Sage1

Looking for a little input. It's an Audi board so I expect opinion to be from an Audi perspective… but a lot of Audi owners have come over from Porsche and specifically the Cayenne.

Started out looking at the Cayenne base model, the 6 cyl.. Then after looking/driving the Q5 2.0 and 3.0 we made the "mistake" of driving a SQ5. What a ride, coming over from Toyota we've never driven anything like it. But, even though it outperforms the Porsche we are still considering the Cayenne. I like stance and slightly larger size of the Cayenne compared to the Q5 platform. Drove the '15 Cayenne S, significant acceleration increase over the base model but out of our price range. The Audi dealer has emphasized that any Porsche will have an increased cost of ownership, of course the Porsche guys say costs are comparable to Audi. I do realize the Macan and the SQ5 are extremely similar… with the SQ having slightly more interior space but we're sticking to comparing the SQ5 and the Cayenne and the ownership/dealer experience of Audi v Porsche. So if anyone who's owned both or has an informed perspective they'd like to share we'd appreciate the add'l info..

Thanks for the the assistance. S1

hilld

The Cayenne is a larger vehicle than the Q5 platform, the "equivalent" Porsche (size wise) would be a Macan. Only you can make the decision how much room you need in a car and what suits you best. Personally, I am totally smitten with my SQ5, couldn't ask for a better vehicle. Roomy enough in the back seat for adults (at least 2, 3 would be a stretch), it has enough cargo room and a 4400lb tow capacity make it well rounded.

I got rid of 2 vehicles to move into this one, a Golf TDI and a F350 crew cab, I feel I got the best of both worlds as long as I have a trailer.

Good luck car shopping, maybe you can ask the dealers for extended test drives and take the individual cars home overnight. I am not sure where you are (your profile doesn't say), but my dealer Sunset Imports in Beaverton, OR is both an Audi and a Porsche dealer and they will do extended test drives if you ask them nicely.

BlackSVT

While I think you'll get a fair amount of "different size" input when comparing the SQ5 and Cayenne, I understand the comparison. The way i shop vehicles is usually to create a short list with certain things as must haves and others being less important. For me, specific size and cost are less important so I end up with wacky comparisons of SQ5 vs X5m and can never get much in terms of comparos other than "they aren't in the same class"...

That being said, I like the new Cayennes a lot. They have come a long way from the first dressed up VWs. While I really like the Q5 and SQ5 look, I absolutely love the Cayenne, especially in black on black. It just looks the part... But...what the choice for me comes down to is, while I said cost was less of a deciding factor than driving dynamics, refinement, & performance, Porsche is just ridiculous when I option a Cayenne the way I'd want it. I cannot justify the 50%+ premium for what effectively is my daily driver. I'll save the cash and get a more purpose spec'd fair weather project car that'll do what I really want plus a Q5

I think what it comes down to is cars like the SQ5, Macan, and Cayenne effectively test my limits on how much I'm willing to pay to bring the compromise that is the CUV/SUV into the performance category. At some point the price premium is too high, and I revert back to the right tool for the job which is a car-based performance vehicle.

The SQ5, to its credit, strikes a really solid balance between performance for a do-everything vehicle and cost. The Cayenne goes over the cliff for me on the performance/dollar scale.

Dalancroft

We are a "Porsche/Audi" family -- 911 and Q5, both 2011MY -- and I can personally attest, you'll spend 20-30% more on routine maintenance and repairs on the Porsche vs. the Audi. I think the Audis are better values, while Porsches have the "wow" factor and a higher level of prestige.

NorthValley

Fully concur with BlackSVT

Nick3753

This depends what you value most. Performance-SQ5, most likely porsche everything else except cost. Like BlackSVT I cross shopped a variety of vehicles including SQ5, Macan S, Cayenne S, Cayenne GTS, RRS v8, X5M. It didn't take long after a short drive to cross the base Cayenne off our list. Our 3 finalist were SQ5, Cayenne GTS and RRS v8. In the end the SQ5 made more sense for our needs/desires and budget, allowing me to pick up a pre-owned M3 for my DD .

Sage1

Many Thanks, all good replies. All valid considerations. Budget is definitely a constraint, if not I'd probably get the SQ5 for my wife and a Cayenne S for me. But… real world, there can only be one.

Transfer

Are you shopping used Cayenne S? They're out there. I do think the newer gen Cayenne is a bit better looking than the SQ5, but not by a lot, and it is larger and heavier.

subterFUSE

My brother has a Cayenne Turbo S with about 62,000 miles on it.
It's a lot of fun to drive. He has it tuned with Softronic.

But it's not even in the same pricing universe as the SQ5. That thing was like $120,000+ new. I was considering buying it from him, but it was almost as much money to buy that used Turbo S as it was to order our new SQ5.
We decided new with 4 years of warranty was the better choice for spending over $50,000.

Sage1

The new 2015 Cayenne has several subtle but significant updates, primarily body lines but it really sharpened it up. Yes the twin turbo Cayenne S is way more desirable than the base 6 cyl but min of 20k more. Buying new, the base Cayenne is where I'm at unless the start up tech firm I didn't know I had goes public soon.