X5 35d vs. Porsche Cayenne Diesel

Originally Posted by serge1

In my experience, driving 55-60mph can give you 29mpg. But I rarely do that

Yup, no way I can do that around here. Highway traffic moves closer over 70mph

This is why we need a 7/8AT in the next gen diesel X5

Originally Posted by serge1

In my experience, driving 55-60mph can give you 29mpg. But I rarely do that

Me neither. Just a leisurely Sunday drive with the wife and dog on one of the most beautiful routes in the world with a speed limit of 90 km/h (55 mph for our American friends).

Originally Posted by Snipe656

Now days it is rare even my 335d averages 29, my old 300SD would average that back when I still drove it. If I am reading the posts above correctly though it sounds like that average was gained by driving 90-100km/hr which is a pretty painfully slow pace in my neck of the woods. If I were to drive around 90km/hr in my big F250 I'd average almost 24mpg or that is what I got the one time I had to do that for a few hundred miles. It is amazing how much you can save on fuel if you stop wearing lead based socks/shoes

Sometimes it's worth it to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Sometimes it's worth it to slow down and enjoy the moment.

True but even at 100 km/hr I'd be cruising well below the speed limit for a lot of the roads I drive on. Speed limits are roughly 120 km/hr here and if you go that then you are the slowest person on the road.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Me neither. Just a leisurely Sunday drive with the wife and dog on one of the most beautiful routes in the world with a speed limit of 90 km/h (55 mph for our American friends).



Sometimes it's worth it to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Gorgeous pics

Originally Posted by AutoUnion

Yup, no way I can do that around here. Highway traffic moves closer over 70mph

This is why we need a 7/8AT in the next gen diesel X5

29 miles per gallon not bad. I am getting 25 with 70% city & 30% country driving out of the M50d engine, my X5 has just clocked 5000klm.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Me neither. Just a leisurely Sunday drive with the wife and dog on one of the most beautiful routes in the world with a speed limit of 90 km/h (55 mph for our American friends).



Sometimes it's worth it to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Nice pics. Was just up there last month on my motorbike...

Originally Posted by watrob

29 miles per gallon not bad. I am getting 25 with 70% city & 30% country driving out of the M50d engine, my X5 has just clocked 5000klm.

23mpg for me with 70/30.
I bet its hard to keep it @ 55mph on twisty country roads in that beast of yours

Originally Posted by Emission

Agreed.

I also liked the Q7 TDI, but I prefer the sportiness of the X5 35d and the BMW's driving position (the Audi feels like a big sedan, while the BMW feels like a proper SUV).

I can't wait to see how much the next-gen X5 weighs. Thinking about a Q5 TDI if BMW blows it.

- Mike

The thing about the Q5 is that it's too small for most people who are looking at an X5, and the problem with a Q7, is that it's too big. For me, a woman without kids who's got climbing gear, a kayak, a couple of giant newfoundland dogs, camping gear, etc. to haul around with possible car poolers, an X5 is the perfect size.

In some ways, I really liked Audi's interior and Audi's tech better than BMW (although the X5 35d I'm waiting for (seems to be in the paint shop... so not too much longer). The problem is, the Q5 is too small to put the dogs in the cargo area (and the muddy dogs aren't going on the nice interior, only clean dogs sit on leather seats), and no child-free person needs 3 rows of seating, the Q7 really is too big. So Audi lost me as a customer simply by missing the "Goldilocks" mark.

I looked at a Porsche Cayenne, but someone I know drives one, and I didn't want to be "car-copying" her (not the car's fault).

Katy, not a surprise considering the Q5 really competes with the X3 and both would be too small for two large pooches like yours. I guess you are not getting the third row in the X5 while keeping the spare. The only other thing I suggest is to take a look at the VW T-egg (same size as the Cayenne) -- or perhaps the new diesel Cayenne itself. You won't be "car copying" since yours would be a diesel and your friend's would almost certainly not be -- since they have just arrived here. You would like that car a lot I think!

Most of those smaller SUVs just look too small to be of much use for anything outside of sitting. We had a RAV4 rental for a month and it actually had a fair amount of storage room in it and we liked that room but not how it drove(primarily lack of power). I recall looking at the X3 and GLK back then thinking maybe one of those would have the same size but drive better. Did not even bother driving those because looked at the size and really seemed smaller for storage space than the POS RAV4. So while I have a feeling the TDI Q5 I'd love how it drives it really would not be sized to my needs and I might as well buy a sedan. But I have three kids(one finally moved out to college) and two Siberian Huskies, so I kind of need something with a fair amount of room and really should focus on things that in a bind can sit 5 adults and 1 kid. But I will sway on the 5 adult number because who really wants their mother-n-law riding along when she is in town anyway.

Originally Posted by serge1

23mpg for me with 70/30.
I bet its hard to keep it @ 55mph on twisty country roads in that beast of yours

Yes its a bit of a problem, the damn thing gets up a goes, especially when you overtake another car, quite easy to get from 110kph to 180kph in a flash when all 3 turbo's kickin.

