The 2nd generation Porsche Cayenne turbodiesel is a great off-roader.
Most Porsche Cayennes end their lives in shopping mall parking lots and Starbucks drive-throughs, but they were built for more, and as this build from E-Motion Engineering shows, the Cayenne has serious off-road potential ...
This Cayenne, detailed in a Hoonigan AutoFocus video (via Motor1), is a second-generation model with a turbodiesel engine. The exhaust system mufflers have been removed to improve off-road launch angles, but the engine is largely intact.
Naturally, aftermarket off-road parts for the Cayenne were limited, so E-Motion had to resort to custom fabrication. To that end, E-Motion incorporated custom-made bumper guards and rock rails into the vehicle's structure. These parts were designed not only to protect against damage, but also to serve as anchor points for the recovery gear; 3/16-inch aluminum skid plates protect the Cayenne's abdomen.
Other modifications include a roof rack, hitch mount, swinging spare tire carrier, and a carbon fiber snorkel modeled after the one on the original Cayenne Transceiveria. Bumper guards and roof racks were also fitted with lights.
The suspension system was built around KW coilovers with three-way adjustability, designed using lessons learned when KW developed the Volkswagen Touareg for the German military. The Cayenne is equipped with Falken Wild Peak A/T3W tires on custom beadlock rims.
E-Motion noted that the Cayenne is more of a big rally car than a rock-crawling Jeep Wrangler competitor. Some off-road capability is built into the design, but the second-generation Cayenne's platform has its limitations. Still, it shows that this luxury SUV is as comfortable in the desert as it is in the suburbs.