Porsche Cayenne 2003 Review

It steps away from the company's roots and its rivals, taking the famed German sports car maker into very new territory.

So, is it a fast four-wheel drive or a sports car in a four-wheel drive suit?

And what's the point of having a 250km/h bush basher? Or an Outback escape machine that most people will be scared to scratch?

Porsche has its own answers and has clearly tapped a similar sentiment in shoppers, because advance orders for the Cayenne run forward for nearly a year in Australia. And the car – somehow, truck doesn't fit – already looks likely to more than double total Porsche sales here.

It's been a huge hit in Europe and Americans are also open to the action, but there are plenty of buts...

Like? Why did Porsche have to share development with Volkswagen and then face the fact the VW Touareg was always going to be cheaper with almost the same appeal?

And why did Porsche work so hard to create a 911-style nose that doesn't really work with the rest of the Cayennne's bodywork?

But the Cayenne is definitely the answer to a question that's been gnawing at Porsche for more than 20 years. It always wanted a four-door vehicle to boost its range and spread the sports car appeal to families, but didn't know how to do it without undermining the classic, ageless and brilliant 911.

It tried for a while with the front-engined 928 V8, but it was too soft for 911 fans and not practical enough for anyone else.

The 924 and 944 models moved Porsche into more-affordable territory, now filled by the Boxster, but none of those cars could do the jobs filled by the Mercedes, BMWs and other luxury cars usually parked in garages alongside a 911.

So the Cayenne is an obvious answer. And it's a solution that's already working well for BMW and Mercedes, with everyone from Maserati to Lamborghini likely to go down the same trail.

The Cayenne is a big, heavy, four-wheel drive with plenty of space for five people and their luggage. It has permanent four-wheel drive and true ¿crawler¿ gears for off-road work, but the sports car focus is obvious in everything from the leather-grip steering wheel to the low-profile, 18-inch alloy wheels.

There are two models, the Cayenne S with a 4.5-litre V8 motor and the Cayenne Turbo which gets a force-fed version of the same engine that pumps out 331kW of power and 620Nm of torque.

Prices are what you'd expect for a big, fast, four-door Porsche and the starting dollars run to $129,900 for the S and $203,400 for the Turbo. They only come with a six-speed automatic gearbox, but there is a huge list of standard equipment -- auto air-con, leather electric seats, satnav, CD sound and more -- and buyers can also dip into a deep pool of extra-cost gear.

On the road

There has been an incredible amount of interest in the Cayenne, across Australia and across the world.

We went to the Australian press preview of the Cayenne in South Australia's rugged Flinders Ranges and came away impressed. We took an open mind and a heavy right foot and discovered the Cayenne was great on the road, great in the rough stuff, and impressively engineered in almost every area. But...

There were questions about quality, we didn't get to try it in the city or suburbs, and we still had niggling doubts about the threat from the Touareg.

So we saddled up a Cayenne S for the annual run from Sydney to Bathurst and back, with other action along the way, to decide the Cars Guide verdict on the controversial newcomer.

We couldn't hide our disappoint ment in the first five kilometres with the Cayenne. It squeaked and rattled like an old Hyundai and we were straight on the phone to Porsche to get some answers – beyond the 10,000km on the odometer and a tough life as a press test car.

We were directed to the Porsche pits at Bathurst, where factory mechanics pounced and found everything from a loose panel in the top of the dash to floppy trim around the doors, and rubber seals that needed lubrication. Normal stuff, we were told, for a 10,000km checkup. And the sort of stuff that owners would take straight back to the dealership.

We were happy that most of the noises were gone after the tweaking, but... just 10km later the panel below the dash popped loose again and the rattle was back. Not nice.

We were also underwhelmed by the performance of the Cayenne S, at least in city conditions. It's brisk but not outstanding, and the fuel-use readout in the trip computer was reading 16.4 litres/100km. We got it down to 12.4 during our test, but it will like a drink if you dip into the accelerator.

This is all sounding pretty negative, but that's not the goal. The Cayenne is a terrific vehicle in so, so many ways.

We enjoyed our time in the Cayenne S and it definitely does the job for Porsche people who want a family wagon with a sports car flavour. But we're not totally convinced it is the ultimate answer.