use the Cayenne......such a nice ride.

One thing people neglect to consider sometimes is what you are towing. A 6,500 open boat trailer is a heck of a lot less taxing to tow than say a 5,000lb enclosed car trailer for example. It's the wind resistance. For example, my F250 has to work harder towing a big square single enclosed car trailer (about 6,000lbs) than my 10,000lb open 2 car trailer. The point being the V8 Cayenne will handle your boat on flat land no problem.

Good luck,
Mike

[Cloudsurfer]

I would go for the V10 Diesel VW. Having spent a lot of time towing boats and big car trailers, I would only want a diesel- both for the torque and the fuel economy (especially now). In an ideal world we'd all have Diesel Duallys in our garages for the times we need to tow things, but unless you have a good chunk of extra cash laying around (or want to drive a dually for a daily) its just not practical. When you break it all down, I think for a daily that has decent towing capability and is fuel efficient, I think you can't beat the VW.

One thing to keep in mind, however, if you wind up doing a lot of towing with any of these: they are not real trucks. Yes they'll tow the weight (some more happily than others), but the added wear and tear is wear and tear to very expensive components. Its not bad when you have to finally do brakes on your F-350, its quite another on an X5. Same goes for diff service, gearbox service and possible failure, etc.

Just my $.02.

Patrick

[nola911]

Originally Posted by John V

I could never deal with the image of owning a Cayenne (it's the ultimate yuppie poseurmobile)

haha, I thought I just read a thread that said the boxster was... written by a nissan guy.

I don't think my wife would mind the looks of angry people wondering who the "poseur" is driving the cayenne. What the hell is a poser anyway??

Once again, I am not worried about the tow rating. The v6 caynne base has the same tow capacity as the v8 s, the turbo, and the turbo s. I am not going far and not getting enough speed pull myself off the road.

As far as I am concerened the ratings are based on vehicle size and length more than their actual abilities. You cannot tell me a turbo s with more power than an h1 hummer cannot pull an 8k lb boat up a gentle boat ramp slope.

If my range rover that weighed 4401 with a 7700 lb tow capacity could handle it with ease, the 4950 lbs cayenne with the same tow capacity can do the same. Thats enough tow talk.

[pteam]

Originally Posted by maxferran

As far as I am concerened the ratings are based on vehicle size and length more than their actual abilities. You cannot tell me a turbo s with more power than an h1 hummer cannot pull an 8k lb boat up a gentle boat ramp slope.

Although I did own an H1 open top back in the day and pulled 2 jet skiis with it, I do not recommend an H1, theyre terrible for highway use, and seating is terrible (only seats 4) . Also they stopped making the H1 and sticker prices were well over 100k.

The 08 H2 / Cadillac Escalade (same engine / drivetrain / 400 horsepower / 6 speed tranny) is what I recommend, which has seating for 8, leather everywhere heated seats in front and rear and lots of stuff for around low 50K's new with 100,000 mile warranty. The cayennes are nice but dont have a 3rd row seat I believe, they have less horsepower, less torque, smaller engine size, less seating, for more money. Also the escalade hybrid is due out anytime now.

[mtch]

Originally Posted by maxferran

Once again, I am not worried about the tow rating. The v6 caynne base has the same tow capacity as the v8 s, the turbo, and the turbo s. I am not going far and not getting enough speed pull myself off the road.

You should be!!! You will ruin an expensive vehicle is you repeatedly tow over a vehicle's capacity.

Originally Posted by maxferran

You cannot tell me a turbo s with more power than an h1 hummer cannot pull an 8k lb boat up a gentle boat ramp slope.

Power is not the determining factor. A turbo s need RPMs to spool the turbo which generates its power and torque to move the load. The high RPM and a slow moving vehicle = new tranny.

The H 1 makes no power, but LOADS of TQ off throttle. Plus it has torque multiplying hubs and a super low granny gear, so can tow a small village with stressing it's tranny or other hardware.

Originally Posted by maxferran

If my range rover that weighed 4401 with a 7700 lb tow capacity could handle it with ease, the 4950 lbs cayenne with the same tow capacity can do the same. Thats enough tow talk.

There are many factors that go into tow ratings, and you should research the topic more thoroughly before spending serious $$. Based on your comments it seems that your understanding in not complete.