Drove the Panamera Turbo today

[KCTarga3.2]

The KC PCA was invited to test drive the new panamera today. They had a turbo and an S. I don't have anything to compare the experience to except for my 84 3.2, but wow. You forget very soon that you are in a 4dr car. Here are a couple pics from the event - some nice cars joined us.

This is the second AMG black series I have seen in town - amazing looking car






Beautiful turbo 3.6

[khamul02]

That rear is not a thing of beauty.

[McLovin]

It sure isn't.

It's got enough cut lines, lettering, trim strips and other doodads for 3 cars.

[Jgordon]

It's amazing that a company which can put its design touch on so many different things fumbled so badly at designing a sedan. Can they really not imagine/execute anything but the 911 cues? Cayenne: an 911 shaped like an suv. Cayman: a mid-engine shaped like a 911. Panamera: a 911 made bigger.

Seriously? The interior does look nice though.

[ditch68]

Originally Posted by Jgordon

It's amazing that a company which can put its design touch on so many different things fumbled so badly at designing a sedan. Can they really not imagine/execute anything but the 911 cues? Cayenne: an 911 shaped like an suv. Cayman: a mid-engine shaped like a 911. Panamera: a 911 made bigger.

Seriously? The interior does look nice though.

+1

Did you get any barf on it? I'd imagine the dealer would not like that much. I passed on my local PCA screening of the Panamera.

Jeff

[Kevin Stewart]

If you think about they fumble at the intorduction everytime almost, lets see boxter was not what it was supposed to be, 996 now the 99's were a mess and the 00 was just as bad, give them a couple years and it will get better, Kevin

[kilodawg]

This whole Panamera bashing thing is getting a bit tired. Spend some time with one.

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by kilodawg

This whole Panamera bashing thing is getting a bit tired. Spend some time with one.

No thanks...Life's too short to drive ugly cars.

[01J]

I drove it today, too. It is available for driving at the Hilton Head Concours event through Sunday (11-1-09). It is very comfortable, but the BMW X6 I drove after it seemed a touch more sporty. And I noticed torque steer under heavy acceleration. I expect that out of my 1971 Buick GSX Stage 1, but not from a new four-wheel drive Porsche. Acceleration is great. Its so smooth that you're flying before you know it. The exhaust sounds great too: not too loud, not too subtle. On the track at Hutchinson Island on Friday, it sounded great for spectators as it accelerated through a couple of hot laps. I'm a stick shift purist, so I don't like any of this paddle shift foolishness that seems to be in vogue. However, since the Porsche gearbox is close to a real stick-shift, the car doesn't freewheel on coast-down like an automatic. I like that stick-shift feeling.

One item of note is tha air conditioning. I don't know if it was because the front seat folks didn't have it set correctly at first or because its just not that good, but the thing didn't start cooling until we got up some speed. It was about 84 degrees at the time with four people in the car.

I'd still take the Pananmera over the X6, but not over my 1995 BMW 540 6-speed. That car has everything I'm looking for in a sports sedan. I don't need sporty versus luxury settings, or a computer screen in the dash telling me where I'm going, or a transmission with all of that trickery. I don't even need four-wheel drive.

It seems Porsche has engineered the Porsche out this car. Yes, its nice, but it doesn't have the rawness I expect from a Porsche (as demonstrated in my 1982 911SC). Maybe that's the point. Or maybe I'm just stuck in the 80's...

[JCR]

Fortunately, when you are driving it, you don't have to look at it.

[kilodawg]

It's a very attractive car in person but to each his own. I'd have no problem looking at one all day long. Driving it would be even better

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

I rather doubt you got torque steer out of a Panamera. I realize that it's awd (not 4wd--there's a subtle difference), but so little, if any, of the power would have been going to the front wheels, unless the rears were sitting in a big puddle, that torque steer would be an impossibility.

And yes, I too am getting tired of the Panamera bashing, which typically has zero to do with the car as a vehicle, a mechanism, and everything to do with "how it looks." Please don't tell me that Meryl Streep is ugly, that Julia Roberts' mouth is too big, or that the Panamera is ugly. That's for me to decide, and I happen to think Lyle Lovett is handsome (even though I'm straight).

[01J]

let me clear up the torque steer comment. When I stabbed the gas, the car veered right in the rear slightly. When I let off the gas, the car veered back to the left. Call it what you want, but to me, this is torque steer. It's not always in the front end.

Doubt all you want. Until you drive it, you'll never know.

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by kilodawg

It's a very attractive car in person but to each his own. I'd have no problem looking at one all day long. Driving it would be even better

My wife & I both looked one over very good @ the factory this summer during a photo shoot. There are also folks who loved the styling of the Ford Taurus. You're right...to each his own. If I won one, I'd sell it very fast...Are you going to get one with the leather-trimmed A/C vents?

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

No. Torque steer is always a front-wheel effect, often created by unequal-length drive axles. That's why it's called "steer." The rear wheels don't steer.

I get paid nice money to test cars and write about things like torque steer, so whether or not I have yet driven the Panamera (PCNA invited me to do so at Road America some months ago, but I didn't have the time), I DO know.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson

No. Torque steer is always a front-wheel effect, often created by unequal-length drive axles. That's why it's called "steer." The rear wheels don't steer.

I get paid nice money to test cars and write about things like torque steer, so whether or not I have yet driven the Panamera (PCNA invited me to do so at Road America some months ago, but I didn't have the time), I DO know.

I'll sure vouch for Mr. Wilkinson's encyclopaedic knowledge and experience with cars; he's been doing this for very a long time.


01J,

What you felt was something called "throttle-steer" and thats most often due to an alignment issue when the rear toe settings (static or kinematic) are off.

[86911cab]

All the Porsche trash talk. You guys have issues. What should the Panamera look like?

A VW?

[01J]

What is this, a knowledge contest? Everyone knows about the front unequal axle deal. I owned a three of Audi 4000s back in the day.

Torque or throttle. Call it what you want. The rear shifts to the right under hard acceleration. It just seemed out of place for a car with an independent rear (it does have an independent rear, doesn't it?).

Despite the comments on the styling, the car looks like a Porsche. Isn't that what it's supposed to look like?

[Rrrockhound]

Originally Posted by 86911cab

All the Porsche trash talk. You guys have issues. What should the Panamera look like?

A VW?

Good question. What should a Panamera look like? Just another 3-box sedan? Aren't there enough of those? This car is special; it needs to look special. Love it or hate it, you're paying attention to it, and that's the point.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Rrrockhound

Good question. What should a Panamera look like? Just another 3-box sedan? Aren't there enough of those? This car is special; it needs to look special. Love it or hate it, you're paying attention to it, and that's the point.

Saw some spy pix of the VW/Porsche Roxter in the lastest Autoweek this morning.
That whole concept should stir up some chili in the weeks to follow.

Now, back to the Thread.