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The 2010 Panamera- Porsche's Second Ever Four-Door Sedan
When you drive a Porsche- you’re driving what the company is pinning as the purest, most evolved sports car experience available anywhere. Two seats, four wheels with a steering wheel and gear lever thrown-in, all made to go very, very fast. The notions of practical were never really in the cards when Dr. Ferdinand Porsche debuted the first car in 1948, but times have obviously changed the Stuttgart-based Porsche AG. They’re making their budget Boxster/Cayman lineup of roadsters, the classic 911-derived sports cars as well as the Cayenne SUVs. To the Porschephile purist- hell has already frozen over with the water-cooled engine; but it just got quite a bit colder with the 2010 Porsche Panamera- the all-new, four-door sedan from Porsche.
Ever since man has twisted the left-handed ignition key of a Porsche- he’s said “they should make one of these in a four-door…” and indeed they have- they were called Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz sports sedans- and while not classically Porsches- they were just about as close to one as you’d get in terms of German street performance, style and build quality.
The 928, 989 & the 500E
The genesis of the first Porsche sedan harks back to the mid-1980’s with the rising popularity of the Porsche 928- then designated as Porsche’s flagship and future successor to the iconic 911. (You may know it as the Porsche in movie Risky Business.) Porsche began to re-think the possibilities the powerful V8 front-engine, rear-wheel-drive 928 platform could bring to the market- producing a luxury sports sedan, bettering those from Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The four-door sports sedan concept was internally known as the Porsche 989.
By the late-80’s, Porsche, barely profitable as a modern company producing labor-intensive, hand-made, two-door sports cars scrapped the 989 plans, but sedans were not totally lost at Porsche. By the very early 1990s Porsche had partnered with their Stuttgart neighbors Mercedes-Benz and engineered, designed and built what is actually the very first four-door Porsche- the 1991-1994 Mercedes-Benz 500E/E500 sports sedan. While many will contest they’re not really Porsches- Porsche did engineer, design and produce the original Mercedes-Benz 500E in their factory, with Mercedes-Benz just supplying the parts and paint- in a back-and-fourth production process that took the better part of three weeks for one car. The Mercedes-Benz 500E was the first production four-door Porsche sedan.
The 2010 Panamera
For 2010 the much anticipated, all-new Panamera- a four-seat, four-door sedan debuts from Porsche. At first impression, the car seems a longer, fatter 997-type 911 with hints of the Cayenne thrown-in, but on closer look- it’s totally different. The Panamera’s appearance is low, big and wide, with massive alloys pushed to the very corners. It’s not a traditional “three-box” sedan, but rather a four-door, four-seat sports/fastback design. Think of it like a really fancy hatchback. Its name, Panamera, is derived from the famed long-distance, high-endurance Carrera Panamericana race held in Mexico.
The Panamera features full comfort for four only, with a wide center consol/tunnel going through the cabin- as it would in an exotic sports car. In typical Porsche fashion- leather with leatherette trim seats are standard, with full, multi-tone sport leather seats as an option. Full touch-screen, interactive instrumentation is standard, as well as a slew of niceties you’ve come to expect from Porsche. A unique feature is the hatchback, with the rear-seats down you have a vast rear interior space not too far from that of an SUV. Perfect for that once a year you need to haul something bulky from Best Buy or Home Depot.
The new Porsche is unsurprisingly fast, with a top-speed bettering 180 mph in Turbo form. It’s also quick- with a zero-to-sixty around four-seconds, nearer to five seconds with the normally aspired V8. Regardless of model- the Panamera is outright quick, rivaling or bettering it’s competition- which includes the Maserati Quattroporte, and Mercedes-Benz CLS 6.3 AMG, not to mention newcomers to the ultra-high-performance sports sedan/four-door coupe segment featuring the Aston Martin Rapide and Lamborghini Estoque. So while the Porsche-traditionalist may mock the idea of a four-door Porsche- it certainly runs in an expanding market segment.
The Panamera is offered in three different trims, much like a Cayenne and 911. The Panamera S is the standard base model with rear-wheel-drive and a normally aspired 4.8-liter aluminum V8 engine putting out 400 horsepower and about 370 pound-feet of torque. The Panamera 4S adds all-wheel-drive and a standard seven-speed PDK semi-automatic transmission. The top-of-the-line Panamera Turbo further adds a twin-turbocharged 500-horse V8 engine. Base prices range from about $90,000 for the Panamera S, $94,000 for the 4S and $133,000 for the Turbo, but like everything else out of Stuttgart- there are dozens of special options to choose from. Figure an additional $10,000 to $15,000 over the base even if you add only a few options.
