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I constantly shop for SUVs to replace my winter beater Land Rover Discovery that could either die tomorrow or two years from now. But, probably it’ll be tomorrow. My search usually goes from the logical choice of a Toyota Land Cruiser to the ”Andrew, we’d like you to seek psychological help based off your 3 a.m. eBay Motors searches for Volkswagen Touaregs.” So once in awhile the Touareg’s upper-middle class cousin, the Porsche Cayenne, crosses my mind when I see a rerun of The Sopranos. Logically, I jump on eBay Motors to see where the market is at on them. I was surprised.
I like to think of this website as a preservation center for those who still enjoy changing their own gears. While the manual gearbox is disappearing from manufacturer spec sheets faster than a pack of smokes at an AA meeting, there are still a few cars out there you can have with a third pedal. Porsche is a good place to look, although the PDK Transmission is becoming the favored transmission of choice. However, there were some Cayennes you could spec with manual gearbox, such as this 2009 Cayenne GTS for sale from our friends at Euro Automotion. This black beast is rare and presents in like-new condition with just under 10,000 miles on the clock.
If you’ve read this website long enough, you’ll know I don’t like SUVs. My reasons for this disdain are numerous, from people who would never use them off-road to the fact that many have aesthetics which would make a prison execution chamber look sleek. If I’m going to be forced at gunpoint to own one, it better be damn well interesting. Enter this 2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS. Sure, on the outside it doesn’t look any much different than your usual heavy beast derived from the Volkswagen Touareg, but what’s that protruding from the center console? A manual gearbox?! Yes, this is one of the very rare Cayenne GTSs to come so equipped in 2009. Apparently just over 30 of these three-pedal off-roaders were sold in 2009, this lower mileage one for sale in New Hampshire being one of them.
Even though it’s been with us for more than a decade, I still can’t wrap my head around the Porsche Cayenne. For a company that started as a manufacturer of light weight sports cars based around Volkswagen architecture, this heavy beast seems out of place in the lineup of a sports car manufacturer. However, it’s been a hot seller and has provided Porsche an infusion of cash which will allow the sports car business to go on and on. The first generation Cayenne came in many varieties, including a GTS model with a 6-speed manual gearbox. This wasn’t the natural choice for the soccer mom, but for those who wanted a bit of fun in large truck format, there were few choices at the time. With the debut of the second generation Cayenne, the manual option was eliminated from the GTS model, but you could still row your own with a “base” model with the V6. This 2011 Cayenne for sale in Oregon is equipped as such and is a decidedly unorthodox choice if you’re in the market for a used SUV.
Edit: Thanks to several readers for pointing out several details that prove this Cayenne is a Turbo, but not a Turbo S. Only 450 horsepower, then!
It’s been a few weeks since my last 10K Friday entry, and I wanted to get something together for the impending snow New England is once again expecting. To remind us of the terms of the comparison, I’m looking for themed cars around $10,000 (give or take, we’ll see later). I try to generally find the newest cars possible, figuring that for many these will be a daily driver. In this case, I was looking for performance all-wheel drive cars that offered year round practicality with a touch of sport. So lining up the best I could find from Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche gives us an interesting amount of diversity for your hard-earned dollars. Today we have two sedans, a hatchback, a wagon and a S.U.V. to contemplated; which is the winner?
