Sometimes when a group of friends are around, especially when there is a video camera running, we humans are known to do some pretty dumb things. We would probably all describe ourselves as relatively responsible drivers, but be honest, we’ve all been ‘hanging out with the guys’ and done a burnout, a donut, or jumped some train tracks in our day. We were probably more susceptible to it in ‘the good old days’, but that peer pressure can still get under the skin of a full-blown adult. That may have been the case with this Cayenne owner.
The Cayenne, while usually relegated to shopping mall lots and office parks, is actually a quite capable off-roader when piloted by an experienced driver. You might not think of it fording rivers or traversing the Rubicon trail, but it can. At least within reason. So, when one comes out to an off-roading party, there are sure to be a few guffaws in the driver’s direction, surely sparking ire, especially in those of an above average ego.
I can only guess at what happened here from the video provided, but I would wager that the ‘friends’ on the far bank have already forded the river and are engaged in tempting the Cayenne driver across the river, a river that this driver did not apparently have enough experience to properly ford. If he’d read his owner’s manual, he might know that a stock 957 generation Cayenne can wade through up to 21.8 inches without any issues. The depth of this river is obviously much deeper than that, to disastrous result.
It’s hard to tell from the video, but the onlookers later reported that the driver floored the throttle in the middle of the river just before the engine died. It would seem to me that he sucked in a couple of liters of water and hydrolocked his off road Cayenne’s engine. Proper river crossing techniques probably could have gotten the Cayenne across this deep water unscathed, but that’s really only for seasoned veterans of the trail.
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
The New Cayenne Handles Going Off-Road Quite Well
Can a Porsche Cayenne Really Handle Off-Road Driving?
Driving The Porsche Cayenne Turbo S Off-Road
View Comments (3)
If he trusted his "friends" for that he had better find new friends...did they cross the day before? That looks like deep and fast water even in a poor video so it would be a challenge to cross in a jacked up Ram, etc.
Chuck, if you watch to the end, that's exactly what happened. The others crossed previously and they were in lifted jeeps... Even without a lift I think this Cayenne could have made it if the driver had just a bit more experience. Looks to me like they entered the water too hot and didn't know their line ahead of time.
The Cayenne went directly into a hole about halfway and yes he was definitely too hot going into water. Glad I'm not in the market for a used Cayenne! ;-)