A conundrum: is there a sporty SUV with a comfortable ride?
Discussion
Fishlegs said:
Macan or Cayenne on air. Don't buy anything else till you've tried it.
+1.My Cayenne is ancient (2003, 100k+ miles) - but it's superb. Three settings on the suspension - comfort soaks up bumps brilliantly, and Sport + manual mode for the gear changes is far more fun on a twisty road than it should be for a car of this size.
As the S stands for Sports then surely they're all sporty?
Ride is pretty soft on wife's late mk1 Tiguan, especially on its 16" winter tyres. But then it all gets a bit wobbly, especially side to side rocking which is noticeable on straight roads. Wife has a habit of holding the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand, like it's a pair of reins, and that doesn't help.
Ride is pretty soft on wife's late mk1 Tiguan, especially on its 16" winter tyres. But then it all gets a bit wobbly, especially side to side rocking which is noticeable on straight roads. Wife has a habit of holding the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand, like it's a pair of reins, and that doesn't help.
No.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
Fastdruid said:
No.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
Except that the air suspension on the Cayenne can be made stiffer at the press of a button. It corners pretty flat in sports mode - still impresses me after 6 years of ownership.If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
Fastdruid said:
No.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
You've never driven a Cayenne or Macan (or even watched a Youtube review of one) it would seem. There's no way you'd make a statement like that if you had.If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
Fishlegs said:
Fastdruid said:
No.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
You've never driven a Cayenne or Macan (or even watched a Youtube review of one) it would seem. There's no way you'd make a statement like that if you had.If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
Fishlegs said:
Fastdruid said:
No.
If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
You've never driven a Cayenne or Macan (or even watched a Youtube review of one) it would seem. There's no way you'd make a statement like that if you had.If you want "sporty" then you need to constrain roll and the only way to do that when you've stuck a car on stilts (and raised the CoG massively) with basic suspension is to make it stiffer.
You can have some decent "go" but unless you want to wobble round a corner like a blancmange you're going to need far stiffer suspension than a normal car with the same weight.
That Porsche have done a good job is by the by, it is after all arguably what they do. Taking flawed ideas and engineering their way round them so that they work.
It's still an inherently flawed idea to have a "sports" SUV.
I don't think anybody is claiming the Cayenne is a sports car.
But it almost certainly does meet the OPs requirements. He wants a bit of "poke" under the bonnet - my Cayenne S is pretty nippy. As I've said, if you're in the mood, it's also pretty fun down a twisty road if you set the suspension to sports and use manual gear changes.
Of course it's not going to outrun a true sports car, but that's not really the point. It's quick enough to be fun, and far more nimble - and corners far flatter - than you'd expect from a car of this size. I was amazed when I bought mine 7 years ago and it still impresses me.
It runs in the company of far more sporty cars, so whilst it's true everything is relative - it's still a damn good car.
But it almost certainly does meet the OPs requirements. He wants a bit of "poke" under the bonnet - my Cayenne S is pretty nippy. As I've said, if you're in the mood, it's also pretty fun down a twisty road if you set the suspension to sports and use manual gear changes.
Of course it's not going to outrun a true sports car, but that's not really the point. It's quick enough to be fun, and far more nimble - and corners far flatter - than you'd expect from a car of this size. I was amazed when I bought mine 7 years ago and it still impresses me.
It runs in the company of far more sporty cars, so whilst it's true everything is relative - it's still a damn good car.
Fastdruid said:
Nothing you say changes what I said. A Cayenne or Macan has to be massively stiffer than a normal car to constrain roll that is inherent due to the higher CoG. That you can switch it from "comfort" to "sports" doesn't change that it needs to be stiffer to prevent that roll.
That Porsche have done a good job is by the by, it is after all arguably what they do. Taking flawed ideas and engineering their way round them so that they work.
It's still an inherently flawed idea to have a "sports" SUV.
So I'm right then, you haven't tried one. There's no need to clog up the thread with obvious statements about how SUV sportiness is a compromise. Here's the thing. Whatever you drive that you think is sportier and lower and superior to an SUV, that's compromised too!That Porsche have done a good job is by the by, it is after all arguably what they do. Taking flawed ideas and engineering their way round them so that they work.
It's still an inherently flawed idea to have a "sports" SUV.
The fact remains, some SUVs are sportier than others. Some are sportier than a lot of cars! You don't need to compromise on comfort to get body control. So, OPs request can be met. You're just adding noise, as far as I can tell.
davek_964 said:
It runs in the company of far more sporty cars, so whilst it's true everything is relative - it's still a damn good car.
OP wants a luxury SUV. The problem wth the Cayenne is that its sporty setup means it feels like a car to drive, a big one, not an SUV. Similarly the RR Sport feels more like a car to drive, though it's more luxurious than a Cayenne. As another poster has suggested, 'sporty SUV' is an oxymoron.
popeyewhite said:
davek_964 said:
It runs in the company of far more sporty cars, so whilst it's true everything is relative - it's still a damn good car.
OP wants a luxury SUV. The problem wth the Cayenne is that its sporty setup means it feels like a car to drive, a big one, not an SUV. Similarly the RR Sport feels more like a car to drive, though it's more luxurious than a Cayenne. As another poster has suggested, 'sporty SUV' is an oxymoron.And the RR Sport and Cayenne feel nothing like each other to drive. Is this just generic SUV hatred, because it sure doesn't seem like fact-based helpfulness.
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