Feb 7, 2009 5:46:13 PM
As expected from the publicity photos.
Rear is an acquired taste. The rear is different and unique but some people will have to try in order to like it. Others will reject it.
Not everybody has to like it but some 20,000 people p.a.
Feb 7, 2009 6:09:33 PM
The front half is nice but the rear half is simply hideous according to current aesthetic standards, reminds me of when Bangle's 7-series came out
I think Porsche has been too arrogant and high handed by thinking they could get away with it simply by putting a P-badge on its hood, so they better be less arrogant with the pricing the choose IMO.
The only way I could bear that rear half is if I wanted that car so bad for some reason that I would subcounciously fool myself into thinking that I like it
Feb 7, 2009 6:13:26 PM
Feb 7, 2009 6:16:23 PM
Thanks for the pictures kreso .
No matter how much I try to like the back, but my subconscious keeps telling me are you nuts .
Funny thing is I showed some pictures of rear cars to my wife and wanted to just get her feed back.
X6 - looks different but she liked it.
A7 Concept - strange but gets some getting used to.
New E Class - She loved the car all around (don't ask me why )
Panamera - What would the real back look like ? I said that's it, that's the real back no camo and she kept insisting that they will change it before the real car comes to the market .
Feb 7, 2009 6:34:02 PM
Ron,
I saw tons of real life pics for Auto Bild Panamera special(next issue Friday 13th-Freddy is coming in his Panamera-article name. Just kidding...) and IMHO it looks interesting... I will keep saying-Panamera is Citroen DS for 21st Centuary.
I know all specs/weight/size. Remember some claim about Ring time of 8.00min for Panamera Turbo? With its weight and power only with Cylon technology if you know what I mean...
This is the first critic of the Panamera, made by someone trained as a designer, and despite all other comments I do agree very much with him. Chris Hrabalek is diploma designer from RCA London, the best car design school in the world at MA level.
Chris Hrabalek looks at the new four-door four-seater from Porsche...
Few brands have such a loyal following as Porsche. But it’s a following made up of both owners and enthusiasts who are constantly sharpening their pencils for the critical ‘letter to the editor’, should their beloved brand divert too far from its core positioning.
A number of automotive connoisseurs will recall a time, not too long ago, when a certain Porsche 928 model was suggested as the replacement for the holy grail of Zuffenhausen: the Porsche 911. Despite styling which was both ultra-progressive yet timeless – due to a non-automotive, and more product-design approach – all hell broke loose. Porsche owners like what they are used to: German rationale, evolved styling and the ignition on the left.
Unlike the four-door concepts from both Aston Martin and Lamborghini, the Porsche Panamera seems to be positioned as a genuine alternative to a Maserati Quattroporte or Mercedes CLS, both in image as well as day-to-day driveability. This creates the necessity for a less radical technical package: one which brings increased challenges for Porsche’s in-house stylists.
In 2004, the German designer Michael Mauer (designer of the Mercedes SLKand Saab 9-X) replaced Dutchman Harm Laagay as Porsche’s Director of Design. The Panamera was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as it doesn’t happen often that Zuffenhausen’s finest gives its design team the opportunity to move away from derivative body kits and model facelifts and instead focus on an entirely new model for the current line-up.
Although one could hardly call the styling of the new Panamera revolutionary, neither can one accuse it of having anything but pure Porsche DNA. While it’s certain that numerous sofa-referees will judge the styling as too conservative and unimaginative, it is far removed from the Aston Martin DB9 LWB (aka Aston Martin Rapide). Also, while the Panamera shares common parts with its siblings, none are too obvious. Visually, it is a far more distinct model than, say, the products of the Porsche 996/Boxster era.
Although we should reserve final judgement until the day the Panamera can be seen on the roads – in context with other cars around it – one can be quite certain that this car is an important milestone for this once near-bankrupt, one-model-only manufacturer, in cracking the magic 100,000 units per annum barrier. And it will surely generate a healthy revenue for Porsche. Job done.
Also the link:
http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3200.asp?id=14043
I don't care too much about comments from designers, simply because they're NOT a customer who have to DRIVE and OWN such a crappy design.
