Porsche Panamera Turbo
Test date 20 September 2009 Price as tested £95,298

An all-new model line from Porsche is something we’ve become rather more accustomed to within the past 10 years than at any other time in the company’s history.

The Panamera, however, is as much of a diversion from its current line-up as the Cayenne SUV was. Porsche has never made a car like this before, although the company says producing a four-door GT was a dream of company founder Ferdinand Porsche. As with the Cayenne, the Panamera (named after the Carrera Panamericana road race) enters an established market while offering something unique.

No other luxury car looks quite like the Panamera, and no other is meant to be quite so overtly sporty. And, we suspect, no other is prepared to be quite so compromised in its pursuit of that outright dynamism. Even the fastest versions of luxury saloons – with the possible exception of the Maserati Quattroporte – don’t usually sacrifice their latent comfort.

Question is, what level of comfort and refinement can Porsche maintain while achieving the level of performance it craves? Porsche says all of its cars use styling cues taken from the 911 as their basis. The shutline of the Panamera’s bonnet, for example, and the high-set front wings, are obvious 911 traits, as is the falling side window line.

Matching these to a car other than a rear-engined two-door coupé is not the challenging part of the design. The difficult part is making the traditional 911-style sloping roofline work with this luxury hatchback’s proportions. On almost all hatchbacks the downward curve is reversed at some point by a boot lip or spoiler, but not on the Panamera. And it’s the way the roofline curves that’s the most controversial – and to our eyes, least successful – element of the design.

Porsches rarely sit directly alongside their rivals, but the Panamera is marked out further by having four seats to the more conventional five, and by the fact that convention dictates a big luxury car should have a saloon boot, rather than a hatchback. Most luxury saloons are also more than five metres long, a mark that the Panamera misses by three centimetres.

Few luxury saloons get a manual gearbox option either, but in naturally aspirated form that’s what the 4.8 V8-powered car gets as standard. However, the 493bhp Turbo you see here has Porsche’s seven-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox as standard. With PDK (optional on the S) comes Porsche’s first application of stop-start technology.

The Turbo also gets the air-sprung suspension that’s only optional on other Panameras, and four-wheel drive. The drivetrain itself is not dissimilar to that of the Cayenne SUV, although the platform is different. Do not be surprised, however, if the Panamera platform later spawns other cars within the Volkswagen group.

the rest of the article :
Porsche Panamera Turbo - Autocar.co.uk

 

Never liked Autocar reviews, although it makes some interesting points.

PDK borderline unacceptable in traffic? That what they infer with the drivetrain comment?

 

Thanks DJ for posting!

some interesting info from the article:


How much ?
Price as tested £95,298
Price as tested £108,541

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How fast
0-30mph 1.6 sec
0-60mph 4 sec
0-100mph 9.2 sec
0-150mph 22.6 sec
0-200mph no data
30-70mph no data
0-400m 12.5 / 116 sec/mph
0-1000m 22.5 / 148.9 sec/mph
30-50mph in 3rd/4th 2.1 / 3.6
40-60mph in 4th/5th 3 / 4.8 sec
50-70mph in 5th 4.2 sec
60-0mph no data
Top speed no data
Noise at 70mph 68 dbA

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How thirsty?
Test average 20.3 mpg
Test best/worst 28 / 7.3
Government figures
Combined/urban 23.2 / 15.7 mpg
CO2 emissions 286 g/km

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How big?
Length 4970 mm
Width 1931 mm
Height 1418 mm
Wheelbase 2920 mm
Weight 1970 kg
Fuel tank 100.0 litres

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Engine
Layout V8 cyls Vee , 4806 cc
Max power 493 bhp at 6000 rpm
Max torque 516 ft at 2250 rpm
Specific output 102.6 bhp per litre
Power to weight 250 bhp per tonne
Installation F Longitudinal
Bore/stoke 96.0x83.0 mm
Compression ratio 10.5:1
Valve gear 4 per cyl
Ignition and fuel no data, Unleaded
Gearbox
Type 7-speed Automatic
1st 5.97 / 4.4
2nd 3.31 / 8
3rd 2.01 / 13.2
4th 1.37 / 19.4
5th 1 / 26.6
6th 0.81 / 32.8
Final drive 3.15

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Suspension
Front Aluminium double wishbone
Rear Aluminium multi-link

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Steering
Type power assisted with variable ratio
Lock to lock no data

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Brakes
Front 390mm grooved and inner vented discs
Rear 350mm grooved and inner vented discs

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Wheel & tyres
Size front 9Jx19" Alloys in
Size rear 10Jx19" Alloys in
Made of Alloy
Tyres front 255/45 R19
Tyres rear 285/40 R19