Our first contact behind the wheel of Porsche’s new four door coupe.
From designer sketches to camouflaged test mules, Porsche tested the patience of the automotive microcosm until it finally presented the Panamera at the 2009 Shanghai autoshow. Chinese customers which Porsche included in its focus groups – style clinics as they call them in Weissach – beside Germans and, of course, the all important north americans to validate design directions. The result isn’t consensual, almost cerebral. If the 911 DNA can be traced to the grille-less facia, the hood’s cut line, the shape of the front fenders, the tightening cabin or the trapezoidal rear window, the end result rarely convinces at first sight. The Panamera has to be more than the sum of cues borrowed from its brethren.
Target customers ? According to the Panamera project leader, they are segmented by the cars they own: luxuy sedans lacking sportiness (A8, 7-series, S-class), cramped sports car lacking practicality (911 and wannabe’s) or SUVs with a socially taxing image. The Panamera buyer is looking for more sportiness or more space in a discrete package.
If the exterior fails to convince on first and second look, the interior is a home run, with a center console stretching from dash to rear, and a multitude of switches lined neatly on either side of the PDK shifter. Jet cockpit is the explicit inspiration here, with every function accessible in one move through a dedicated switch. A little overwhelming at first, but less so than a sprawling tree of submenus in a multi-function screen, and very pleasing to the eye. Fine leather, classy brushed aluminum inserts, wood or carbon trim to your taste, all up there with the best in styling and manufacturing. The instrument cluster integrates a clever secondary display for satellite navigation. The trunk appears cramped, with a high floor. If Porsche’s four bespoke suitcases fit, don’t hold your breath for your Samsonite travel set.
As an appetizer, Porsche had coned a handling course on the Buochs airport strip in central Switzerland. In the Sport Plus mode, the Panamera S obliges with ease, clipping apexes with poise and precision and reacting with finesse to throttle modulation. The PSM stability control leaves some play room until it reigns things in by braking wheels independently to tame understeer, or dial torque down in case of oversteer. An innocent dab on the PSM button shuts the nanny off, 90 degrees left hander in second gear, I floor the throttle and the big saloon rewards me with a beautiful slide, easily controllable with half a turn of opposite lock. Very encouraging !
Switching to the 4S and its silver air intakes, 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. On the same course, it’s a real pleasure to go brush the cones with the front wheels. At the end of strip, naughty play with the PSM and throttle sends the Panamera sideways again, drawing a bit too much of attention from our chaperon. If the steering is not the ultimate in feel, the package is very well sorted, playful and even saucy if that’s what you ask for. In this particular environment, the car impresses.
I hop into the Panamera Turbo with high expectations. Giving it the beans from a standstill, the torque and power gain is not perceivable, but the twin turbo V8 is far from ferocious. In the first esses, the Turbo understeers surprisingly early, front wheels agonizing under the forces at play. Being more aggressive only makes matters worse, the only solution is to ratchet ambitions down and take more margin on turn in. The PSM is a lot less lenient too, stepping in brutally before the first hint of oversteer. The additional 110 kg (242 lbs) that the Panamera carries under the bonnet over the 4S affect handling in a considerable way. I was expecting an endless tap of torque in an impeccable chassis, I got out of the car underwhelmed.
The first half of our road course is an opportunity to experience the Panamera from the rear seats. Short doors and high seams do not make ingress easy, but once in, comfort is very decent, with sufficient head and knee room. Zooming down the hairpins from Seelisberg, I am struggling a bit with forward visibility and lateral support, but while cruising at nearly reasonable speeds on the Gothard freeway, I find myself at ease. Porsche did not try to squeeze a fifth seat from the rear bench, one does not travel shoulder to shoulder in business class. The optional sports seats bring marginally more support at the front, anecdotally at the back.
In road use, the normally aspirated 400hp V8 feel really thin. Cruising at 120 km/h (75 mph) in seventh gear, downshifting three gears to fourth is necessary to squeeze some juice out, and the most humble turbodiesel would already be 300ft away. Adequate at mundane speeds, the engine struggles to convince at a more hurried pace or when overtaking. The Turbo’s 700 Nm (770 with overboost) of torque would really come in handy in such conditions. The exhaust note is a satisfying snarl, with an optional sport system that brings additional fanfare, but sheer performance is disappointing.
White not brilliant, the PDK double clutch gearbox delivers a predictable act, with smooth up and downshifts, and, as on the Carrera, a 7th gear as long as a United Nations speech. Improving mileage is a worthy goal, but looses its purpose if it forces such frequent downshifts whenever you need to summon power to overtake or regain freeway speed. Porsche claims that the Turbo revs at 2800 rpm at 200 km/h ! In spite of this fuel saving gear box, an average 15 L/100km in real world conditions with a Panamera S or 4S would not surprise me. Not a small figure but thankfully, Porsche installed a 100L tank so your bladder will be the first to surrender on long pan-european dashes.
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
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