Green laning in Cayenne
- Thread starter Wollemi
- Start date
I think it depends very much on the spec of the car. The Cayenne can be a very capable off roader but it needs the right tyres and ideally air suspension to give you better clearance wading depth, approach angles etc. I have recently ordered a Diesel S which will have all season tyres, underbody protetction, air suspension. locking diffs via PTV etc and I expect it will be every bit as good as any land rover. It is going to be used on some very rough countryside. However I think the majority of Cayenes have been specified to be good on the road and to look sporty with large wheels and low profile tyres. These dont work well on the rough stuff or on mud.
tiskev
New member
I have always had Land Rover Defenders plus usually a Rangy one of my sons still has a 2A
I like the Kn and am very happy with it but the Defender will do things it wont in my experience.
I have a new Discovery Sport on order I think that is going to be interesting.......I get my first drive
of a Demo on Sunday.What chance of snow in Kent in time....
I like the Kn and am very happy with it but the Defender will do things it wont in my experience.
I have a new Discovery Sport on order I think that is going to be interesting.......I get my first drive
of a Demo on Sunday.What chance of snow in Kent in time....
Ultimately you can get anything stuck if you throw enough terrain at it.
When we did the off road course for the Cayenne back at Porsche & Polo a few years back I was very impressed with how good they were on areas the course.
Equally much can be achieved these days with clever electronics. I followed a full on Landie around the War & Peace off road track in my Freelander (with about to be replaced worn road tyres - Scorpions IIRC) and while the Landie was squirming around the place it was so easy going in the Freelander to the point of being boring.
The off road potential of a Cayenne (particularly relative to green laning) is going to be more down to how precious you are about the vehicle. If you come upon rocks, trees, deep gravely mud etc. there is every possibility the vehicle will be damaged by the afore mentioned country side. They may not stop the vehicle but you might not approach them with the enthusiasm which might be needed not to get stuck.
Similarly if/when you get stuck (if you don't get stuck you haven't thrown enough terrain at it) you can damage the vehicle while recovering it subject to how and where you can attach any towing or jacking.
You can get any vehicle stuck in snow/mud/sand if it is the right snow/mud/sand. Equally, there is a higher likelihood of getting stuck if you don't have the experience to avoid it (which often includes having being stuck previously). You aren't officially stuck if you achieve self recovery.
The main aspects of a Cayenne which will make it less capable than a Landie are its proportions. It has less ground clearance, poorer approach, break-over and departure angles and you are less likely to want to rub any parts of the vehicle than you would in a Land Rover.
Green laning can be little more demanding than driving down a track with a bit of grass down the middle. Unfortunately, that track might develop into a narrow lane with very deep muddy ruts, unkempt brambles and over hanging branches. The Cayenne may well make it to the end of the lane (or the majority of it will) but it isn't going to win any concourse events any time soon afterwards.
When we did the off road course for the Cayenne back at Porsche & Polo a few years back I was very impressed with how good they were on areas the course.
Equally much can be achieved these days with clever electronics. I followed a full on Landie around the War & Peace off road track in my Freelander (with about to be replaced worn road tyres - Scorpions IIRC) and while the Landie was squirming around the place it was so easy going in the Freelander to the point of being boring.
The off road potential of a Cayenne (particularly relative to green laning) is going to be more down to how precious you are about the vehicle. If you come upon rocks, trees, deep gravely mud etc. there is every possibility the vehicle will be damaged by the afore mentioned country side. They may not stop the vehicle but you might not approach them with the enthusiasm which might be needed not to get stuck.
Similarly if/when you get stuck (if you don't get stuck you haven't thrown enough terrain at it) you can damage the vehicle while recovering it subject to how and where you can attach any towing or jacking.
You can get any vehicle stuck in snow/mud/sand if it is the right snow/mud/sand. Equally, there is a higher likelihood of getting stuck if you don't have the experience to avoid it (which often includes having being stuck previously). You aren't officially stuck if you achieve self recovery.
The main aspects of a Cayenne which will make it less capable than a Landie are its proportions. It has less ground clearance, poorer approach, break-over and departure angles and you are less likely to want to rub any parts of the vehicle than you would in a Land Rover.
Green laning can be little more demanding than driving down a track with a bit of grass down the middle. Unfortunately, that track might develop into a narrow lane with very deep muddy ruts, unkempt brambles and over hanging branches. The Cayenne may well make it to the end of the lane (or the majority of it will) but it isn't going to win any concourse events any time soon afterwards.
Following on from the above, we use to do quite a lot of green laning years ago. In the first instance in a V8 Disco and latterly in a V8 90. The 90 was ultimately given a cage after Dearly Beloved tried to roll us into a river. We were saved as we ended up leaning on some trees. I also did some off roading demos with a Mk I Freelander which (like my Mk II) was very accomplished of road provided you didn't get freaked out by banging the underside. It was always good to try to pick a course which avoided catching any of the cars vital organs.
In many off road adventures I'm not sure that any of them would have stopped a Cayenne any more than they stopped Landies, but I think the Cayenne would have looked a lot sorrier for its self at the end.
In many off road adventures I'm not sure that any of them would have stopped a Cayenne any more than they stopped Landies, but I think the Cayenne would have looked a lot sorrier for its self at the end.
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