Author: Jim Lamb
'03 Cayenne S

Last weekend we drove the Cayenne to Tampa from Charleston, SC - about a 400 mile trip each way. The C was loaded up with my wife, our 1-yr old son (car seat mounted in the middle of the back seat). We folded the driver side back seat flat so that our 2.5 yr old Golden Retriever could stretch out and see us during the trip. I used bungee cords to secure our luggage and baby gear in the passenger side of the cargo area.

We got just over 15 mpg averaging 80 mph (according to the trip computer). We did notice that, when I made a conscious effort to drive conservatively, we got about 18 mpg. Each way, we almost made it on a single tank of gas, but not quite. The C is wonderfully stable at highway speeds, if not quite as confidence inspiring as my 996 C2 was. The suspension, which some feel is overly firm for daily driving around town, was well suited to most of I-95. We traveled at night (leaving at 7-8pm) and my son slept through the majority of the drive.

Cargo space was a little tight because we took the dog (not out original plan). When our second baby comes late this summer, I'll definitely be looking into roof- or hitch-mounted cargo carriers. I still prefer having a somewhat smaller vehicle and adding cargo capacity only when I need it rather than having a larger vehicle and wasting the excess capacity most of the time.

Because we traveled at night, we didn't get a lot of attention on the road. This was probably a good thing as we get a lot of looks and waves around town. There was one X5 (a 4.4 I think) that followed me through the better part of our leg in Florida. I never did get a look at the driver as we exited a ways before we reached the down town area.

Most of I-95 through Georgia was under construction. There wasn't any work going on when we went through, but there was a dense cluster of speed traps. A string of 4 patrol cars spread out with maybe 5 miles in between them. There was no instant-on and my V1 worked very, very well.

On a very long, straight, flat stretch of I-10 in north Florida, I opened the C up a bit. I took it up to 110 (about as fast as I car to go with my wife and child in the car) for just a few minutes. There was absolutely no drama. The C would be happy to travel at those speeds for as long as you'd like.

Those monster windshield wipers did a better-than-average job of getting the bug splatter off. I did, of course, need to give the front end and mirror housings a good scrubbing at the end of each leg for the sake of the paint. The driver's seat was tremendously comfortable. I drove the entirety of each trip and never got the least bit uncomfortable. My wife was delighted to discover that the passenger seat reclined all the way back to a flat position and she was able to get a fair amount of sleep.

The bi-xenons were really helpful on those long dark stretches of empty highway. If you haven't bought your Cayenne S yet, I'd strongly recommend that option. The 3-blink turn signals really came in handy on the highway as well.

Overall, the Cayenne is a great vehicle for longer trips. Plenty of room, plenty of passing power, and oodles of comfort.