Porsche hasn't been sitting still since Cayenne's launch in 2003. In 2004, Porsche introduced a V6 model that opened Cayenne to a much larger group of buyers. For 2005, it has added useful standard equipment and introduced new option packages. Most significantly, it offers Cayenne for the first time with something loyalists insist every Porsche needs: a 6-speed manual transmission.
But like many Porsches, the Porsche of SUVs can still be very expensive. The price spread across the Cayenne line is more than $50,000. A loaded Cayenne Turbo can crack the $100,000 barrier, and that alone will knock it off most shopping lists. Yet even the well heeled can be value conscious. Many buyers who can afford a Cayenne will find much of the performance and all the satisfaction of use or ownership for half that $100,000 price. The Cayenne will be truly appreciated by a relative handful of SUV buyers with exacting demands or unshakable brand loyalty. We might call them connoisseurs. In that respect, too, the Cayenne is a lot like most Porsches before it. Next Page