for perspective my nearly bone stock(only 33" tires) geo tracker can do anything an H2SUT can do, not razzing you rockstate, just saying h2's are not the best comparisons lol

 

Have you considered maintenance costs on each truck? i bet the Porsche is very expensive, and that's why they depreciate so fast... just a guess...

 

Good point...others are that the bodystyle is now two gens old (only one mechanically) and the 06 is only the 444bhp version not the newer 493 (though v easy to turn up the power to 520-550 if you so wish)...

 

I own a '08 Cayenne Turbo. It is the most amazing vehicle I have ever driven. I love it more everyday. Super fast and powerful, so quiet and smooth, handles better than a Mustang. It is the ultimate SUV. I can tow up to 7700 lbs. With the air suspension, you can get incredible ground clearance and approach and depart angles without having to live with a super tall ride every day. I got the PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control) on mine and it is the best $3500 you'll spend. The stability around curves is almost unbelievable. It's already incredibly fast. I'm still stock, but with just a few mods it can be a low 12 second ride.
As for the snow, we don't get a ton of snow around here, but when we did get about 6 inches last year, I took it out and it did great. Amazing traction with the quattro type differentials. You can also lock the center and the rear differentials from the driver's seat. I never had to do that as it did so well without it. And that was on nearly bald summer street tires!!!

For serious off roading, I would go with the Raptor without question. If you are looking for something that will do everything but that then go with the Cayenne.
Before you drop the money on an older turbo, which by your prices I would guess you have to be talking about a '05 or '06, you might want to check out http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/cayenne-13/
to see what they have to say regarding what to look for in a used Cayenne.

 

Name one major advantage the LR3 has over a Cayenne.

Solid axles? Nope. Full lockers? Nope. More ground clearance? Not really. Truth is, the two are not really far apart.

They're both independent sprung, and rely heavily on electronics for their offroad ability. Ever seen an LR3 stuck in limp mode when electronics go haywire? They have about 6 inches of clearance...

To be fair, the Raptor is not a technical offroader either; it's a desert prerunner. In a rock crawling situation favouring massive articulation, a Raptor might be marginally better than a Caynne / LR3, but not much.

Where the Raptor dominates is blasting across a washboard road at high rates of speed. This puts tremendous stress on the suspension system, especially long travel and good shock heat dissipation, something the Raptor has a distinctive advantage over the Cayenne. Of course, when the dirt ends and pavement starts, the Raptor has no chance keeping up with the Turbo.

 

What bout a BMW SUV?

 

The BMW X5 uses "xDrive" all-wheel-drive and has never had low range gearing and cannot lock the torque distribution (torque split) between the front and rear axles to 50/50.

It does not use limited-slip or locking differentials. Instead, like so many other modern 4x4s, it uses traction control.

xDrive is designed to work primarily on pavement. It is good for light off road use (i.e. gravel roads) and getting up to that cabin retreat, perched atop that skyward mountain with slippery snow covered mountain road.

 

Proper wheel articulation.

Common knowledge the LR4 can travel far further off road than a Cayenne, just like a Cayenne will out handle it on road.

 

Discovery 3/LR3 (2005-2009) and Discovery 4/LR4 (2010-) have full lockers. They have locking center differentials standard. A locking rear differential is optional.

The only drawback to the LR3 and LR4’s lockers is they are controlled by the "Terrain Response" system. The driver cannot lock them at will.

The independent front suspension and independent rear suspension are cross-linked via the air bags which raise and lower the suspension ground clearance. Cross-linking forces the IFS and IRS to act similar to live axles (when one wheel drops the other rises).

 

By full lockers I meant front, center, and rear, like a Rubicon or Power Wagon.

I realize the LR3 has a "forced articulation" mode. The problem, however, is still the (relatively) limited suspension travel. So the amount of articulation you get is highly dependent on the current suspension height. If you're in super extended more, navagation a tough obstacle, your suspension droop left is about 1" - almost no articulation available.

Compare this to a true solid axle articulator - the power wagon, which as almost 24" of total suspension travel.

Another problem - the air suspension of Land Rovers is anything but reliable. They've stranded their own engineers in the Austrailian outback. For my type of offroading, overland expedition travel, a lot of people are afraid to rely on electronic suspensions. But if you get a coil sprung LR3, guess what? You're back to square one - almost no articulation.

The point I'm trying to make is, the LR3, while a capable offroader, relies on electronics to perform just as much as a Cayenne does. Is it better than a Cayenne? Sure it is; its electronics are tuned more for offroad terrain.

But is it leaps and bounds better than a Cayenne like some people claim, based on the LR badge? No.

 

No, that's the common misconception.

Common knowledge is: with IDENTICAL tires, a LR3/LR4 will travel somewhat further than a Cayenne. Remember, the Cayenne/Toureg has more ground clearance than an H2, we're not talking about a Hyndai Santa Fe here.

Proper articulation? More like improper simulated articulation. With IFS/IRS, your articulation travel is the same as your linear suspension travel, since the axle assembly cannot rotate.

Look guys, I'm not saying the LR3/4 is not capable. It is THE most capable SUV stock (save for maybe the G-wagen. Rubi and PW not suvs). But the Cayenne with proper tires is perhaps in the 2nd best class, along with H3, Xterra (offroad edition), FJ, and maybe the new 4runner. A stock LR3 simply won't leave them in the dust. It will go futher for sure, but not much. Likewise, a Rubi will not leave an LR3 in the dust either, but it will go further without a doubt.

 

Fair enough, but remember the LR3/4 has the integrated body frame which is more dependable than the Cayenne's monocoque when twisting through gullies. That's a substantial difference between the two. The wheel artic comment was not to be taken literally, I just meant it won't float it's wheels as easily/often as the cayenne.

I mostly agree with your rankings, but the Land Cruiser needs to be in the first bracket for sure with the Range Rover too (And G as you mentioned)

One last thing, the Defender stock for stock has far better approach/departure and ground clearance than the Rubicon while the Power Wagon is a very impressive rock crawler for a PU but far too long to not high center.

H2 doesn't deserve a mention, looks the part but junk.

 

I liked the LandCruiser till the most recent model. This one (and new Patrol)is just too bloated and far from its roots.

I love the solid axle Land Rovers; they have what I consider true offroad hardware. Range Rover classics can score over 700 RTI stock! The Defender is amazing, but costs an arm and leg in North America. Rubicon unlimited is the closest thing we have to a 110.

Here're some photos of a Touareg at work, showing its clearance, suspension travel. Again, while not LR spec, they're definitely no X5s and MLs.









Lift and bigger tires:





And articulating:

 

Good post and great pics. Yes, certainly no X5 and ML. V10 TDI Touareg especially is a v tough and capable vehicle.

The new "Patrol" is a disgrace, total mall suv. The latest Land Cruiser (200) still actually impresses me, beefed up front end from the 100 and keeps all the tried and true hardware (SRA, even stronger frame plus some new tech like kdss and crawl). I think the styling gives the impression it's gone soft, while the Patrol really is dead as we knew and loved it.

 

Thought I would mention these two gems since we are discussing other 4x4s.

The current generation Mercedes-Benz ML (2006-onward) and Mercedes-Benz GL (2007-onward) are a laughingstock here in the U.S.

They are in the same class as the BMW X5 as far as off road capability is concerned.

In order to get real off road capability from the ML and GL, you need to travel outside the U.S. for Mercedes offers an Off Road Pro package that included low range gearing, center and rear locking differentials, under body protection and a few other off road goodies.

I have often wondered why Mercedes never offered the Off Road Pro package here.