[Fox944]

Flash,

I wont do much towing with this vehicle. It would replace my Audi as a daily driver. I need a car that has lots of space inside (a wagon or suv), does really well in snow, and has the capability to occasionally tow the 968 on an open trailor (short distance). I would really love a manual transmission.
Insurance and Gas are a factor, which is why i prefer a 6cylinder over a V8. I'm planing to move upstate (looking at buying a house and will need to save as much money as possible). The diff. in gas consumption may not be much, but every penny will count at this point. My V8 Audi is rated @ 15/23...so its a step down anyway you slice it. A V6 Cayenne has a rating of 13/19 and the Cayenne S is rated at 12/17. I would be doing mostly highway driving.

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[flash]

lol - maybe you are working too hard at this - perhaps thinking outside the box might help - i had no idea fuel economy was a concern - the cayenne is one of the worst out there

as an example, 13/19 the same rating as my 6.0 yukon denali, and i have way more towing capacity and room - the new 6.2 denali is even better on fuel than mine, has more power, and with more gears in the trans

with the swaybars, springs, brakes, tires and wheels, this thing drives like a car - very nice to drive - i actually prefer it over the M3 - the throttle body spacer, programming and cold air intake brought the power up to the cayenne turbo territory

all for about half the price

the hybrid model gets over 20

maybe there is a better solution

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[Fox944]

This is what i need.

-Decent fuel economy
-decent space/utility
-great all weather capability
-capable of towing at least 5,000lbs safely for short stints

i want;

-a manual transmission.

If having a manual is the worst thing i could do, i'll overlook it and buy an automatic. I dont plan to tow more then a few times annually.

I was also looking at BMW X5 3.0's, as they were avail with a manual transmission as well.

This trucks primary function would be daily driver/family car.

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[flash]

manual trans is horrible for towing - there is no way to smoothly shift up, and down is even worse - taking off from a dead stop involves a lot of slipping of the clutch too - i would seriously reconsider that as a feature in any tow vehicle

in considering a tow vehicle i would generally not get anything with less than 116" wheelbase, and would prefer longer (like the ford 137"), but that is not really practical as a daily driver car - that's why we chose what we did, knowing it was giving up a bit in ultimate tow capacity

given that the new cayenne is a bit longer than the previous one, and now at 112, it may not be so bad for short and controlled towing - the jeep was REALLY bad at 106 - the previous cayenne at 110 would not be much better

by the way, the 7700 lb tow capacity of the cayenne is with a weight distributing hitch - dead hitch MAX trailer load weight is 5000lbs - that means that with a 3000 car, the MAXIMUM your trailer can weigh is 2000lbs

the bmw has a decent wheelbase at 115.5 and the max dead hitch payload is a bit better at 5225

i would not consider either one without a weight distributing hitch

besides miles per gallon, when determining cost effectiveness, something else to consider is the kind of fuel you must run - both the cayenne and the bmw require 91 minimum - an american SUV will only need 87 - makes for a pretty significant cost difference over the life of the car

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[Fox944]

awesome advice and food for thought.

I need to do my homework and figure out what is the most cost effective SUV for me. Perhaps a Toyota 4Runner is the way to go.

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[Johannvb]

<!--quoteo(post=73875:date=Jun 13 2009, 08:06 PM:name=Fox944)-->QUOTE (Fox944 @ Jun 13 2009, 08:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Perhaps a Toyota 4Runner is the way to go.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

But it won't be nearly as cool [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]

I am also considering a Cayenne when my current DD's time is up. But I am surprised to see how much cheaper they are in the US! They start at around €35 000 here in the Netherlands.

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[flash]

for a long time i just went to u-haul or enterprise and rented a pickup and went on from there with my own trailer - that solved the load rating issues and did not force me into buying a car that was larger than i wanted to drive every day

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