I'M SITTING AT THE TOP OF A RIDGE LINE IN THE PICTURESQUE SANTA YNEZ VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA, PORING intently over a sheaf of papers on Tiptronic gear options, horsepower, fuel injection systems, ceiling and manifold limitations, and other technical materials on the two very different, but equally beautiful vehicles parked on the ridge in front of me. I sigh, struggling to integrate all of the automated systems and technical improvements that give Robinson's new R44 Raven II and Porsche's new Cayenne sports car-like SUV their impressive capabilities.

I put the papers down for a minute, just drinking in the spring sunshine, the sky, the wind pulling at my hair, and the waving clusters of deep purple lupine, yellow mustard, pink clover and golden pop pies mingled in with the tall grasses surrounding me. From this spot, high on this ridge, I have a panoramic view of this entire, rolling valley, from the jagged peaks of the San Rafael Mountains to the north, to the deep green Santa Ynez mountain ridges separating Santa Ynez from the Santa Barbara coastline to the south. I can't quite remember when I've been in such a beautiful, invigorating spot. And as I take a deep breath and revel in my surroundings, it slowly dawns on me that in focusing on all the technical aspects of the vehicles that brought us here, I've been missing the forest for the trees.

For what makes the Robinson Raven II and the Porsche Cayenne so terrific isn't their technical details, although those details are both necessary and impressive. It isn't even their sleek, beautiful lines, or their quick, responsive handling, although all of those qualities are wonderful added bonuses to the equation. It's the simple fact that they were able to bring us here, to this remote, beautiful ridgeline in the middle of scenic nowhere, with no road or airport for miles in any direction. And the fact that they made getting here fun.

The Robinson Raven II is the latest in Frank Robinson's line of affordable, personal helicopters. It has all the features that have made the R44 Raven the best-selling helicopter in the world four seats, an rpm governor to reduce pilot workload, hydraulic controls to provide a light, easy touch on the cyclic, and piston affordability. What differentiates the Raven II is, primarily, its power. Instead of the standard Raven's 260-hp carbureted Lycoming 0-540 engine, the Raven II is equipped with a fuel-injected, angle-valve, tuned induction IO-540 Lycoming engine that produces 40 additional horsepower. Rather than using all of that horsepower at sea level, however, the R44 engine is derated to 245 hp for five minutes at takeoff, and 205 hp for continuous operation. That means that most of the IO-540's extra horsepower is held in reserve, to allow the Raven II to maintain its full rated power at higher elevations and temperatures making the new R44 even more capable of reaching mountain ridges and other fun places.

In addition to the engine upgrade, Robinson also increased the effective lifting area of the Raven II's main rotor blades and streamlined the tip caps of both the main and tail blades. As a result, the Raven II not only has increased takeoff performance and a hover ceiling (in ground effect) of 8,900 feet almost 2,500 feet higher than that of the Raven It also has a noise level a full decibel lower than the Raven I.

As for the Porsche ... well, much as it seems something of a contradiction to try to say "Porsche" and "SUV" in the same sentence ... if one views Porsche's mission in life as designing high-performance vehicles for fun, the Cayenne fits right in.

In order to get a feel for what these two vehicles could offer the adventurous spirit, my boss (Mac McClellan) told me to find some remote place where I could try both of them out doing what they were built to do best.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to find some beautiful, mountainous piece of the wild outdoors and then drive a Porsche and fly a helicopter all around it?" I asked, sure that I must have misunderstood.

"Uh-huh," Mac said.

"And I'm going to get paid for this?" I just barely stopped myself from asking. I mean, really. A Porsche and a helicopter. My two favorite vehicles. In the same day. And in the name of work. Well, color me happy and throw me in that briar patch. If I had to, I had to.

To accomplish this arduous mission, we got permission from a Santa his land for the day. The Chamberlin Ranch is a 10,000-acre property that stretches almost to the San Rafael Mountains and includes acres of rolling ridgelines, canyons, meadows and valleys. Or, in other words, a perfect R44/Porsche playground.

