[n55f15]

The XM is ahead of it's time

https://www.motor1.com/news/549881/p...ossover-rumor/

[keg97]

Interesting. I get it though. I can't tell you how many friends we have (including my wife) who have a 3 row CUV but never intends to use the 3rd row. It's just in case.

[Humdizzle]

first time for $10k ceramic rotors on a 7 seater suv ?

[wtwo3]

I'd buy it if I didn't have such a hard time justifying it over an X7.... cause you know it's gonna come at a $20k premium similarly equipped.

[selbyp93]

Originally Posted by keg97

Interesting. I get it though. I can't tell you how many friends we have (including my wife) who have a 3 row CUV but never intends to use the 3rd row. It's just in case.

Ditto. I feel the third row is only just in case we need to fit in more people/ stuff at the back.

[Germanauto]

I think the auto industry from the perspective of enthusiasts has seen its best days. Automakers are now in the business of selling their brand instead of their passion. BMW's glory days have come and gone, and as Porsche transitions to being an SUV and EV manufacturer they look less and less recognizable as well. They still make a couple world-class cars, but their prices have made them unattainable. Even a Boxster S is like $75k minimum these days. The next generation M2 will likely be close to $70k as well.

Raw and attainable driver's cars have been on their way out. The CUV and electrification armageddon will stick a fork in these cars. The remaining driver's cars that speak to all of a driver's senses will be attainable only to the very wealthy.

[stein_325i]

I'm not so sure about this one, Porsche's gonna have to really work their magic to make a big three row SUV both look, feel, and drive like a Porsche.

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I think the auto industry from the perspective of enthusiasts has seen its best days. Automakers are now in the business of selling their brand instead of their passion. BMW's glory days have come and gone, and as Porsche transitions to being an SUV and EV manufacturer they look less and less recognizable as well. They still make a couple world-class cars, but their prices have made them unattainable. Even a Boxster S is like $75k minimum these days. The next generation M2 will likely be close to $70k as well.

Raw and attainable driver's cars have been on their way out. The CUV and electrification armageddon will stick a fork in these cars. The remaining driver's cars that speak to all of a driver's senses will be attainable only to the very wealthy.

Too many people waste their time reminiscing about the past (these forums especially) which is an unhealthy dysfunction. Porsche is now an SUV company that sells sports cars on the side. Does that really matter though as the 911 and 718 are still available and better than ever.

[dgoldenz]

Originally Posted by stein_325i

I'm not so sure about this one, Porsche's gonna have to really work their magic to make a big three row SUV both look, feel, and drive like a Porsche.

With an EV platform they probably can, especially when you look at what tech will be there a few years down the road. I have no interest in it but as long as it lets them keep firing up new 911 and 718 variants, sounds good to me.

[kyriian]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

Too many people waste their time reminiscing about the past (these forums especially) which is an unhealthy dysfunction. Porsche is now an SUV company that sells sports cars on the side. Does that really matter though as the 911 and 718 are still available and better than ever.

^This, but its most car forums because they tend to be an older crowd, and therefore more likely to reminiscing about the romantic notion of good driver focus cars, the good ol days. The youngsters today will far more likely post on a Facebook group than frequent a forum, and have a very different want in their vehicles.

People also forget, car makers are in the industry to make money, making entire brand for some romantic historic notion of good sports cars is a dead end road few have tried, and have all failed eventually (TVR, Lotus, hell Porsche was almost dead if not for the Cayenne), those that do manage to weather the SUV storm manage by being plain obscure, or have some multi-gajillionaire backers

Obviously Porsche know there is enough room in the uber-luxo SUV market for another player, and for Porsche, there is no shortage of parts bin to pull from to add a player for little cost.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

Too many people waste their time reminiscing about the past (these forums especially) which is an unhealthy dysfunction. Porsche is now an SUV company that sells sports cars on the side. Does that really matter though as the 911 and 718 are still available and better than ever.

As I said, those cars are becoming absurdly expensive. And the Boxster will become a 3600+ lb EV soon.

Porsche will make a 3 row mom car but won't produce a small sport sedan. I could care less about how much more money the execs in Stuttgart will earn from this decision, as a car enthusiast this news is depressing. I don't know why people online rush to defend the decisions of multimillionaire executives halfway across the world. What do you have to gain from it?

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

As I said, those cars are becoming absurdly expensive. And the Boxster will become a 3600+ lb EV soon.

Porsche will make a 3 row mom car but won't produce a small sport sedan. I could care less about how much more money the execs in Stuttgart will earn from this decision, as a car enthusiast this news is depressing. I don't know why people online rush to defend the profiteering decisions of MBAs halfway across the world. What do you have to gain from it?

All vehicles have become expensive as it's the sign of the times. I'm not defending manufacturers. They all started selling out two decades ago. Toyota was the first and one by one other automakers started following suit. We are now past the point of return as even Ferrari will soon cave in and offer an SUV. There's literally nothing you or I can do about this so you can dwell on it (as I said before is unhealthy) or move on. I choose to move on and appreciate the good vehicles that are still available today and there's still a lot of them.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

All vehicles have become expensive as it's the sign of the times. I'm not defending manufacturers. They all started selling out two decades ago. Toyota was the first and one by one other automakers started following suit. We are now past the point of return as even Ferrari will soon cave in and offer an SUV. There's literally nothing you or I can do about this so you can dwell on it (as I said before is unhealthy) or move on. I choose to move on and appreciate the good vehicles that are still available today and there's still a lot of them.

I don't have issue with "driver's car" manufacturers offering SUVs. In Porsche's case the SUV saved the company and their entire sports car lineup. They went on to give us three generations of GT3 which couldn't be anything further from an SUV. Profits enable you to scale and have more resources to spread across more products. So who says an SUV is bad for enthusiasts? Heck don't they and Lamborghini sell the fastest most driver connected SUV's period?

The real trends that worry me as a car enthusiast appear to lie closer to somewhere between changing consumer tastes, tight competition and emissions regulation. Porsche is a bad example because they still make drivers focused cars including the GT4, Spyder, Speedster and GT3. Even 4.0L GTS, albeit all too expensive for mortals to access. BMW on the other hand doesn't offer a single NA option nor a manual outside their M lineup. Audi? The 2021 A5 I drove felt more like a Tesla than any other ICE car I've ever driven. They offer precise and fast cars but they don't demand as much from the driver and simultaneously return less connection between human and machine in experience. But that must be what most customers want, right? Not a single non-enthusiast I know complains about these things.

[Redd]

I'd wait for the GT RS version with Weissach pack. Probably do a sub-7s 'Ring lap.