Off-Road Porsche Cayenne Idea

One, I think that off-road Porsche Cayennes are awesome. Second, I want to learn how to work on Porsches. Early Cayennes are cheaper than classic Porsches right now, and at this point, almost all of the service manuals and special tools are available for purchase by normal people...

The Car 

I would go with a first-generation (2003-2010 model year) Porsche Cayenne base model for the vehicle. Specifically the base model because it comes with the VW 3.2l or 3.6l VR6, depending on if it is a 955 or 957 generation. The reasons for going with this engine include, as a VW fan, I enjoy the sound of a VR6 with aftermarket exhaust. Additionally, on the VR6, the only Porsche-specific part is the intake manifold; the rest are VW parts, which will be much easier to get if need be. I would personally prefer a manual transmission for it but would be okay with the Tiptronic automatic if need be, especially since I have never seen a manual Cayenne in person. I would also go with the VR6 engine because as it is a cast iron block and may be heavier, it is not as susceptible to bore scoring as the aluminum V8 engines are. Also, no turbos decrease the amount of major parts that could break and put the vehicle out of commission for a while. I realize that almost everyone will say how unreliable a Porsche Cayenne, or any German car for that matter, is. However, I firmly believe that if you keep up with the maintenance schedule, any German car can give any other car a run for its money regarding reliability. 

The Build 

 The build would be mostly straightforward and would not require too much. I would go through Eurowise for the aftermarket off-road parts for almost everything. From my research, they have the widest selection and the best prices for parts. The first part is the suspension lift, which I would go with Eurowise Offroad’s Gen 1 3” Lift Kit (SKU: EWOCTQLK12). A three-inch would be sufficient for this build as I would not take it mudding, so it doesn’t need to be fifteen feet in the air, and there also needs to be the consideration of parking it under some sort of covering. It needs to be mentioned that if the Cayenne comes with air suspension, then Eurowise Off-road sells a three-inch lift kit specifically for air-suspension cars, which is a little more expensive (SKU: EWOCTQLK16). Also, there is a subframe drop kit, which, while it may not be mandatory, is recommended as it decreases the distance from the hubs to transmission, which is increased beyond stock with the lift kit; Eurowise Off-road sells these as well. For the wheels on this build, I would go with Fifteen52 off-road wheels model and color depending on the color of the Cayenne and what look I am going for. Lastly, I would also upgrade the driveshaft center support bearing as those are known to go bad from age. 

I would wait to do those for major suspension parts, such as front and rear control arms, until the stock ones are worn out or damaged from off-roading. It is not best to wait until a rock installs a 90-degree angle in a lower control arm off-road before changing it, but I would personally wait for cost purposes. If the lower control arms are toasted from too many mall speed bumps, I would consider changing them. The other suspension part I would upgrade at some point would be the sway bar end links, as they are likely to fail when abused too much. Eurowise Off-road sells a kit that includes all front and rear control arms, and the upgraded sway bar end links can be included in the kit (SKU: EWOR100ARMKIT). 

The Accessories 

This will probably be my favorite part of any build, as this is where I get to make the vehicle my own and make it unique. I would install an off-road bumper, preferably whichever bumper requires the least amount of cutting to the front bumper of the car. Also, I would install as much underbody protection as possible, including the engine, fuel tank, and transfer case skid plates. As well as rock sliders because I cannot stand the idea of crushed-in rocker panels on any vehicle, unless it is a purpose-built rock crawler, but anything that is road driven with crushed rockers gives me anxiety. For off-road lights, I would only mount some lights on the front bumper and not go too excessive with them, as they can quickly become too much. I would also install some MOLLE panels in the back of the car over the rear side windows to save some rear floor space by having upper mounting areas for first aid kits and other things. The last two things I would put on the car to finish the build would be a hitch-mounted swing-out tire carrier to get the spare tire out from under the car, and the last thing would be an air compressor to be able to air up tires if needed.