dennisnyc

Hi!

I'm on the market for an SUV. Last Friday was doing test drives of base Cayenne, but also BMW X5 and MB GLE.
I was driving Porsche first time in my life.

It felt like its brakes were incredibly sensitive. In general, I'm trying to be very accurate when braking/stopping, however, no matter how hard I was trying, I could not get the same "smooth" braking behavior that I could easily achieve with BMW and MB.
As if the brakes were biting. Essentially for the 3/4th of the test drive, I had to focus just on that. I was trying to push on the brake pedal very VERY softly and slowly... no way. At least in the very end, it will jerk anyways.

With the X5 and the GLE, everything felt intuitive from the very beginning, I did not need to reeducate myself, just noticed some difference and that was it.
So... sure, maybe my general lack of experience was the key, but please let me know your thoughts. What could be the problem?

Thanks!
D

OCNYPORSCHE

It could be just the actually demo Cayenne. I can tell you that many have come from BMWs and Mercs and will never look back.

Ticket Target

I would ask my sales person about that. I'm on my 2nd Cayenne. My first had basic iron rotors, while my Turbo has carbon ceramics. Both, easy to modulate.

dkhm3

We got our 21 cayenne base and the brakes r fine for us. Still breaking her in, there are threads from those that have brake issues you should look at those threads and see if that is the same issue you had. Porsche changed the brakes on 2021 models to larger S brakes. Seems like most of the issues are from before the change.

I’ve had 3 previous x5s and liked them very much. The new one didn’t do it for us.

icemang

Yeah there's a couple of long-running threads about the brakes. Some people have issues with them and some don't. Whether the reported issues affect only a subset of the cars or whether that's just how the brakes are in all the cars and it only bothers a subset of owners is unclear at this point. I would drive another car to make sure there wasn't simply an issue with the one you drove but in this second car make sure you drive it in "sport" made for a while and see what you think about the brakes, especially as you slow to a stop.

runbuh

My experience is similar, but I *think* the lack of smoothness I get is from the transmission downshifting to 2nd, then 1st, as I come to a stop. Do you drive around with auto start/stop enabled (engine stops when you stop), or disabled? If you mostly drive around with it disabled, try enabling it and see how it goes.

Petza914

You could likely resolve that with a pad compound change, like to Hawk Ceramics that have a little less initial bite (and consequently less dust), and are easier to module. I have PCCBs on 2 or my Porsches, including the Cayenne, but the Hawks on one of my 997s.

Rich_Jenkins

My guess is this is what the OP was feeling, the transmission downshifting. It was a little startling to get used to on our '19.

The '19/'20 Cayenne brakes got lambasted, fairly in my opinion, for an unacceptable amount of noise for a car at this price point. The brakes, Porsche's peculiar *** implementation and other issues led us to sell out first-year model within a few months and buy something else. Based on my searching I could not find any replacement pad options. If they changed the base up to the "S" brakes in '21, that would be fantastic news.

If I had to drive four people and their luggage, cross country, in all weathers, night or day, the Cayenne would be at the top of the list. In daily driving...not so much.

Mr_Marty

The brakes on my '20 CT are sensitive. I don't have any issues with noise or "lurging". But after a few days driving my other cars and then driving the Cayenne it takes a bit to get acclimated. The first few stops can be a bit jarring. Almost like there is too much power assist.