The Panamera is a longtime coming and while I wouldn’t expect it to be discrete of its performance, much like a Mercedes-Benz or BMW would be, its certainly the right car for the driver who must have some form of four-seater practicality all while having to drive a Porsche. After all, “there is no substitute,” right?
Porsche sales, while down some 30% in these trying times, hopes to improve come the fall when the Panamera should be hitting the order books full swing. Porsche plans to build some 20,000 Panameras, while, according to Porsche marketing, about 60,000 enthusiasts worldwide have expressed interest.
The Panamera adds yet another degree of practicality away from the purity of Porsche- but what can I say? Times have changed. Rumor has it, Porsche is also working on a two-door version of the Panamera- in an effort to bring-back the (now classic) Porsche 928. Further proof- that though times change- some things, come full circle (yes, even at Porsche).
Maybe the 928 will come in time for a Risky Business re-make, with a then fifty-something, graying, Ray-Ban wearing Tom Cruise as Joel Goodson, stalling-out of the garage? Then again, lets hope not.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h_D9nQabKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXUUE8Kl9w&feature=related
Thanks Cheeky. Enjoyed the vid.
Great vids; it does look a bit like a mangled ape. ;)
Apart from the perfection of German engineering; that car is simply awful; boring and utterly MAINSTREAM; i still hold S65 AMG as the best sport saloon EVER ...
Perhaps; my vote goes for the M5 (here in "Polizei" edition as seen on Gumball 3000)
EDIT can't get image to work so I put it here, and yes, it has paris hilton in it. http://www.teampolizeihq.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/gallery_enlarged...
some video as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF_quGl7B2o&feature=related
I saw one a couple of weeks ago - if it were an animal it would remind me of a pig or to be a bit kinder, an Hippopotamus
http://www.carenvy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/porsche-panamera.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Nijlpaard.jpg/2...
hm. another car for rich bankers. ok.
Sweet.. it's about time 4 door hatchbacks made a comeback..
And for that Riskier Buisness remake, here's the perfect soundtrack: "Tom Cruise Crazy"
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2006/05/19/thing-a-week-33-tom-cruise-crazy/
Too bad the Turbo isn't offered in a 6 speed. Automatics, paddle shifters, 7 speed PDK, whatever you call it -- suck!
Way cool! Now I need a 6-door model, to properly chauffeur to away games the ladies roller-derby squad. :-)
you should like this. Needell with a pair of English tarts in the back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li0QJIqV7ts
Read this on a few trading blogs, plus it's being tweeted quite a bit. Could be people just excited about it, but because they seem to come out of left field on the blogs it makes me wonder if it is product seeding by some advertising agency. Was Zero Hedge paid for the blog post? Nothing wrong with that, but perhaps a declared conflict of interest makes it less so.
Don't tax your brain so much. Lighten up. No conflict of interest here.
Would much rather have the new M5. I'll take a 6-speed thank you. V-10 naturally aspirated with 500 hp. so sick.
a used '06 would be nice too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srrbvNNUKrA
Anon #88173 I really love when americans opt for manual transmission and they completely don't know how to use it.
I once drove my friends Carrera 4S in NYC and it was really painful to see him hit 5000 rpm on first gear for extended period of time, because he forgot it was not changing gears, what he was used to for his whole life.
American drivers and manual transmission, a big no-no.
Besides most automatics on sports cars change gears much faster than any human ever could.
or,, you could get one of these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjDHne15RVw&NR=1
I'm waiting for the Porsche shooting brake.
http://jalopnik.com/5331445/porsche-cayman-shooting-brake-uncovered
It's mythical, but you could easily use this Panamera platform for something like that.
Or how about a Porsche fast wagon? Yeah, buddy.
Actually, Porsche did make a bespoke "shooting brake," (one of my favorite designs) based off a 928 for the 75th birthday of a Porsche elder, I think it was Ferry.
BMW is coming out with the 5-Series Grand Touring, which is a sport-back-shooting-breakish version of the sedan.
Pardon my strong reaction, but 1st the Cayenne debacle and now this warthog. WTF? And how about the new ugliest ever BMWs.
All moot anyway, cars with pistons are DEAD. Where's the 911 "electric"? I'd place an order for that today ;-)
Uh, Sybil ????