Its' pretty quick off the lights too, there's always someone who wants to bet you off the lights so they can pull accross infront of you because your driving a SUV and don't want to travel behind you, don't they get a surprise?

PS. What is funny is the amount of kids driving 4cyl turbos that think they going to bet me off the lights and pull infront of me when I am in the Ferrari, just got to laugh at that?

Originally Posted by UncleJ

. The only other thing I suggest is to take a look at the VW T-egg (same size as the Cayenne) -- or perhaps the new diesel Cayenne itself. You won't be "car copying" since yours would be a diesel and your friend's would almost certainly not be -- since they have just arrived here. You would like that car a lot I think!

Err, the post said she was waiting on an X5 which was in paint?

Sorry Brian, I missed that.

deleted

Fwiw, I would choose the Cayenne all day, every day over the X5. There isn't an aspect that I think the X5 excels over the Cayenne other than price. (Although I only have experience driving the new S and not the diesel).

I just got our X5 back on Friday after having the EGR cooler replaced after it was found to be cracked. The nasty diesel smell in the cabin is now gone and I was curious to see if the mileage improved. I did the same drive as last week but moved slightly quicker averaging 105-110 km/hr vs. the 90-100 km/hr last week. Average speed would show less due to construction zones and some city driving and stops. 90% was highway travel.

The results were pleasantly surprising.

The other pics are from along the drive except for the elk which were in our backyard when we got home.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Fwiw, I would choose the Cayenne all day, every day over the X5. There isn't an aspect that I think the X5 excels over the Cayenne other than price. (Although I only have experience driving the new S and not the diesel).

I just got our X5 back on Friday after having the EGR cooler replaced after it was found to be cracked. The nasty diesel smell in the cabin is now gone and I was curious to see if the mileage improved. I did the same drive as last week but moved slightly quicker averaging 105-110 km/hr vs. the 90-100 km/hr last week. Average speed would show less due to construction zones and some city driving and stops. 90% was highway travel.

The results were pleasantly surprising.

The other pics are from along the drive except for the elk which were in our backyard when we got home.

The Cayenne is a better SUV (in my opinion), but I feel BMW's diesel engine in the States is better so I lean towards the X5 35d in this comparison. However, give me a Cayenne GTS any day of the week!

- Mike

We just ordered a Cayenne V6 after having compared it to the diesel both on specifications and back to back test drives.

Pros Diesel:
- mpg
- torque as in effortless acceleration from low rpms.

Pros V6:
- Significantly lighter ( 300 lbs ) which you can feel when hustling them back to back.
- More advanced AWD system. The system in the Diesel and Hybrid is a lot different from that used in the V6, S, GTS and Turbo.
- Better sound
- More fun to drive actively ( the rev. range is longer and the response at higher rpms is better ). This matters little in pretty much every SUV accept the Cayenne due to how fun it is to drive
- Lower scheduled service costs
- Reliability is a known factor.
- Fuel will be available at any gas station.

These pros would probably not matter much if the V6 felt sluggish and boring but to us it was the opposite, fun. Not fast but fun nonetheless. It's good competition for BMW, hopefully the new X5 will be the new yard stick moving
the needle further to the benefit of us car lovers.

Placed an order for the Cayenne Diesel on July 12..... Production is this week. Should have it in 4 weeks... I went with minimal options to keep the investment down and to be able to sell it at a low price when the new X5 Diesel comes out. At this moment, I am having trouble finding a buyer for my 2012 X5 with 12500 miles on it. So, I may be the owner of both the Cayenne Diesel and the X5 Diesel.. If so, I will be able to better evaluate both vehicles from an unbiased owner driver stand point.I love both my 2011 and my 2012 X5's.. No problems at all with either car. My 2012 X5 is Deep Sea Blue with Oyster Leather , Nav ++++. If interested PM me...or 27(zero)-2(five)6-62(eight)9

[Phone number edited by Emission]

Originally Posted by jerryjash

Placed an order for the Cayenne Diesel on July 12..... Production is this week. Should have it in 4 weeks... I went with minimal options to keep the investment down ...

What kind of discounts were you able to get from the Porsche dealer? Best I've been able to do is about $5K off a $70K diesel. Not nearly enough to allow it to compete with the X5d...so far.

^^^ really? Posting your cell number!??!? Go back and edit that jerry, replace a few numbers with words (ie Two, Eight., etc)

Originally Posted by ard

^^^ really? Posting your cell number!??!? Go back and edit that jerry, replace a few numbers with words (ie Two, Eight., etc)

Done.

- Mike

Guess I don't understand about posting phone number....

Originally Posted by jerryjash

Guess I don't understand about posting phone number....

Bots and crazy people. That's the only concern.

- Mike

Thanks Mike....

Mike - nice review of the Fusion too! Very handsome car IMHO.