Specifying a new car is serious business for us and for the second
time now nothing has matched the Patrol's for our needs.
The current 5yo 4800 Patrol we have is a real sportscar amongst big wagons
and a tough act to follow, but will not leave any stone unturned in
search for something better.
Not really interested here in make, just geniune suitability to do the job.
I've watched as a relative has taken a Porsche Cayenne 4wd to
Cape York
, Canning the steepest flinders closed road sections, and all sorts of
places
and wondered ?
Its perhaps not the first car one would look at but it has some serious atributes
including towing stability.
A rare opportunity came along recently to have a new one of these big wagons
for a week and this is what we found.
Believe me, a week is needed with this car, on first drive the power
handling and sheer ability to create its own hole anywhere in a traffic stream
is awe inspiring. Haven't felt anything as good since I first took a GU 4800
into traffic years ago, and the engine can get this 2.4T wagon to 100kmh in
under 6 secs whereas my petrol Patrol takes 11 secs almost.
The Porsche has a 283kw V8, wide track , reasonable ground clearance
and some traction aids which go
well beyond the electronic brake controls
of normal cars.
But an overiding critera for me is fundamental stability. Patrols are the
best normal vehicles in this area but the Porsche matches them with a 48 degree
tip over angle, using a slighter shorter but wider wheelbase meaning that the
area enclosed by the
wheels is roughly the same.
I couldn't personnaly check for ultimate ability up a rough track but can
say with confidence that a double difflocked Patrol has the edge here, and
also wins on wading ability.
The model Porsche I drove was not fitted with auto-controlled rollbar option
which increases wheel travel, however the Porsche can beat the Patrol by
climbing a genuine 45 degree slope.
Unbelieveably you can just take your foot off accelerator pedal on an
impossible to stand up on slope, get out of the car, take some photo's
and get back in whilst car hangs there all by itself, and then take off
cleanly without ever touching the foot operated handbrake.
(Wonder what happens if fuel ran out)
On a ramp the Patrol wins on articulation.
On back roads and mild 4wd tracks the Cayenne eats the Patrol even with its
standard 255/45/18 road tyres.
Suprisingly after laying down 500km the Porsche actually used less fuel at
an average of 15lt/100km than the Patrol (16.5).
The Patrol wins on storage space and packing ability, however the Cayenne can
carry eleven jerries of fuel internally.
In touring mode its another no contest - the Porsche wins everwhere from
quiet comfort to large screen sat-nav you can actually read in daytime, it
automatically turns on lights, wipers etc.
After a week though the gloss does start to come off the Porsche and you
begin to notice little things like the heavier steering , the fact that
despite having twin sunvisors per
seat , a little gap is left for sun
to hit you in the eyes from near the B-pillar (Pajero's have little plastic slide
that stops this) , and that this is a big car in which you feel more disconnected
from the road than in a Patrol.
Service ability wise Patrols have proved to be more reliable and parts
and the ability to be fixed outback clearly favours a Patrol.
These cars are expensive ($150,000) but not stupidly so considering price of
some cruisers etc, and are starting to come onto second hand market.
If they really were superior everywhere then they would be a consideration
but in some areas that count a Patrol is better and so I will remember
it with admiration and stick with Patrol for now even though I
now no that even a 185kw 4800 GU could still definitately make use of another 100kw.
Robin Miller