I thought you guys might be interested in the 914 owners perspective of the new car, since most of the magazine articles seem to be written by people who own 997s and Cayennes and other such things. PCNA set up a big hospitality tent in Carmel today and invited the PCA over to drive the Panamera. I showed up early and got to take a pretty long drive in the thing.

Let me start off by saying I've never been a fan of heavy cars. Anything over 2500lbs seems big and fat to me. I've got a 914 and a 912, and by comparison I think my '94 Del Sol is too damn heavy.

All I can say though is, I'm amazed. I drove the RWD Naturally-Aspirated 4.8 Panamera S.

The handling: This thing has every bell and whistle I never thought I would like ( mostly all 911 stuff ). Computers to keep the ass in line. Computers to keep the brakes from locking up. Computers to keep the tires from spinning. A button that stiffens the shocks for you. The most amazing thing though is the body roll, or should I say lack thereof. You pitch that thing into a turn, and it hardly rolls at all. The steering is so quick and precise, it really feels like driving a small lightweight car. If you had told me what I just said before I drove it I never would have believed it. It was truly remarkable to be driving around a 4000lbs 4-door sedan with three full weight adults and toss it around the corners like we could. I'm still not quite sure how they managed to make the car do this, but it really felt like driving a lightweight sportscar.

The comfort: Spectacular. I drove to the event in a 2004 VW R32, which I had always thought had the best seats in the world. I was wrong. I've driven a 2007 S500, and this thing beats it in comfort and road noise. The back of it is as easy to get in and out of as the front, and easier than the 997. This thing is smoother and quieter driving down the road at 70mph than my 914 is idling in the driveway.

The power: As far as I know, this is the same 4.8 V8 that goes in the Cayenne S, and it pulls hard and sounds good. Not sure what else to say there, it's a Porsche V8. I would have liked to drive a turbo, but they didn't have any out to test today.

The transmission: The PDK unit is awesome. This thing is a 7-speed manual gearbox that the computer just happens to be clutching and shifting for you. Until you start giving it suggestions with the steering wheel paddles. When you step on the gas hard you can't feel it shifting gears, the only way to tell would be to look at the tach and gear number display. It felt a bit weird since all my cars are always manuals, but I got used to it pretty quickly, and in full manual mode it's just a sequential shifting manual gearbox with an automatic clutch. The thing that surprised me is how nice it is to have it in auto mode and be telling to to upshift or downshift or whatever, but if you forget and just start driving it takes over again and starts shifting for you until you give it another command. I swear the thing was reading my mind while I was out driving it.

The brakes: I hopped into the thing at the porsche loading ramp they had there, belted in, put it in drive and pulled forward to the gate. When I lightly touched my foot on the brake I just about pitched everyone through the front windshield. Not only are the brakes on this thing big enough to stop a battleship, they are VERY sensitive. It took me about a mile of driving before I could stop the thing smoothly.

The looks: Looking at it in the magazine it was ugly as sin. Looking at it in the parking lot at 7AM this morning it was decent, but overall not so great. After standing around looking at them in person the morning, passing them on the road, and then driving one for a while I think I've come to like the design a bit. Not in love, but something I could certainly live with.

The price: I failed to convince the sales guy to lease me one for $100/mo. Not sure why, I mean they should know I'm good for it.

Sounds like a wicked ride! I'd love to test drive one, and I'd even lease it for $150/month!

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It might be a tecnological masterpiece but it looks like a dogs ass

I'll bet the electric portion of the service manual is over 200 pages. The new Porsches are tech marvels, but be prepared to pay big when that tech stuff starts to tank.

Edit: Chris, nice to here about the car from a source other than the status quo.

How big is it? Like Biuck Park Ave. size? or like Chevy Malibu size? At any angle of the photos I've seen it looks like just like squished turd. It is unmistakable modern Porsche styling. True to the mark.

Remember the photo shop 914 limo? You can build it, but the question remains.... why? It's been MHO for years the styling of Porshe cars is out lived it's time. But it seems the Mark is afraid of change.

History shows they have not had the greatest success with intoducing new and better cars to their line up. Look at how our little cars have been labeled for most of their existance. Truly better handling than a 911 when prepared with the exact same engine and suspension. Cutting edge styling for the time it was intoduced. The down side, poor marketing, high price for the day, fear of bumping the performance to the level to compete with the 911 of the day. It seems only in the last 10 year we have been starting to get the attension of the "purist crowd"

Look at the short life of the 924-944. Forward thinking design, performance and balance for the day. (back in the 80's) The down side, cheap interior appointments and controls, poor marketing. This was not improved. Fear of bumping the performance to the level of the 911 of the day.

Then there is the 928. As far forward as Porsche dared to go. They leaped onto the market like a sloth at full gate! Woooo! 4.5 liters with 218 hp! Awesome car with all the bells and whistles with nearly 50/50 weight distribution and the Weissach rear suspension, aluminum body panels forward thinking style and design. Porsche failed to pump up the hp to the level of the 911 of the day until the end of the cars life. IMHO the 928 has the same poor image as the 924-944.

