Cayennes Tour the Eastern Sierras
The PCA San Diego Region has a long history of exercising the Cayenne platform off paved roads, starting about 19 years ago with our first off-road tour which was just a couple years after the introduction of the Porsche SUV. Our region is so fortunate to have numerous varied off-road environments that range from hot deserts to snowy forests, all of which are about an hour’s drive from most members’ homes.
In search of a new adventure, this September five Cayennes from our region hit the road for a five hour, 300 mile drive north to reach the small town of Lone Pine, California. This small town is located at the base of Mount Whitney in the Eastern Sierras, where a fascinating geologic region called Alabama Hills exists. This area has unique patches of rocks and eroded hills that are traversed by many miles of trails, perfect for exploring in a Cayenne, and getting to experience the exciting wide range of off-pavement attributes inherent to the Cayenne platform.
This scenery the group explored was so spectacular that many well-known movies and commercials have used the terrain for its backdrop: for example, the scene from the Avengers movie Iron Man, when Tony Stark demonstrated the Jericho Missile that blew up in the hills in the background, was a movie filmed along the roads that were driven. Or the scene from the original 1949 Lone Ranger series where the Lone Ranger was ambushed in one of the canyons, was filmed along the path our 5 Cayennes wandered along.
The tour’s group of five was made up of three second generation Cayennes, and two first generation Cayennes: two 958 Turbos, one 958 S, a 957 GTS, and a 955 S. Over the course of a day, the group covered 55 miles of off-road trails that took 4 hours of drive time on the trail—the greatest off-pavement distance covered by any of our past tours. If you added in the stops to hike and check out the scenery, which was incredible from every vantage point, it was a six hour off-road adventure from start to finish. At one of the popular hiking stops, we encountered a third generation Cayenne that was parked at the trail head, and in the spirit of the club, and to salute their courage in getting their new Cayenne into the dirt, a PCA San Diego Region sticker was left on their window!
The group encountered terrain that varied from narrow soft dirt trails flanked by rocks that even a fairly slim Cayenne could just barely fit between, to wide dirt roads that were extremely washboarded, with some sections of climbing up hills that gave the drivers a chance to test the traction control abilities of their Cayenne. Obstacles ranged from sharp rocks, huge boulders, sandy washes, deep ruts, and even a few cows roaming about.
The terrain of the area was so variable that at one moment the trail could be soft dirt that could be driven with higher speeds, then the next stretch would have patches of sharp rocks requiring careful and very slow maneuvering. Given the group was over 300 miles from home, and at times more than 20 miles from the nearest paved road, the group was well prepared in that every Cayenne had at least one full sized spare tire for their vehicle in case it was needed. Fortunately none of the spares were necessary, and despite the varied ages and models present, and the varied levels of driver experience, none of the Cayennes had problems with getting stuck, and nobody broke anything along the way.
And as a testament to the out of the box capabilities of the Cayenne when off the pavement, none of the Cayennes on the tour had lifted aftermarket suspensions or significantly oversized tires. While the generational technology differences can be noticed, for example when watching a 955 claw its way up a loose dirt hill versus a three year newer 958, all of the models handled the wide variety of terrain effectively.
Overall this event was successful in providing the drivers a means to experience the range of capabilities that make the Cayenne so special for paved and off-road adventures: it is a comfortable paved road trip vehicle that can get you to some amazing adventurous destinations. On this trip, the drive up the middle of California on a fast, winding, two-lane road showed off the Cayenne’s comfortable high speed cruising with excellent handling to permit passing of slower vehicles safely and with minimal effort (especially for the Turbos). And once off the pavement to explore, the Cayenne is a sure-footed off-roader that can handle most terrain without fuss, and better yet, no modifications that detract from its on road performance and overall comfort. The Cayenne truly is a vehicle that lets you spot a dirt road in the distance, head off of the pavement, and see where it takes you!
The PCA-SDR holds off-road tours several times throughout the year to let club enthusiasts experience an exciting side of their Porsche SUV’s performance abilities that they might not realize exists. Most new drivers comment that they “didn’t realize you could have so much fun only going five mph!” Be on the lookout for the club’s event emails and check the online calendar if you are interested in joining one of our tours. Or come hang out at one of the club’s SUVs-n-Donuts events if you want to talk to others who have done it, and learn about their experiences first!