Porsche Panamera 4S 2009 Pictures
gallery (5 photos)
specifications
Get Used To It
A 911 with four doors and four seats is a little hard to swallow at first, especially as the looks aren`t that tantalsing. Fortunately driving it is much more satisfying.
Words By Danny Cobbs
Lets face facts here; when Porsche unveiled the Cayenne it was greeted with a less than an rapturous reception. For sure it was fast, and yes, it could do most things a Range Rover could do off-road, the problem was, and without being too honest here, it seemed to have been fashioned from the Land of Ugly. Here was a car which had the inane ability to give children of all ages nightmares.
But that was then, before we got used to seeing these ludicrous looking SUV’s on our roads. Now, several years later, we don’t even give them a second glance. We don’t need to shield our children’s eyes when we park next to one and we don’t snigger at the poor sod who wrote out a cheque to pay for two-tonnes of this hideous metal. See, we’ve now accepted them for what they are. The Cayenne is still as challenging on the eye as it ever was yet that hasn’t stopped it selling far beyond all expectations. And because there’s now an abundance of them they have become the norm rather than the exception. And normal is, well, er, um, the normal.
And I’m thinking after a while the same will befall the new Panamera. However, for now it falls firmly into two categories: those who think it looks like the most awful and discombobulated piece of automotive design since the SsangYong Rodius, or, like me, it isn’t too terrible. Look, don’t get me wrong here, from certain angles it is peculiar - especially from the rear - yet overall it seems to work, just, and much better in the metal than in photographs you see here.
If you’re in the market for an executive car with oodles of flair and sinuous flowing lines then this isn’t the motor for you (try a Maserati Quattroporte). If, on the other hand, you take the Panamera for what it is - basically a four-door, four-seater 911 - then it all makes perfect sense. After all, the 911 design has remained virtually unchanged since it was first conceived using the original VW Beetle nearly a million years ago. And the Panamera, like the Cayenne, is a variation on the 911 theme.
Where the exterior might be the subject for many-a-late night discussion, the rest is a showcase for what Porsche do best, make fast cars, and make them unbelievably well. My particular test car was the 4.8-litre V8 S4, the one which sits in the middle of the three models on offer. All share the same engine but unlike the entry level model (can you call a £72,266 car an entry level model?) which has power just to the rear wheels, this one is graced with the luxury of an AWD system, but not the turbo, or the extra 100 bhp offered by the flagship Turbo model (the clue here is in the title).
As for the way it drives? Well, at motorways speeds it knuckles down and delivers an exceptional ride, even on tight twisting roads it behaves and handles more like its 911 sibling than the big fat-cat barge it ultimately is. All that said, it doesn’t ever really engage the driver. Somewhere in its makeup it has lost the art to communicate with what’s going on under the tyres and you end up feeling more like a passenger than the Master of the Helm. But again, it was built to move four people in comfort, and at speed, and I think those who buy the Panamera will overlook this foible, or not even realise it even existed.
The Panamera is quirky and just like Marmite; you’re either going to love it, or detest it. I do predict one thing; in years to come we’ll see one on the road and not give it a second thought. You mark my words.
Technical Spec:
Engine: 4.8-litre V8
Max Horse Power: 400
Max Torque:500Nm
Speed:176
0-62mph:5.4
Combined MPG:26.2
C02 emissions:253
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