Panamera Motor Trend - First Ride: 2010 Porsche Panamera

[Merc1]

An Extended Backseat Drive in Porsche's New Four-Door Hatchback Sedan


"Is it understeering much?" I howled out to the driver of the $133,550 500-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo, as I braced for a ninety-degree left that was approaching with comical speed. "Oh, naaaa. It just goes where you point it" responded the Zen-calm Porsche test driver. Nuts. Our technical introduction to Porsche's new four-door hatchback sedan at the autoamaker's Weissach think tank had concluded with an unexpected series of flying laps around Porsche's kart-tight test course -- but with we journalists as passengers only. No driving, and hence no driving impressions. Porsche has planned that for later. And now my clumsy attempt to dupe the driver into just giving me a hint of what he was feeling had been greeted with a diplomatic, but uninformative, answer.

Or was it? Actually, the car did seem to be going exactly where it was aimed. And moreover, while producing utterly improbable, face-twisting lateral g loads for a car that weighs 4344 pound and stretches 195.7 inches. This is a big, big car, and it's snaking around the track's narrow ribbon of asphalt fast enough to give Captain Bligh motion-sickness. Maybe a trio of g-hardened test pilots could stand this for awhile, but otherwise it's essentially a car that's faster than mortal passengers can endure.


Full Story: Motor Trend - First Ride: 2010 Porsche Panamera


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[Wunderkind]

I quite like the Panamera's proportions from this angle.

 

[klier]

OUCH!!! That's just cramped for such a big car. No leg room and no head room

 

[Tarek]

Man that is one divine interior

 

[coolraoul]

Superb interior. Bit cramped maybe, could be true.

Very strangely shaped roof trim though, it's about as complex as a whole car...

This car seems pretty much about "why not making even simple things as complicated as possible?"

 

[Centurion]

Yeah, that legroom isn't as generous as I expected. I believe the rear seats can be moved backwards and forwards which I certainly hope they do if Porsche intent for this car is to serve as an alternative for the S-class. the carving of the ceiling it nuts.