So, in review, Porsche came out with another 911 styled car to try not to "alien"ate the base.

I have never understood this. All the reading that I have done on the 928 indicates that it was created to replace the 911 as the Porsche flagship. And then they went and neutered it right out of the gate with a de-tuned engine and automatic transmission - and wondered why sales were less then forecast.

I have a feeling that the Panamera is going to go the same way as the 928, without the benefit of looking nearly as good.

Zach

smart cars look better.

it reminds me of the Z3 that wasn't a convertible... fugly

I just spent the last 20 min looking at photos of the panamera, and I don't think it looks that bad. I'm not sure how they could have made a four door sedan look any more "porsche" like. I really need to see one in person to make up my mind though.

I have passed a couple and been passed by a couple here in Stuttgart and they are actually not that bad to look at. If you gotta have a 4 door sedan the Panamera isn't a bad choice for looks.

That's my point. Why the compulsion to make every car in your fleet look "Porsche" like. Then release the first models with the worse low powered engines you can dream up. Specially when your core buyers are used to your high hp models already in production. I could see the desire to build a car that is fast, has outstanding handling and a certain volume in the exhaust note that inspires adoration and desire. There is your constant. Now inspire a broader spectrum of the market with styles that lend to a broader appeal.

Take BMW for instance. Since the late 80's BMW has been changing their styling. There are several Models. Although the double kidney grilles and duel round headlights have been a constant there are a few other things you can count on.

I'll give you an example. I went to the pre-purchase event put on by BMW in the metro. Although the car was badged and marketed as a Mini it only took sitting in the drivers seat and closing the door to realize you were actually in a BMW product. You could have lead me in blindfolded and I would have guessed the car was a BMW. The feel of the seat, it's placement in the car and the sound the door made when closed was pure BMW. That's not an accident. That attracts BMW enthusist's to a car that was originally a lil british bread box on wheels.

Take Chevrolet. This may not be the best example considering their current plight but here goes. Look at their product line up. The small car doesn't look the mid-size car or the mid-size car doesn't look like the full size unit and none of them look like the truck line. But back in their hay day they still had brand loyality and sold cars and trucks that a broad spectrum of buyers wanted.

I hope those things sell like hot cakes. (I could be looking for a modern V8 donor someday) But to me it's the same ole thing.

I'll keep my BMW. The twin turbo 335I is a true drivers machine. Plus it doesn't look like a turd.

Seen a couple here too. I wasn't enamored of the thought or the pics in magazines, but they look much better in person. Also, the electric blue paint (whatever the official color) is awesome.

One passed me last Sunday on the Autobahn (A8) West of Stuttgart. I was doing about 100, and this thing blew by like a fighter jet.

As an interesting aside, that means that Ken knows what it tastes like.


I like the front and front quarter views.

The rear I don't like so much

They were running the Panamera as the pace / track car at the historics today and it was fast and sounded great. There was a window sticker on one in the Porsche marketing paddock and it was ready for this............$153K.

Hmmmmm, 4000+ lbs, a gazillion buttons, knobs and switches, complexity to rival a lunar lander, controversial styling and all for the price of a, what?, a nice /6, a ten year old Carrera AND an A4 as a d/d.

Though I'm not a fan of the Lotus Elise/Exige styling, the "do more with less" minimalism that appealed to me in the 356, 914 and early 911, is embodied by Lotus and not by Porsche.

Though the Panamera is no doubt one very potent and competent car, as one automotive scribe so aptly said (in reference to a manual vs automatic transmission), "for some people, tactility always trumps capability". Call me a fool, but I wouldn't trade my 914 for a Panamera.

Paul

Those are good points, but out of the nice /6, 10 year old Carrera ( 996 ? ) and A4, none of them have the acceleration or comfort of the Panamera. I'm not rushing out to buy one, but I have to give Porsche their props on making one of the nicest cars ( if not the nicest ) to tread the line between luxury and performance.

That's a bold statement, my friend.

Excuse me?

I just don't like the look for some reason, it looks long and exaggerated like a hot wheels concept or something.. bulky looking too.

it's not because it's not "porsche like" the cayenne looks more like a porsche and I hate it too... the cayenne I hate because it just seems bone headed... you don't see Ferrari making a SUV just to sell units. I actually don't mind porsche making a sedan though.. I just wish it wasn't so ugly, especially from the back.

From the start of the water-cars, Porsches have been designed to be leased and replaced.

This is how they can have such great performance - they don't have to last very long.

50 years from now the Panamera will be forgotten, but the Speedster will still be remembered fondly.

In all fairness they said the same thing about the 914. I guess we still have 15 years to go, but values are going up right now.

Zach

take away the EFI and a 914 is as simple as a 356.
value - i donno. price, sure.
a loaf of bread costs way more than it did in 1970, too.

But a 914 was still built in a time when the cars were designed to last.
Porsche learned a lot from the Japanese, and how to build flashbulb cars was one of them.

With a lot of new VWs and Audis the 'official' repair procedure is to connect the car to a computer system connected back to the collective mind at the central hive. Then the 'technician' is told what part to replace. If the part is not available any longer -- well - there's that CRS program...