The front looks like a Corvette (which isn't too bad actually) but the rear is hideous at best and the car itself is huge, I can already read the headlines in various car magazines, referring to the Panamera as the "last limousine dinosaur".
I am a longtime Porsche enthusiast and owner and I just hate how the Panamera looks. The feeling is even worse than the one I had with the first generation Cayenne.
The only reason I would buy the Panamera would be the performance/technical part. This is the same reason I went for the Cayenne Turbo, despite my disliking of the look.
Surprisingly (actually not), Porsche substantially changed the look of the Cayenne front (the worst!) and rear (I actually like the rear of the first gen better, I would have added just the LEDs) because the initial design really sucked. The same will happen with the Panamera, I'm willing to put a bet on it.
Look at the current resale value of a Cayenne and the resale value of a 911 or even Cayman. The difference is HUGE. The same will happen to the Panamera, especially after the design will be changed after 2-3 years. This is no sporty limousine, it looks more like a bad "excuse" for the Cayenne. The Panamera is HUGE and I highly doubt that the press and especially the public will have different feelings towards this car than they had towards the Cayenne. It will take a year or two but the Panamera will suffer from the same problem the Cayenne suffered. "Too big", "too heavy", "too much fuel consumption", etc. etc. etc.
Don't forget that the Panamera is actually using the same engines the Cayenne uses, even if it is a couple of hundreds of kg lighter (which we actually don't know yet).
Bottom line is: the Panamera is NOT the car I expected and I really wanted one.
Feb 8, 2009 2:37:31 PM
Couldn't agree more. In all these years in Porsche forums reading enthusiast's opinions I can't rememeber a more unanimous repulse towards a certain design aspect than the Panamera's rear half, and thats really the unavoidable bottom line, the prospective buyers are the only ones who's opinion count. And the difference between a good car designer and a bad one is that the former is able to capture those prospective buyers opinion and the latter can't and tries to enforce his own on the prospective buyers with BS.
I personally was expecting a 4-door-GT with a coupe style who's design would state a sportcar driver's view of how a 4-door should look like with a certain degree of irreverance towards conventional luxury sedans, but instead we get a station-wagon looking rear egg shaped huge car that belongs more in the Citroen model line than in a history sportcar manufacturer's. I can't understand it, the only reason I can think of is that Porsche became too full of themselves thinking that they can get away with everything and people will still buy it and like it too.
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funny, how we all seem to agree that the front is totally corvette........
personally, i do like the rear end of the car more than the front as it is different. they should keep the back and adjust the front to match. it's mid-section is where the panamera totally looses it......
Feb 8, 2009 4:05:04 PM
The designer from the previous linked post says in typical defensive gibberish only a room full of metrosexuals would understand :
" styling is executed in a clean, logical and Germanic fashion following all the design rules taught at Pforzheim Design School for decades"
Carlos stated in clean,concise phrasing a 7 year old would understand :
" a station-wagon looking rear ..egg shaped ..huge car " .
IMO the whole debate is useless until we see the car in the metal.
Still photos, from whatever angles, of unusual designs like the Panamera do not often convey the real proportions of the car. Another example IMO is the S class which when viewed statically from some angles it appears awkward but in real life it is a successful design for the type of car it is. In real life you never have a static view of objects.
Also like on a face you cannot concentrate on a single feature in isolation but look at the integrated whole in order to have a complete impression. This can only be determined when we see the real car.
Who knows it might be better or perhaps worse than the photos.
Feb 8, 2009 10:59:21 PM
The hardest part for me right now is the general rear end shape, which by itself could be quite nice. What really distorts the whole car is the side window line going up after the rear doors... WTF were they thinking? Cayman style?? why not make it flow nice and keep the visual weight down..
Picture 1: Just the rear alone, it looks really really really low, wide and bulky.
Picture 3: Appears to be a stretched 911 still as the roofline has some really bad lines to it probably caused by the damn window lines again.
All in all, i want to just see it in my local showroom.
2005 Ford Focus S, 5spd
1986 Porsche 944, 5spd
Feb 8, 2009 11:05:53 PM
Feb 8, 2009 11:37:14 PM
Feb 8, 2009 11:38:11 PM
Feb 9, 2009 5:59:02 AM