JetSetterJoe.com

Porsche has announced that a group of 26 slightly modified Cayenne S SUVs will run the 2007 edition of the Trans-Siberia Rally from Moscow to Ulaan Batar, 3,850 miles away. The idea came after a privately entered Cayenne succesfully completed the grueling rally. Porsche’s own Trans-Siberian Rally web special is running a feature on the driver training in Leipzig, Germany. Among the drivers are legends such as Armin Schwarz, the most successful German rally driver of all time, and Mark Coma, two-time motorcycle world rally champion.

The factory entries feature the same 4.8 litre V8 as the stock Cayenne with the addition of a lightweight sport exhaust. With its black or silver finish, orange highlights, classic Carrera-style lettering and sleek light bar, this Porsche is a mean-looking machine. The all-terrain tires, adjustable ride air suspension, a fording depth of .75 meter, and approach and departure angles in excess of 25-degrees indicate that this car is also ready for the outdoors. 

This is not Porsche’s first entry into the world of rallying. In 1989, three modified Porsche 959 supercars were entered into the Paris-Dakar Rally (now simply known as the Dakar rally). All three cars failed to finish but in 1985 the Porsche’s finished 1 and 2.

I’ve always been a big fan of Porsche. My dad was really into sports cars and Porsche was his dream ride. As an adult, I haven’t delved too much into sports car ownership due to the impracticality of such cars. If I could get my hands on one of those Porsche Cayenne S Trans-Siberia models, I could have the best of both worlds. Of course, my VW Touareg already shares the same platform as the Cayenne thus offering chassis rigidity to rival that of many sports cars. I think I’ll keep the Touareg and pocket the extra cash.

The Cayenne S Tran-Siberia is nevertheless an impressive adventure vehicle. I have no doubt Porsche will place well in the rally. It would be interesting to see how much support these vehicles get from factory teams every night. (My guess is a lot.) Completion of a course such as this totally unsupported would probably do much more to boost Porsche’s standing among adventure types. Of course, I doubt they would take that risk.