The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[Erik]

At least locally they are significantly more expensive then even the top end Cayenne assuming similar years and miles. I like the GC and had looked at them before.

It was the exact opposite around here when I was in the market but the demographic around here skews more towards (How did JRB put it? Oh, yeah.) overpaid yuppie than a lot of places. Even so, I had to look for a while before I found one that struck the right balance of cost, mileage and options. At the end of the day, I got what I consider to be a very fair deal on mine. A quick look a little earlier this afternoon suggested I'd have to pay about $10k more today for the same vehicle.

[TGS]

But the Cayenne is much more likely to impress a woman of refined tastes, or otherwise appeal to the 'happy wife happy life' scenario.

Hmmm. I think that's highly dependent on the woman. I had to redo this response a few times to not give an impression of misogyny to our female members, so I'll cut to the point and skip the middle part explaining my reasoning: I think most women will associate the Porsche with narcissism and would prefer to be associated with the Jeep, regardless of what trim it is. The badging matters more.

At least within the social circles I've lived in, very few women like being associated with something flashy like a luxury brand car.

ETA: I don't think it has anything to do with refined tastes, either. Most of the women I see driving Porsche Cayennes or G-wagons are not, in any way, what I'd refer to as refined.

[karandom]

New entry to the thread:

2021 Mazda CX-5 Turbo, 250 HP, 320 torque



I traded in my 2015 Audi A4 for it. I was planning on moving on from the Audi in the next year or so since I felt like it was about to cost me a bunch of $$ in maintenance as it had around 75,000 miles. I was shocked on how much the trade in value had gone up. Carvana gave me the best price compared to Vroom and CarMax. The dealer actually matched the Carvana value after some haggling which I was surprised at and I got the Mazda $750 off sticker. I felt I did great on the trade and marginal on the new car, but was pleased with the deal overall.

If anyone is looking for a smallish CUV that's quick and reasonably fun to drive, check out a CX-5. Just make sure its a Turbo since the base engine is a dog.

Quick impressions using my old A4 as a base:
Handling: The Mazda is actually a little sharper, but still a hint of torque steer since its FWD biased.
Comfort: The Audi ride slightly softer, but the Mazda has more sidewall in the tire so I feel better about the horrible Boston roads I drive on. My dog is more settled in the back seat of the Mazda for what that is worth...
Speed: Slight edge the Mazda given its much higher torque figure. The are probably almost identical in actual speed, but the Mazda gives a little more sensation of it.
Interior: Its hard to beat an Audi, but the Mazda does an admirable job. Some of the touch points aren't quite as nice, but if you sat in the car and I covered the the badge you'd be surprised that its a Mazda.

I would have love to picked up a used Macan, but I street park my car in a city and the insurance would be insane so it'll have to wait a few more years.

[rayrevolver]

Ran down a rabbit hole and found this Cayman GTS:
https://www.merlexautogroup.com/mobi...lington-va.htm

It tows 7700 lbs and has MORE payload than my 13 F150. Could it really tow my 32ft travel trailer? Probably.

Makes you wonder. Hard to take trash with it, but maybe a small utility trailer would help when needed.

[BehindBlueI's]

Hmmm. I think that's highly dependent on the woman.

My wife is more interested in the Bronco. "Looks cool" and "open air driving option" are the two things she cares about in the conversation and she prefers to passenger vs drive. She gives two shits about on road or off road performance. She's actually ok with the C8 but also thinks I won't drive it much. She likes my Camaro but would probably like one of the old t-tops versions better than the sunroof version.

[TGS]

My wife is more interested in the Bronco. "Looks cool" and "open air driving option" are the two things she cares about in the conversation and she prefers to passenger vs drive. She gives two shits about on road or off road performance. She's actually ok with the C8 but also thinks I won't drive it much. She likes my Camaro but would probably like one of the old t-tops versions better than the sunroof version.

Do you have the capacity for two cars? Have you thought about ditching the Camaro for the C8, and getting a cheaper CUV/SUV for going to the range, moving kids, inclement weather, etc?

[Duelist]

The FX's are nice but they're simply refined and comfortable. Being truly capable of sportcar-like driving is not part of the equation. It's roughly analogous to the base model Cayenne IMHO, perhaps a nudge comfier.
As to the Mitsubishi, despite being a fan of the 3000GT and Evo, an Outlander is comparable to a Rav4 or Highlander, not a Cayenne - and if that's the game, a 2009-2013ish Rav4 V6 AWD Sport would be the way to go IMHO and much more reliable than the Mitsubishi.




The GC SRT8 and GC Trackhawks are very similar to the Cayenne on paper but very, very, different in practice. The GC SRT8 is much more rowdy, fun, irreverent, loud, etc. But while quite comfortable for DD duties and overall a nice truck, the refinement, steering feedback, and overall 'finer touches' of the Cayenne really sets them apart. The street presence is much different as well. Very rarely would the same person compliment both vehicles. The folks that'd give thumbs-up to an SRT8 will only see an overpaid yuppie-mobile in a Cayenne. But the Cayenne is much more likely to impress a woman of refined tastes, or otherwise appeal to the 'happy wife happy life' scenario.

