Hummer H2 Or Porsche Cayenne

[SJ]

I'm so biased regarding American vs. German vehicles and not the biggest Porsche fan (to put it politely) - that I scratched my original response.

On a positive note, Porsche ditched the lawn moweresque I-6 and dropped in a V8. Every time a Porsche passes by I'm reminded that I could use a leaf blower around the house.

[DCfromCapeCod]

911 still has a 6......

[SJ]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DCfromCapeCod:
911 still has a 6......<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I know, I was referring to the Cayenne exclusively - both the 'S' and the 'turbo' have the 4.5L V8. I'm also giving Otto a little jibe for wanting to compare the two.

[argonaut]

The cayenne reminds me of an X5. It has nimble handling and is very fast (the turbo is super duper fast). It may or may not be capable offroad (like the X5), but is very comfortable on road, and can handle very well. The H2, on the other hand, is very capable offroad, yet drives very well onroad. It is a quite comfortable vehicle, and I would say is very close in comfort level to the german trucks. That said, I'm sure it is easier to drive and park the cayenne/ X5 in an urban setting. I happen to be a very good parallel parker, so I have no problem with the H2, but I know some people who would rather die than park it downtown. But it really boils down to what you want in an SUV. fast acceleration and high speed on road driving coupled with tight handling, or a gargantuan capable offroader with horrible gas mileage yet is comfortable as a daily driver. Obviously the Hummer is not for everyone, but for those of us who have made the choice and bought our huge "box on wheels" (as that Andkon guy put it, remember him?), we are loving every minute of it and would not trade it for anything. I chose wisely. I have my M5 for speed, although I hardly ever drive that thing anymore. The hummer is just more fun.

[hummer33]

argonaut... i pitty you for comparing the cayenne with the x5. a better x5 comparrison would be the volvo xc90. more of a knoeckoff, but thats another story on its own. but back to the cayenne. 450 hp would be nice but i would never pay 100k for a vehicle that looks almost identical to an lexus rx330. but who in the right mind would take the cayenne offroad anywhere outside an exit on the way to the owner's mansion in Beverly Hills. the designers of the x5 deserve a round of applouse. they combined extreme class with a strong engine and an overall nice vehicle. the cayenne is extremely ugly, NO CAPABILITIES and will probably be so rare you might as well stop debating over such an over-hyped dissapointing vehicle. stick with the h2. itll take you way over the hills, all through the woods, and crash down grandmothers house in the end.

[argonaut]

I think the X5 is very comparable to the cayenne, especially the 4.6. The X5 has unparralelled handlng that only the cayenne comes close to. But nothing can beat the feel of a BMW. I almost bought an X5 last spring, but decided to wait and test drive the H2. I'm glad I went this route. But I am a strong BMW fan, and always will be. The Volvo XC90 may look likke the X5, but it hadles horribly, like most volvos. It is dead and numb. The Cayenne, on tghe other hand, has very good handling that is comparable with the X5. They both drive like cars, and nice german cars at that. I don't know why you are pitying me, but that's too bad for you. I don't pity myself at all, quite the opposite actually.
regardless, the owners of either an X5 or cayenne would be stupid to take it off road on anything but the most basic of trails. They simply can't compete with an H2.

[Big Z]

Looks like they got the style from a Mini Cooper.

[MAC]

AutoWeek. July 7, 2003. 14th Annual Readers' Survey. Best SUV/Off-road Vehicle. Porsche Cayenne.

[DiscoDancingRover]

I was at my local rover dealership today, which also have porsches. I was talking to my salesman and he told me while at the off-road porsche school a guy who did the Land Rover Camel events said the Cayenne is on par with a discovery. And no wise cracks Steve R

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC

[RasterMaster]

Get real! It's amazing that anything else would quaify as an SUV.

Check out the OkC Chapter Page!

[Steve R]

Chris....I'd slap the salesman for insulting the Disco!!!

Let's keep it sweet & short. Define SUV! If by SUV you mean something that is slightly higher off the ground and incorporates it's trunk into the passenger compartment and has 4-wheel drive...yeah, the Cayenne is one heck of an SUV.

However.....if you include the concept of offroad capability into an SUV...then we've got some serious issues with the Cayenne. HELLO...it's got hardly anything in the way of articulation, clearance and tires. Most of us have seen the Arrowhead video I put together...I guarantee that thing wouldn't make it up the first hill or through any of the "Most Difficult" rated trails we roll right through. Look at it....it's not going to happen! And btw...I'm seeing them all over the place. The theme around here is: Now the wifey can have a Porsche too!

I will repeat what I stated earlier: if the identical cayenne vehicle were made by Subaru and sold for $27K....they would hardly sell!!!

[DCfromCapeCod]

Although not nearly the off-road monster the H2 is, the Cayenne has far more technology and design work into it that does the H2. I would not expect the demographic that would buy the H2 to also like the Cayenne but it certainly is more vehicle than the Disco (all-around) and it is much more than soccer-mom Porsche.

