Porsche Panamera – First Impression
The Porsche Panamera, first impression and details of the luxurious 4-door sports saloon.
When it was announced that Porsche was coming out with a 4 door sedan, there were a lot of mixed feelings amongst motorist. Sort of the same response people had when the Cayenne was first launched, people were skeptical, and some fans would just close one eye and imagine that Porsche only made 911s and nothing else and some said that it looked somewhat like an Austin Maxi.
I was never a fan of the Cayenne to begin with, so one would imagine that the Panmera would just be another car for me. Not so true, the Panamera intrigued me in some mysterious ways with its retro feel but yet futuristic impression. Sounds confusing well, perhaps I am as this is the first Porsche’s first 4 door saloon. The car grows on you, the more you look at it the more you find it interesting, and this is before we get to the high tech gadgetry fitted in the car.
The Panamera was first shown in the 2009 13th Auto Shanghai, and by no mean does the car look any less than luxuries as well as sporty. Porsche has not deviated too far from its infamous design despite the car looking quite large, 76 inches in width to be exact making it a very wide sedan. In comparison the Mercedes S-Class in less than 74 inches. In length the car is 196 inches and for a good reason. There is massive amount of space in the back, making it comfortable and spacious. Even the rear seats are adjustable.
So what’s under the hood? The Panamera will feature 3 different types of models. All the cars will come fitted with a 4.8L V8 engine. Now the Panamera S has a 400hp engine and is a rear wheel drive. The Panamera 4S is a 400hp all-wheel drive, and lastly the Panamera Turbo, which is a 500hp all-wheel drive fitted with not one but two turbo charges for that extra 100hp of power. And yes the engine is mounted in the front portion of the car as there is a proper boot to place your luggage or golf back in the rear.
The interior looks good and as mentioned filled with some high-tech gadgetry. What is really intriguing in particular is the programmable LCD located just next to the RPM which will show the driver various types of information from tyre pressure to GPS data.
In the center console is a huge LCD which controls various components the car, such as the radio, telephone, GPS, Climate control and other Medias. Most definitely touch screen, like what you would find in a Jaguar XF. What seems to be a bit of an annoyance is having the quick controls for the climate control just above the gear leaver seems a bit out of place, as you would have to look down to see the temperature and fan speed indicator.
Another interesting component of the Panamera is the automatic rear wing wing which rises up at speeds above 55mph and even tilts to an angle of minus 3 degrees. And at speeds above 127mph the wing will tilt to a positive 10 degrees to generate some down force.
The Panamera will be an exciting edition to the 4-door sports saloon market, going up against the likes of the Maserati Quattroporte and the BMW M5. Price for the Porsche will start from £72,000, and if you are looking for a seriously fast 4-door saloon the Panamera will probably top that list.
We will leave you with more images of the Porsche Panamera as well as the first concept 4-door saloon which was made in 1991 however was never put into production. It was called the Porsche 989, based on the 911 of that time.
Porsche 989 Concept
Porsche 989 Concept
