Are Porsche Cayennes The Ultimate Off-Roaders?

Seeing someone on a technical trail with a lifted Porsche Cayenne wearing all-terrain tires might make you laugh. But there’s a subculture of off-roaders, admittedly quite small, who feel strongly the luxury crossover is in fact superior on trails to Jeeps and quite a few other rigs. No, this isn’t a joke, these people seem rather sincere.

Never do this when off-roading.

We know what you’re thinking: who in their right mind would off-road a Cayenne? Probably someone who had mom’s old car handed down to them and couldn’t afford a 4Runner or Defender, right? That might be true. Or it might be that some people like subverting expectations and this sure does it.

After all, the Cayenne doesn’t come with four-wheel drive, it has all-wheel drive. That means no set of low gears and no lockers. Aftermarket parts for them are scarce because nobody is off-roading these things, so that’s a huge problem.

But this guy in the video we’ve included claims the Cayenne is the “best budget off-roader.” What kind of budget is he on? Last time we checked, something like an XJ is far cheaper and just all around superior to the Porsche on trails.

In the video they put the Cayenne up against a modified Lexus GX 470, a legitimate rig that’s essentially the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in other markets. That thing does have four-wheel drive, two sets of gears, etc. It kind of doesn’t feel like a fair competition.

But the trails they go on in the video are… not what we would’ve wanted to see, to be honest. Everyone can voice their opinions, but we think they played this one safe to make the Cayenne crowd feel good about themselves.

Just like in anything else, when it comes to off-roading everyone is going to have their preferences. For some that’s a Porsche Cayenne. Just remember that when a guy in a Jeep XJ has to pull you out of a messy situation.

Image via The Car Takes/YouTube