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Ahh that front plate looks a bit out of place there :? No way to get it in the middle of the bumper? Would look better imo.
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Ownership Verified: "Diesel" is the closest thing to a "Texas Edition" that Porsche offer
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Then it would look about this
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The only way to center mount is with drilling holes in the bumper and partially occluding the front grill. I don't mind the off-center look at all, seems worth it to me.
DanRoM
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It's designed to have the plate at the centre, so the way you mounted it it looks definitely out of place. Is the bumper some special US edition without pre-drilled holes for the plate?
ScarFace88
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I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, my SC400 wasn't predrilled.
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Many US States do not require front license plates so generally new cars are delivered here without holes drilled into the bumper. Texas requires front plates, but it's not very aggressively enforced, so higher end cars the dealers leave it up to the customer. I've got no front plate on the GT3 but I wanted to put one on the Cayenne just to avoid any potential hassle. The tow hook mount seemed like a good compromise.
I wish we could get European-shaped license plates here. The US shape plates usually obstruct the grill and impede airflow if they're mounted with the factory bracket.
I wish we could get European-shaped license plates here. The US shape plates usually obstruct the grill and impede airflow if they're mounted with the factory bracket.
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Adrian
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Are you required by law to have one that size? If not you can get EU style plates: http://www.germanplates.com/other-l...e-flag-plates/us-eurostyle-license-plate.html Put in whatever lettering you want, and even throw on a state flag.
I have one from germanplates, and the quality is quite good.
I have one from germanplates, and the quality is quite good.
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Not legal.
Adrian
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Out of pure curiosity, and if you have it available, can you point me to where in the transportation codes it's explictly stated? From a first glance it looks like a similar situation to Norway, that all plates issued by the state fall under those rules. There are however no specific rules against using other types of plates - the only requirement is that it's visible and readable.
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Hbriz
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You could just zip tie it to the grille slats 
equiraptor
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From http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/SOTWDocs/TN/htm/TN.504.htm. The plate must fit a sanctioned design and specification. Even if it were legal due to a loop-hole, few officers would know that. A plate the officer believes is invalid is sufficient cause to pull someone over, and that's what we're trying to avoid by having a legal plate on the front. It's a hassle I'd like to avoid.
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Adrian
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Thanks! Seems like i was tired in the late hours. So they issue historical plates and such too? Here we have to make them ourself.
equiraptor
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It used to be that all of the plates were ordered through txdot (Texas Department of Transportation). Now, there is a commercial organization that carries authorized designs, as well, but it's one specific company. I'm not sure what would happen if you made your own license plate using an authorized design with your plate number - if it looked "right" you'd probably get away with it, but it would probably also be expensive compared with getting the plate through txdot or myplates.com. The cost of the standard plates (or the antique vehicle plates if the vehicle is registered as one) are part of the fees for registering the vehicle.
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Not even my very un-US-spec 1-series did not come with pre-drilled holes. They only put those in manually just before picking it up. Due to the variety of mounting options and holders, there are no holes in the bumper from factory.
Adrian
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I expected a full/bigger center seat in such a big car 
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It may be a truck but it's still a Porsche by macnugget.org, on Flickr
equi broke it in properly today.
equiraptor
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We had the Cayenne at Harris Hill Road today. And yes, I took it out on track (of course, how could I not?). In short, the vehicle is well balanced, has good feedback, and is reasonable on track. It's clearly not a sports car, but it also definitely earns the Porsche name. I had the vehicle in "Sport" mode, with the suspension at "Sport" stiffness (the middle setting) and the stability/traction control off. So, the beast...
The engine: 240 hp, 406 lb-ft torque, ~4500 rpm redline. The torque pulls it out of corners well, but it's not fast. The lack of top end compared with a petrol engine is noticeable, but it doesn't really harm the fun (at least not on this track, but this isn't a power track anyway).
Transmission: 8 speed automatic (torque converter). It's from Japan, I believe an Aisin transmission. I started with it in Sport/automatic, but street driving had trained it to be rather conservative, so I switched over to manual mode rather quickly. Porsche has finally switched to using a proper set of paddles on the steering wheels - down paddle on the left, up paddle on the right, moving with the wheel (since hands are nearly always at 9 & 3 when performance driving). I've driven a few different paddle shift cars, and any delay in this transmission is no more than others, so it felt intuitive. It stayed locked up well and I had what I wanted on demand. It's no PDK, but it's not your father's automatic, either. I'm happy with it. An added note on the transmission: It learned while in manual mode. As I pulled into the pit, I moved it back to automatic, keeping the Sport setting. Now, it was shifting at high RPM, staying in low gears. It'd be interesting to see how it'd do in automatic mode after a learning period.
Tires: It's on Michelin Latitude Tour HP - All season light truck tire. These have little grip, have even less grip if they get moderately hot, and make a good deal of noise when pushed. Feedback from them is... Perhaps ok-ish? They're not very communicative, but they're not numb, either. A reasonable middle ground, and appropriate for their intended use. The tires overheated, which is what brought me off the track. I don't feel right complaining about the tires on a vehicle bought to tow, but these tires are not up to track use.
Brakes: I can't tell you much about 'em. The tires were the limiting factor - there was some feedback from the brakes, but it's hard to get more than the tires want to give. The brake rotors did not get hot. It's certainly has plenty of braking available, and I wouldn't be concerned about the brakes, even with much better tires.