That said, I can see myself owning an GC SRT8 or Trackhawk - I'll probably never buy a Cayenne.

Reliability-wise, neither of them are Toyota pickups but the Jeep's parts are much easier to source here in the US, and it'll be a lot easier to find local mechanics willing to work on one.

“Woman of refined taste”. Such a great way to put that, and totally describes the one person I know who drives a Cayenne: a Psych professor and therapist whose attorney husband bought it for her.

[BehindBlueI's]

Do you have the capacity for two cars? Have you thought about ditching the Camaro for the C8, and getting a cheaper CUV/SUV for going to the range, moving kids, inclement weather, etc?

I already have a Ram 1500 that predates my Camaro ownership. Then my wife has her own car. The issue is not that a C8 won't do everything I need to do, it's that because of the things I need to do it would not get used much. See:

I end up driving my truck a lot more than my Camaro as it is. Between weather considerations, pot hole handling ability, need to be able to do some very light off roading to get to my shooting spot or a given trailhead and I end up putting 3k miles a year on my Camaro, give or take 1k. The Corvette would see maybe 10-20% less than that due to being a 2 seater.

I'll keep the truck, regardless. This is just a way to extend my "fast car" driving times.

[JRB]

Hmmm. I think that's highly dependent on the woman. I had to redo this response a few times to not give an impression of misogyny to our female members, so I'll cut to the point and skip the middle part explaining my reasoning: I think most women will associate the Porsche with narcissism and would prefer to be associated with the Jeep, regardless of what trim it is. The badging matters more.

At least within the social circles I've lived in, very few women like being associated with something flashy like a luxury brand car.

ETA: I don't think it has anything to do with refined tastes, either. Most of the women I see driving Porsche Cayennes or G-wagons are not, in any way, what I'd refer to as refined.

I struggled with phrasing myself - I think we're both cognizant that there's two separate demographics here, one being the 'Psychology Professor married to an Attorney' type as @Duelist mentioned, the other being what may be called 'High maintenance' 'flashy' and 'stuck up' etc. But I didn't want to seem disparaging toward anyone who thought they were nice. When it comes to luxury branding/consumer goods, it's amazing how narrow the gap is between 'refined taste' and 'unbelievably trashy'. Women's fashions will always confuse me for that reason. For many women that are professionally accomplished or *ahem* 'married up', a vehicle is a fashion accessory as much as it's a vehicle, and there's a place for a Cayenne in that spectrum that doesn't really exist for a GC, even an SRT-8 or Trackhawk.

All of my social circles would vastly prefer the Jeep as well, and having worked on lots of modern Hemi Dodge vehicles the SRT8 Jeep just makes 100x more sense for me personally.
But I was trying to give a nod toward the Cayenne, as that semi-recent driving experience of a 2013 Turbo S really did shock me at how nice it was, while still being respectably fast, so it's easy to see the appeal there. It's just not 'my thing' I guess.

Though seeing as @rayrevolver looked up the towing specs, I'd love to be that guy with a Cayenne that uses it irreverently like a normal SUV; towing a race car, doing off-road trails on the weekend, etc.

[Welder]

I struggled with phrasing myself - I think we're both cognizant that there's two separate demographics here, one being the 'Psychology Professor married to an Attorney' type as @Duelist mentioned, the other being what may be called 'High maintenance' 'flashy' and 'stuck up' etc. But I didn't want to seem disparaging toward anyone who thought they were nice. When it comes to luxury branding/consumer goods, it's amazing how narrow the gap is between 'refined taste' and 'unbelievably trashy'. Women's fashions will always confuse me for that reason. For many women that are professionally accomplished or *ahem* 'married up', a vehicle is a fashion accessory as much as it's a vehicle, and there's a place for a Cayenne in that spectrum that doesn't really exist for a GC, even an SRT-8 or Trackhawk.

All of my social circles would vastly prefer the Jeep as well, and having worked on lots of modern Hemi Dodge vehicles the SRT8 Jeep just makes 100x more sense for me personally.
But I was trying to give a nod toward the Cayenne, as that semi-recent driving experience of a 2013 Turbo S really did shock me at how nice it was, while still being respectably fast, so it's easy to see the appeal there. It's just not 'my thing' I guess.

Though seeing as @rayrevolver looked up the towing specs, I'd love to be that guy with a Cayenne that uses it irreverently like a normal SUV; towing a race car, doing off-road trails on the weekend, etc.

The fact that it's a European car is mainly what gives me pause. I hate working on them (European cars in general) and I hate the connotations that owning one have in this area ("they're for stuck-up rich people trying to rub it in everyone's faces"). I'd hear no end of trash-talking from my customers too if I owned a Porsche of any type and they knew about it LOL. At least I could laugh and say that the Corvette was just an old Chevy. No Euro car dealerships within a 50 mile radius of here, I'd guess, aside from VW.

People would probably say the same thing about the Aprilia Tuono that I ride, except that almost nobody knows what it is; most think it's a Honda or something.