Personally, I think that if Subaru made it and sold it at $27K with nice options then it would easily sell 100,000 units the first years out (v.s. 12,500 for Porsche).

If I could get around the looks, I would order one myself.....and I am a hard-core air-cooled guy (1998 C2S Widebody).

[H2Norcal]

I got a dual-bias thing going on here. I have owned and loved every one of my Porsche coupes (with the original body), but after they changed the body to look like a Ford Probe and introduced the Boxter which came with a million or so 23 year old yuppie.com drivers that thought they owned a real Porsche, I bailed on the company.

I was at Pismo Beach (a huge SVRA beach sand dune park in CA for the out-of-towners), and a Cayenne owner drove out on the beach looking to rent some ATVs. A Lexus GX was right next to it (with his air bags all raked up in the rear as in fear of getting a little sand on it). I am sorry but the drivers of both vehicles looked like they just stepped out of a summer dinner part in Newport Beach. Jewelry, preppy hair doos, loafers no socks...you get the picture...all this to drive around in the sand?

My point? A Hummer is truly like nothing else and I now realize I chose the right vehicle for me.

They can keep on thinking their Range Rovers, Disos, Cayennes, and GXs are rough and tough American off-road vehicles all day long. They're all great vehicles, don't get me wrong, but each have their own type of following and none represents me better than Hummer.

[DCfromCapeCod]

I am wondering if they bought the Cayennes, etc. to drive on road but to add a measure of security in the snow AND to get on the beach if they wanted to.

Face it - very few people actually go off road. I have a built Jeep for when I do and I would not take a $50K+ new vehicle into the woods...but I want something fun that will also handle the beach, the snow and the 2 miles of unplowed road I need to travel to get to the street in the winter.

[DiscoDancingRover]

Steve don't want to be argumentative but the H1 and H2 don't have a lot of articulation as is just big tires. And Steve he also told me that most people buy Porsche's for its speed not looks, so your suby story would be true. I wouldn't slap my salesman in the face. He is about as much as a rover enthusiest as I am. I go in there for hours and we just talk rovers. I am goneing to have to go with my salesman on this.

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC

[DiscoDancingRover]

Also anyone see what came in second...The Range Rover ahead of the H2.

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC

[DiscoDancingRover]

H2Norcal the boxter was a great move by porsche from the fact that it sold so many more cars then before. And I can't believe you don't like to new one, it is the old ones that look like crap! How would you say the hummer isn't like anything else? You example would also include a lot of H2 posuers. They would do the exact same thing as the GX and cayenne.

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC

[Steve R]

Chris, Chris, Chris....

WRONG!. The H1 has hardly any articulation, much to do with it having gear-driven hubs and the way it was set up. The H2 however has HUGE articulation and suspension travel. NOT even close to being the same animal!

You guys get so wound-up toting SFA that you become consumed in assumptions. Yes, the front-end of the H2 is independent suspension: but open your eyes and look how far up and down that suspension travels! From level, it can travel about 8" up and nearly 10" down....that's a span of 18". You can get a bit more travel out of an SFA, but certainly that would come from fairly extreme modification. The Cayenne probably has about 8" of total suspension travel...not even half the H2's.

As for slapping your salesman...that was both a joke and figure of speech: I did not mean to suggest you actually slap him.

No surprise the RR and cayenne beat the H2. The H2 will continue to fall-short anytime they do a general comparison for "best SUV". That's because a GREAT SUV has to be all things. The H2 BOMBS again and again and again:

1) It's a bitch to get up and into, most people hate that and flunk the H2 on the spot.

2) it has a seemingly wide front-end so until you get used to it you feel it's overly wide and a bitch to park.

3) Lack of cargo area. Being that the departure angles are a bit extreme and they could only go so far with the wheelbase...the vehicle is short and we lack big cargo space as expected from the size of the vehicle.

4) The gas mileage is low.

So there ya go....the H2 "sucks" as a general SUV. Now...if you wanna talk about an SUV that actually delivers in offroad performance....the H2 slams on the competition. The H2 is an extreme vehicle in that regard....it's NOT the ticket for the average person and will continue to fall short in comparisons.

Why is it soooooo hard for people to understand this?

[DiscoDancingRover]

Here is the articulation I was talking about. And the compenition was from best SUV/off-road vehicle. I don't think we should continue to argue about this since we both feel patinate about our sides and that won't get us anywhere now would it? And I know you didn't mean slap him.

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC

[DiscoDancingRover]

This doesn't look like a lot of articulation to me. IMHO. And its the best SUV/off-road vehicle. I don't think we should argue really about this since we both feel patinate about our sides. And I know you didn't mean to slap him, I am not that retarded.

1995 Land Rover Discovery, with light envy
2003 Acura 3.2TL
1998 Volvo V70 XC