I walk up to the Porsche, not quite believing it's really mine for the day. The Cayenne may be marketed as an SUV, but a quick, head-on look at its sleek hood, low profile and signature headlights leaves no doubt as to who its daddy is. This is a sports car in SUV clothing ... an impression that gains strength as I settle into the molded leather seats and fire up the engine. I power my way through the curvy roads that lead to the ranch, feeling the surge of power and tight, responsive feel of the wheels gripping the road at any speed. But then, one would expect that from a Porsche. The real test comes when I drive through the gate of the ranch and start working my way up backcountry.

On dirt roads, the Cayenne doesn't even need its special off-road capabilities. And it still drives like a Porsche. Powers through S-turns like it's on rails, as they say, with so much power in reserve that I feel as if I'm trying to make a thoroughbred walk docilely around the race track. We drive up a grass-covered canyon, and I kick it into its first level of off-road handling. Even in fast reverse, its steering is still tight and its traction holds like it's on my side, where a steep ridgeline looms above us. Well, this is what we came here for. I kick the Cayenne into its more serious off-road mode, turn, and hit the accelerator. I'm pushed back in the seat by the power at my command, and we churn our way to the top of the ridge without even breaking into a sweat.

I giggle. This is fun. I try barreling along the rolling ridgeline, turning tightly over hilltops to keep from going over the steepest portions of the slope down to the valley. The Cayenne responds immediately. Which is a good thing, as I register how far down a couple of the drop-offs are. But a note to any novice: a little bit of pressure on either the accelerator or the brake in this car goes a very long way.

I finally stop, get out of the car and look around. I'm on top of a breezy, sunny ridgeline, overlooking a beautiful, lush green valley. I look back at the gorgeous, sleek, burnished gold car behind me, and a mischievous smile creeps across my face. And I got here in a Porsche.

But even a Porsche has its limitations. And there, landing on the hilltop behind the Cayenne, is the proof of that. As if understanding just how stiff the beauty competition would be here today, Frank Robinson has sent not only a brand-new Raven II up here for me to try out he has sent a gleaming, shining, bright red R44 that could give any sports car a run for its money. Ah ... be still my heart. A brand-new, bright red helicopter built to explore all these canyons and mountain ridges with power and style. I'm not sure it gets a whole lot better than this.

I climb into the R44 with Dan Benton, Robinson's production test pilot, to try exploring this landscape by air. Because the fuel-injected engine requires positive fuel pressure at all times, the Raven II has both engine driven and electric fuel pumps. If the engine loses power during flight, however, the electric pump automatically shuts off to prevent the engine flooding before an air restart can be attempted.

Starting the Raven II is a fairly straightforward matter. The primer is now linked to the electric fuel pump, so you just turn the magneto key past both to "prime" for a few seconds, pull the mixture back out, hit the starter button (on the cyclic to aid re-start attempts in flight), push in the mixture as the engine fires, and then engage the clutch and wait for the temps to get up into the green arcs. The redesigned rotor and tail blades have reduced the vibration in the Raven II, although it still rocks a bit on the ground. But we don't stay on the ground long. We lift off and dive away from the ridgeline. And as Dan hands the controls over to me, I begin to realize just what the word "responsive" can mean.

The hydraulic controls in the R44 take a little getting used to because they lack any direct control force feedback. So while it's easy to overcontrol any helicopter, it's really easy to overcontrol an R44. But after a little practice (and a few wild whoopsi-doos), I start to appreciate just how light and easy the Raven IFs controls are to operate.

We pull the collective up to max power and put the nose down a bit, and we're soon scooting over the ridgelines at over 130 mph. We might even give that Porsche some competition on a straightaway! We drop down into a valley and Dan demonstrates just how fast we can get ourselves back out again. Because we're light partial fuel and only two people we can peg the VSI with a climb rate of 2,000 feet per minute. Even at its gross weight of 2,500 pounds, however, the Raven II can still climb over 1,000 fpm even at an elevation of 6,000 feet.

