Front & Rear · OEM
Refresh first, upgrade later. Phase one is about building trust in the car, and brakes are the safety floor — not where I cut corners.
Vehicle Selection
The brief was clear: without giving up the Jimny, find something with more room — able to carry the family and handle long trips, while keeping some real capability off the tarmac.
I worked through a Land Cruiser Prado 250, a Defender 110, a Wrangler Rubicon, and a Forester.
Then I saw a first-gen Cayenne that had been properly refreshed.
It could carry the family, cover long distances, and still had genuine off-road ability. More than that — its looks, its proportions, and its mechanical feel had far more potential than I'd expected.
That was the moment I realised I wasn't looking for another safe answer.
I was looking for a car that could fill the Jimny's gaps, fit the family, and be worth the time to reshape.
In the end, I found this 2009 Cayenne 3.6.
Phase 1 — Restore
Any upgrade should be built on reliability first.
When this car came to me, phase one wasn't modification — it was bringing it back to the state it should be in: the basic fluids and services done, then working through the parts that age out, one by one — spark plugs, transmission filter, driveshaft boots, brake discs, lower control arms, and sway-bar bushings.
The exterior and interior got the attention they needed too — refreshed headlights, a cleaned-up cabin, and a new head unit chosen to sit closer to the OEM look while suiting modern use.
I didn't try to swap everything out at once.
Drive it first, observe, then handle issues as they actually surface. That's not just about budget — it's about building my own understanding of the car, and my trust in it.
For a car this age, what really matters isn't "all new" — it's knowing exactly where it stands, understanding every issue, and being sure it can see the road ahead through with confidence.
Phase 2 — Safari build
What I set out to build wasn't a loud off-road machine — it was a Safari-style Cayenne that can switch between everyday life and travel.
The whole direction stays deliberately restrained: a limited palette, simple lines, and proportions that make its purpose clear at a glance.
The final setup runs a 2.5" lift on 17 × 8.5J wheels — ET25 front, ET15 rear — with 275/70R17 all-terrains. It isn't about chasing big tires; it's a balance between the look, the clearance, the sidewall, and how the car actually gets used.
To make room for it, I removed part of the side skirts and the front lower splitter, and adjusted the spots where rubbing could happen.
What I wanted was better capability, a setup better suited to travel, and a stance that genuinely fits my eye.
Ongoing — Drive, Learn, Refine
This project will never really have a "finished" day.
From here on, I'll keep logging its maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and real-world use — what I did, why I did it that way, and whether each change was genuinely worth it.
New problems may still surface, and it may keep changing as the way I use it changes.
What's recorded here isn't a checklist of a finished product — it's the process of how an old car keeps being used, understood, and improved in real life.