So where exactly are they trying to position themselves in the automotive world? Porsche enthusiasts? It'll handle incredibly well, as what reviews I've seen attest to this. But if I'm a global financier and need the trunk space to hold all my bearer bonds and a suspension up to the task of evading authorities as the three accomplices and I carve up the Alpine ribbons of spaghetti laid down by the Departments of Transport between Chiasso and Zurich, why not go with the M3/4, RS4, or AMG C63? The trunk space looks more than enough to hold several suitcases filled with weapons-grade plutonium, but again, I'm at a loss to say that it would be a better option than an M5 Touring or AMG E-class for the task of decimating at the Zurich-to-Rotterdam ETA, especially if Buford T. Justice is knocking at my back door. Then there's the CTS-V/Jaguar/Maserati bookends if I want to make a political statement.
I'm not screaming "brilliant", and that leaves me scratching my head. I guess we'll just have to wait until we can get behind the wheel and see what they fuss is about.
The body reminds me of a strech G35 sedan.
That's not Porsche's market segment..... I can see some a$$hole who came up through the sales side of the company thinking he can infringe on the market share of BMW, AMG and the like. He convinced others from the buisness and engineering sides to go along with it because they want to ride the coat tails of this great new sedan, assuming its sucessful.
The only way they'll make money on these is to make them in an eastern block country on the backs of poor slavs.
German my ass.
Hideous
I drove a 928 for a while (not mine...). It didn't suck at all.
My guess is that Porsche Panamera sales will get a big boost soon from Luc Besson. Who thinks Frank Martin cannot get coaxed into trading in his Audi W12?
It would be a funny commentary on the whole Porsche / VW imbroglio, anyway.
For a third the price you can get the top of the line Lincoln Town Car. Lots more room, especially in the trunk, so if you lose that yuppee Wall Street job you can simply put a dark cap on and limo the rest of the banksters around town.
Found this image of what appears to be an earlier sketch of the Panamera. This one has suicide doors. Would have been an interesting touch.
http://germanera.com/Portals/0/GE/Images/Articles/2008/Article%20Images/...
http://www.928registry.org/Risky-Business-928-Excellence.htm
928's don't suck. Until you have to buy parts.
The original E500 was appropriately nick-named.... "Hammer"
I miss the old AMG benzes... it was a treat to see them on the road and thin about the play the owner was getting. Now you see more AMG SL's and CL's over the standard version. overly commercialized... too boring
Actually, the AMG Hammer was a different animal entirely- but similar in idea. The 500E/E500 was not marketed through the AMG company at all- if anything, it was part of the "Sportline" catalog, which, found its way in a few 1991-1993 190E 2.6s, 300E/CEs and such.
Personally, I loved AMG when it was a thirdparty. Though their cars today are stunning, they don't have the magic the early "kit" cars had.
Actually, the AMG Hammer was a different animal entirely- but similar in idea. The 500E/E500 was not marketed through the AMG company at all- if anything, it was part of the "Sportline" catalog, which, found its way in a few 1991-1993 190E 2.6s, 300E/CEs and such.
Personally, I loved AMG when it was a thirdparty. Though their cars today are stunning, they don't have the magic the early "kit" cars had.
i will try to buy one when the second Cash for Clunkers program gets rolling.
Ah...off finance and the markets for a while.
I cannot see Porsche selling too many of these. Maybe they'll sell a few in Hong Kong purely because of the name, but it is simply not an attractive vehicle. Stylistically looks like a cross between a Pacer and a Pinto, albeit with German engineering (okay, there's an attempt to look like a Ferrari 456).
I drove Porsches for many years. What makes a Porsche work is the connection the driver feels with the road. The cars are far from luxurious, tend to have a lot of over steer, but come out of a turn with reckless abandon. They lack the cache of a Ferrari and do not sound anywhere near as sweet, but the driver knows the engineering beats the best from Maranello any day of the week. They are best driven alone, so that the screams of joy do not disturb anyone else. The idea of putting four bodies in one for a trip to dinner or Home Depot is almost blasphemous.
Now back to the markets and badmouthing Goldman Sachs.
Hear! Hear!
I'd prefer an E63 AMG...wagon. The new-ish 7-speed wet-clutch transmission (from the SL63) seems really cool, and a wagon that can go 0-60 in 4 seconds or less is badass. The carbon-ceramic brakes and more heavily tuned suspension help as well (over the previous model).
just pony up and buy a Bentley.