Apr 7, 2009 5:20:04 PM
By chance I saw my first Panamera in the flesh last weekend. It was the corporate car of Porsche's Chief Sales Officer - a fully loaded Panamera Turbo in (Arctic?) silver with PCCBs and all the expensive goodies. The car was parked on a public parking lot in downtown Leipzig, hence I had a lot of time to gather a view from all angles. IMO the car has a lot of presence and provides a blend of elegance and sportiness. Of course the rear will continue to provoke controversial opinions, simply because it's very different compared to the competitors, but IMHO it suits the overall design of the car very well.
Nice photos, but the skyline of Shanghai (photoshopped a bit I am sure) is something incredible. I spent some time there a couple of years back, and was stunned by the wealth, architecture and growth. Pretty easy to see why Porsche is catering to this market...
Apr 14, 2009 7:47:41 AM
That wagon looks great! Now just call it a Shooting Brake...
I'm a huge wagon fan (yes even as a resident of North America...) and I would have to say that that wagon would shoot right to the top of my "realistic future car" list. I could stick the dogs in the back, but don't have to buy a truck!
Porsche Targets 20,000 Panamera Sports Sales
LOL, at 20% more expensive than the Cayenne, ah.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWJ1HP3xWwhg&refer=home
The car sure look great in black. If I were to get one, black is the color to have. Too bad I am 90% sure I am not buying one, I just priced one out, it came out more than a 997 Turbo, which I think is not worth it, to me a Panamera Turbo is not a supercar and should not cost more than a supercar from the same company. I however might got for a pdk Turbo when it comes out, I test drove a few pdk cars from the Porsche World Road Show and my god that pdk is amazingly perfect, only thing I can complaint is the stupid sensitive buttons on the wheel which gets in the way and the tiny gear indicator, if only Porsche uses the Ferrari way, fixed paddles on the steering column and big gear display on the dash.
Apr 27, 2009 1:15:52 PM
But the basic issue remains, the buttons turns with the wheel, but at least there is an option to use the shifter to shift, and using the shifter defeats the purpose of having buttons on the wheel in the first place.
Notice how Ferrari doesn't let one shift with the shifter anymore? Because they have perfect paddles.
Notice how BMW and now Porsche provides a shifter that shifts? They both have buttons/paddles that turns with the wheel, which is a design failure so they have to provide a backup shifter.