First drive: Porsche Panamera
According to Porsche, the trickiest compromise to tackle with the Panamera was the balance between comfort and sportiness. The objective appears to be reached with the S & 4S, but with a significant caveat on in the engine department. The jury is out on the Panamera Turbo which will have a lot to prove in normal road conditions. Porsche’s pricing is competitive with Panamera S starting at 147900 CHF, 159900 for the 4S and a chunky 216200 CHF for the Turbo.
It’s a good surprise that the balance has not been altered by the 90 kg (198 lbs) of added weight coming with the all wheel drive transmission
Technical specifications
| Porsche Panamera S | Maserati Quattroporte GTS | BMW 750i | Mercedes S500 4Matic | |
| Engine | V8 – 4806 cm3 | V8 – 4691 cm3 | V8 – 4395 cm3 | V8 – 5461 cm3 |
| Transmission | RWD* | RWD | RWD** | 4-Matic |
| Gearbox | PDK 7 gears | 6 gears auto | 6 gears auto | 7 GTronic |
| PWR (kg/ch) | 4.65 | 4.52 | 4.95 | 5.25 |
| Kerb weight (mfr.) | (1860) | (1990) | (2020) | (2030) |
| Power (hp/rpm) | 400 / 6500 | 440 / 7000 | 408 / 5500 | 386 / 6000 |
| Torque (Nm/rpm) | 500 Nm / 3500-5000 | 490 / 4750 | 600 / 1750-4500 | 530 / 2800-4800 |
| 0-100 km/h | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| Max speed | 282 | 285 | 250 | 250 |
| Fuel cons. (mfr.) | (11.1) | (15.7) | (11.4) | (11.0) |
| Length | 4970 | 5’097 | 50’72 | 5096 |
| Width | 1931 / 2114 | 1885 / 1991 | 1902 | 1871 / 2120 |
| Height | 1418 | 1423 | 1479 | 1479 |
| Tires | 245/50/18 275/45/18 | 245/35/18 295/30/18 | 245/50/18 | 255/45/18 |
| Base price (CHF) | 147’900 | 196’000 | 138’500 | 159’700 |
| Base price (EUR) | 96’133 | 135’416 | 99’900 | 115’000 |
* all wheel drive on 4S **xDrive as option
Links
Forum topic – Porsche articles – the list of road tests – further reading:
