Champion Motorsport Porsche Cayenne Wide Body kitIt was inevitable that
someone would offer a body kit for the new Porsche Cayenne. It is a Porsche
first and foremost, and as such is the latest member of a long line of cars that
have always been considered ideal candidates for the personalization process.
Just as important, the requirements imposed by both the layout of, and customer
preferences for, luxury sport-utility vehicles have left the Cayenne with an
exterior shape that is unusually discreet by Porsche standards. But even in the
more conservative SUV world, there are those who want something more, a vehicle
that stands out from its brethren. So an opportunity exists for aftermarket
suppliers to offer visual enhancements.
The one area in which a Cayenne is underwhelming is that it's fairly anonymous on the road. The Wide Body conversion changes that.
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And what has been the single most
popular post-production design change made to Porsches? Without question,
it’s the “wide body” look, first devised to cover wider tires fitted to racing
cars, and subsequently adopted by owners of street Porsches who liked the more
aggressive look of a broad-shouldered car. Champion Motorsport thinks Cayenne
owners may want to take the same path.
If the Champion name seems familiar,
it should: The parent company, Champion Motors, is the world’s largest
Porsche retailer, and you have probably seen the ADT/Champion Racing name
emblazoned on the company’s Audi R8 racers at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, and
other racing venues. Car sales and competition are only two facets of the
operation; go-faster and look-better parts for road-going cars are another, and
that’s what Champion Motorsport deals with, offering a line of parts and
accessories for Porsches, Audis, and other high-performance
nameplates.
In producing the Cayenne kit, Champion avoided several common
pitfalls of the add-on trade. First, the firm cleverly approached the look
itself: A designer from one of the major auto manufacturers’ styling studios was
recruited to produce lower side sills and flared wheel arches that are at once
distinctive and appropriate to the vehicle. And because the new parts use existing mounting points, they fit perfectly and
are easy to install.
Then, Champion addressed quality by assigning the task
of manufacturing the parts to Venture Industries, one of the primary producers
of original-equipment front and rear fascias for Porsche and Audi. The Cayenne
pieces are formed in aluminum molds for highest finish quality and dimensional
accuracy, and are made of the same polyurethane material used for fascia covers
on the stock Cayenne. They are primer-impregnated as well, requiring only finish
painting before installation.
The Wide Body kit is intended to cover larger
wheels and tires. Champion Motorsport’s Naveen Maraj recommends 20-inch wheels
(18-inchers are standard) with 275/40-20 rubber. Champion can supply the
replacement rims, but these are not included in the kit price, which at press
time had not been set, but is expected to be in the $3,000 to $4,000
range.
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It is a compliment to Porsche engineering that Champion does not recommend
performance upgrades with its body modifications.
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With most Porsches, body modifications are only the beginning.
Horsepower, handling, and interior upgrades almost inevitably follow.
Surprisingly, Maraj suggests that the Wide Body kit makes a perfectly acceptable
beginning and end to the alteration process. He points out that Porsche’s
typically thorough design and development work has resulted in a well-balanced
blend of sports car and SUV attributes (as anyone who drives a Cayenne can
attest) and believes any alterations beyond the body kit would detract from,
rather than enhance, the Cayenne.
The Cayenne is not for everyone, and
neither is Champion Motorsport’s Wide Body kit. But the discriminating few will
find the Cayenne a superb all-around passenger vehicle, and those with a taste
for something even more individual may well find the combination of the two
downright irresistible.
Champion Motorsport
888.887.0350
www.champion-motors.com
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