Wednesday, July 15, 2009

2010 Porsche Panamera gets Test Drive


Let's cut to the chase: The 2010 Porsche Panamera is big, fast, and comfortable; a genuine four passenger Gran Turismo capable of loafing across continents in giant 130 mph bounds, leaving you relaxed and refreshed at the end of the day at the wheel. Press a few buttons, stiffening the suspension, quickening the seven speed PDK transmission's responses, allowing the deep-throated dual exhaust to breathe easier, and the Porsche Panamera is ready to tackle a snaking mountain pass with the panache of...well, a Porsche.
Is it, as some purists grumble, another Porsche too far; another unnecessary detour from the company's core values, like the Cayenne SUV? Well, the front engine, V-8 powered Panamera is certainly not a four door Porsche 911. The Porsche Panamera has a personality all its own. Yet Porsche DNA seeps from every pore.
You see, the Porsche Panamera has the same ready-for-anything combination of performance and practicality that made the Porsche 928 S4 one of the world's most underrated GTs. The Porsche Panamera Turbo is four second fast to 60 mph and will hit 188 mph. Yet the rear seats fold to boost the luggage capacity from 15.7 cu ft to 44.6 cu ft, just under what you can fit behind the third row of a Chevy Suburban, and Porsche offers a roof rack and a trailer hitch (as it did for the 928) as factory options. For the record, the Porsche Panamera is rated to tow a 4850 lb braked trailer or a 1654 lb unbraked trailer. Try that with your Ferrari...This car is designed to be a daily driver, not a valet parking showpony.

Three Porsche Panamera models will be available in the U.S. when the car launches on October 17. Entry level car is the two wheel drive, $89,800 Porsche Panamera S. It shares its 400hp naturally aspirated, direct injection 4.8-liter V-8 with the all-wheel drive, $93,800 Porsche Panamera 4S. Top of the range Porsche Panamera is the $132,600 Turbo, which boasts 500hp courtesy of a pair of turbochargers, and standard all-wheel drive. Although the Porsche Panamera S is available in Europe with a conventional six speed manual, all U.S.-spec Panameras will come standard with Porsche's new seven-speed PDK dual clutch manual transmission.

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