"What do we do now?" I ask Dan as we climb out of a series of rolling valleys on the ranch.

"Whatever you want," he answers with a smile. "That's the great thing about helicopters. They let you follow your imagination. Imagine someplace you want to go, something you want to do, and they'll take you there."

I look north at the sharp peaks of the San Rafael Mountains where Zaca Creek, swollen with the spring rain, rushes down into the valley from a steep canyon that curves into the hidden recesses of the ridgelines there. Well, this is what the Raven II was supposedly built to do. I turn the helicopter north and follow the creek right up to ... and into ... the canyon below Zaca Peak.

"Okay, let's use some of that power," Dan says, as we wind our way between the steep, rocky canyon walls along the sharply rising terrain. Soon we're climbing at 1,000 feet per minute ... and just keeping pace with the slope of the canyon floor. But I can feel the power still remaining in the Raven. Kind of like the Porsche on the steep incline up to the ridgetop.

"Just how risky is this?" I ask as we wind our way further and further back into the canyon.

"Not at all," Dan says, pointing out all the spots near the creek below us that he could set the helicopter down if need be.

As we snake our way around the sharp, striated-rock faces of the serpentine canyon walls, I'm awed by how beautiful... and how dramatic ... our surroundings are. Green trees and lush growth line the creek below us, providing contrast to the sharp peaks and rock and scrub-covered, slanting canyon walls stretching above us to our left and right. In an airplane, this would be just plain stupid. But in this particular helicopter, it's both possible and fun.

We round the last corner in the canyon, and suddenly my breath catches in my chest. In a wide open circle that marks the end of the canyon and creek lies a lush, tranquil, clearwater lake, surrounded by trees and undisturbed by the stiff breezes sweeping the valley outside the canyon entrance. And to one side of the lake, just below the steep ridgeline that forms the back wall of the canyon, is a log cabin, its front porch offering a stunning view across the lake and down the canyon vista. A little piece of heaven, tucked here among the San Rafael mountain ridges ... a short flight but an entire world away from the traffic and noise of civilization just a handful of miles to the south. Well, if I did have a Raven II of my own, I now have an idea what I might like to do with it.

We hover high above the lake for a minute before heading back down the canyon. With the power down to 15 inches of manifold pressure, we're descending at 1,000 fpm, still keeping pace with the canyon floor. Soon we break out of the mountains, cutting around Grass Mountain and Look-Out Peak as we head back to the ranch, setting down carefully among the lupine and wild grass of our ridgetop landing spot.

I'm not surprised, after flying the Raven II, that the Robinson Helicopter Company is barely able to keep up with the demand for its newest machine. The Raven Us started coming off the production line in November 2002, and more than 70 have been delivered so far, with orders for another 80 already in place. There are commercial helicopter operators who need its extra altitude and hot weather performance, of course. But even with a price tag of $340,000, the Raven II offers an amazingly cost-effective alternative to any four-place turbine helicopter, while still providing easy, comfortable operation and impressive performance. Even for individual owners who simply have a thirst for exploration and a love of the wild outdoors.

With a price tag ranging from $56,000 to $90,000 (for the turbo version), the Porsche Cayenne can't quite make the same economical argument. But then, Porsche was never about mere transportation, anyway. And the Cayenne is arguably the first in the Porsche line to offer the amazing combination of Porsche engineering and performance, more automatic and whiz-bang systems and capabilities than most airplanes ... and a back seat truly big enough to sit in.

I take a last, reluctant look around at the dappled hillsides and the expanse of the bright blue afternoon sky before we head back down to civilization. I don't actually need a Raven II or a Cayenne, of course, any more than I need my Grumman Cheetah. But I now have two more fantasy items to add to my wishlist. For what makes both of these beautiful, powerful, performing machines so wonderful isn't simply that they make it possible to know and explore a moment and vista like this one. It's that they make exploring a place like this every bit as fun and rewarding as the destination itself.