Suspension: This car has PASM with Air Suspension, an upgrade from the traditional steel suspension that is standard on the diesel. I ran it on the "Sport" setting, which is the middle stiffness. It absorbed the bumps on H2R fantastically - I forgot they were there. The vehicle had some body roll, but not a huge amount. It was just enough roll to communicate, not enough to bother passengers. I'm quite pleased with this suspension. As an added note: This vehicle does not have PDCC nor PTV - they're not available on the diesel - but in theory both should improve handling.
Handling balance/tuning: Well done, Porsche. In a steady state turn, it's neutral. Not understeer, not oversteer, just... steer. With a little weight transfer to the front, the thing rotated - just the right amount of slip from the rear. More weight transfer to the front meant more rotation. And when it was time to straighten out, rolling on the throttle caused the front to slip (understeer), just as expected and wanted. It may be a big SUV tow vehicle, but the handling balance is spot on.
Overall: The Cayenne isn't a thriller on the track, nor is it the joy of a Miata. But it's reasonably fun. It's also easy to drive on track. By that, I don't mean it's easy to maintain control (though it is). I mean it's low effort. Driving a car like a GT3, an M3, or a prepped Miata on track, you work hard, you sweat, you wear down and tire out. Driving the Cayenne on track was not tiring at all. It felt like the car and I could do that all day, if only the tires would have held up. I came off track grinning - what more can I say?
The engine: 240 hp, 406 lb-ft torque, ~4500 rpm redline. The torque pulls it out of corners well, but it's not fast. The lack of top end compared with a petrol engine is noticeable, but it doesn't really harm the fun (at least not on this track, but this isn't a power track anyway).
Transmission: 8 speed automatic (torque converter). It's from Japan, I believe an Aisin transmission. I started with it in Sport/automatic, but street driving had trained it to be rather conservative, so I switched over to manual mode rather quickly. Porsche has finally switched to using a proper set of paddles on the steering wheels - down paddle on the left, up paddle on the right, moving with the wheel (since hands are nearly always at 9 & 3 when performance driving). I've driven a few different paddle shift cars, and any delay in this transmission is no more than others, so it felt intuitive. It stayed locked up well and I had what I wanted on demand. It's no PDK, but it's not your father's automatic, either. I'm happy with it. An added note on the transmission: It learned while in manual mode. As I pulled into the pit, I moved it back to automatic, keeping the Sport setting. Now, it was shifting at high RPM, staying in low gears. It'd be interesting to see how it'd do in automatic mode after a learning period.
Tires: It's on Michelin Latitude Tour HP - All season light truck tire. These have little grip, have even less grip if they get moderately hot, and make a good deal of noise when pushed. Feedback from them is... Perhaps ok-ish? They're not very communicative, but they're not numb, either. A reasonable middle ground, and appropriate for their intended use. The tires overheated, which is what brought me off the track. I don't feel right complaining about the tires on a vehicle bought to tow, but these tires are not up to track use.
Brakes: I can't tell you much about 'em. The tires were the limiting factor - there was some feedback from the brakes, but it's hard to get more than the tires want to give. The brake rotors did not get hot. It's certainly has plenty of braking available, and I wouldn't be concerned about the brakes, even with much better tires.
Suspension: This car has PASM with Air Suspension, an upgrade from the traditional steel suspension that is standard on the diesel. I ran it on the "Sport" setting, which is the middle stiffness. It absorbed the bumps on H2R fantastically - I forgot they were there. The vehicle had some body roll, but not a huge amount. It was just enough roll to communicate, not enough to bother passengers. I'm quite pleased with this suspension. As an added note: This vehicle does not have PDCC nor PTV - they're not available on the diesel - but in theory both should improve handling.
Handling balance/tuning: Well done, Porsche. In a steady state turn, it's neutral. Not understeer, not oversteer, just... steer. With a little weight transfer to the front, the thing rotated - just the right amount of slip from the rear. More weight transfer to the front meant more rotation. And when it was time to straighten out, rolling on the throttle caused the front to slip (understeer), just as expected and wanted. It may be a big SUV tow vehicle, but the handling balance is spot on.
Overall: The Cayenne isn't a thriller on the track, nor is it the joy of a Miata. But it's reasonably fun. It's also easy to drive on track. By that, I don't mean it's easy to maintain control (though it is). I mean it's low effort. Driving a car like a GT3, an M3, or a prepped Miata on track, you work hard, you sweat, you wear down and tire out. Driving the Cayenne on track was not tiring at all. It felt like the car and I could do that all day, if only the tires would have held up. I came off track grinning - what more can I say?
jack_christie
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Was wondering why you would have All Season tires in Houston, but those Michelin Latitude Tour HP are actually listed as summer tires on Euro site,
http://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/4x4...Fitment=265-50-19-110-Y&selectedIndexOption=0
but All season on US site! They have only a 'C' rating for wet grip which is a bit rubbish.
http://www.michelinman.com/tire-sel...sel (19 Inch Option)/265|50R19|XL 110V0/tires
Michelin Latitude Sport 3 has a better 'A' wet grip rating.
Michelin Latitude Alpin is the winter tire version.
Just need the engine upgrade to 260bhp and some semi slicks
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equiraptor
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Nope, they're all season.
Maybe they're billed differently elsewhere, but at least according to Tire Rack, they're billed as all seasons in the US. We have these tires, despite being in Houston, because that's what Porsche put on it. We haven't exactly had a reason to change tires in 1000 miles.