So my '99 996 C2 coupe is in for its 75,000 mile maintenance. I'm still on my original engine/RMS/IMS. I'm also still on my original brake pads and rotors (hard to believe considering how many DE's it has done over the years - but it might be time soon). Looking forward to the report.

Anyway, I have this 2012 Panamera to drive. It is not my first loaner Panamera. Last year I had one for a week when I did the M030 RoW suspension and some other stuff on the 996. Then, it was a black on black one. This is white/tan. Both are/were base Panameras with 6 cylinders and PDK.
My feeling last year was that it was a big heavy car with poor visibility to the rear either via the inside or outside rear view mirrors. I hope the rear view camera on both of these cars was standard.
This one drives beautifully, though, and I don't have the same feelings of "p!g" that I did last year. Maybe I'm getting old. It would be a great second Porsche, especially for major road trips.
I think it should be my "Geezermobile" when I can no longer drive the 996.

The good thing about driving an extremely well sorted and totally modern Porsche like the Panamera is that it makes the 996 seem "raw" and hard core. Exactly why I own it. No, its not a GT3 or GT3RS, but it is the soul of a true sportscar. The Panamera is like a 928 station wagon. Not a bad idea, if you need something like that. Maybe in a few years I'll add one to the driveway. I hope I never get too old to drive the 996 (but with good health even that will come to pass, someday).

I have the feeling that when I get my first test drive of a 991, I will find it to be the halfway point between the 996 and the Panamera. And for me, that is not a good thing.

And to further stir an old pot, I love the PDK (at least on this model Porsche) and I still LOVE the button shifters on the steering wheel and feel that those who prefer the paddles are smoking something funny. But that is my own opinion. I'm sure someone will step out to attack me and defend those silly paddles.

Just sayin'.

 

Wow, I never thought about being too old to drive my 996! I've actually never owned a car THAT long anyway, so I assume I will be too old to drive my 997!

 

Great feedback on the Panamera. I have not driven one yet but a friend told me drives like the Cayenne but lower.
I think I feel the same driving my 996 now and comparing to the newer cars out there. Yes, there is better technology bla bla bla but there is something about my 996 that makes me smile. In fact, I am looking more at acquiring as my next Porsche an earlier version 911. Will love a 993 but thats outside my budget right now.

 

Panamera is a nice car, but if I want a full size luxury sedan, I will likely opt for a 750, A8 or S class. All are better looking and more suited to the task.

The Panamera suffers from and identity crisis in my mind. It's not quite a sports car, not quite a luxury sedan, and too big for a sports sedan. It tries too hard to be a sports car, and misses the mark on all three.

 

I have driven one at the dealer the other day and I was not very impressed, of course I drove it a slow speed around the dealership only, but the steering and suspension feel made me think of my Lexus. Really not very communicative car. I drove the V6 PDK and at launch, the engine was hesitant and not as smooth as a regular automatic. So I wonder if the PDK is a good fit with a car that is definitely a cruiser at least in the V6 configuration. I wish the steering was sharper but it is like all the big sedans. I had hoped for it to be a large 911 and it is not.

 

My car won't be ready until tomorrow (different thread for that) so I took the Panamera on a nice road trip today on A1A, along the open beaches of the Atlantic Ocean from Ponte Vedra Beach to St. Augustine. Weather was ideal for a lunch and shopping in the Nations Oldest City. I took a fellow Porsche owner whose personal car is currently hors de combat.

Both of us agreed that the Panamera is a great touring car. We also both agreed that the visibilty aft is absolutely attrocious - like a Lamborghini. Perhaps the same design and engineering philosophy was applied - "What is behind you does not matter." - Ferruccio Lamborghini. I would recommend spending the money (considerable) for the options (numerous required) that get you the back-up camera in the display screen.

I will also agree that the PDK is definitely "lumpy" when starting from rest. But I knew that from several PDK cars I have driven over the past 4 years. It does start in second gear (all PDK's and Tips do that) unless you select 1st manually. The fact that it is a pair of clutches engaging rather than a fluid-filled torque converter would certainly explain the hesitation and then thump as it goes from neutral (idle) to 2nd gear. It takes some change of culture to get accustomed to that. But the PDK is also totally seemless in its shifts up and down to and from the other gears. There is no noticable lag of any kind when it shifts. And no lurching drag when it downshifts. Maybe in my next Porsche. Maybe.

The navi system on the console doesn't easily display the details of the surrounding roads as shown of the third-eye-blind display in the gauge cluster. It takes way too much fussing around. The gauge display has excellent detail, but I haven't figured how to scale up there, yet. I do love the multifunction steering wheel control, especially the two scrolling rollers (left for radio volume, right for the various third-eye-blind displays. With all the stuff to select from in that display, it does not show current MPG. It does show Miles-to-Empty and Lat/Long and all sorts of very important stuff like tire pressure (nice graphic).

One option on this car that I have not previously been able to sample is the ventilated seats. This car has the stock 8-way pwr seats with both driver and passenger memory, It also has heated seats option, and ventilated seats option. Here in Florida, where the temp today near the beaches was a muggy 88 deg, the cooling effect of the seats was absolutely appreciated. After this experience, if I were ordering a 991, I would now pass on the Sport Seats Plus (nee Sports Seats in the 997 and previous - not to be confused with the really sporty shells) and go for the heated seats option (it does get cold here in North Florida... in the winter... eventually) and the ventilated seats option. The stock seats in the Panamera are very comfortable and very supportive (though who is really going to take this thing to a DE more than once? Retorical question.)

If you are buying a Panamera in the USA, I cannot for the life of me figure out why you would by a Panamera S, Panamera Turbo, or Panamera Turbo S. For this car, 300 HP is ample, even in 4-wheel drive configuration. Now, if you need a Hybrid, that is here. And soon, a Diesel in case you want to be really frugal with your conspicuous consumption. A Panamera Diesel -is that an oxymoron?

 

What good is a "test drive" thread without a couple pictures. One exterior and one interior.

(These include my co-driver for the lunch run to St. Augustine, freshly returned from Bike Week in Key West.)

 

nice write up Mark (and pics )

 

I've tried.

I really have. For more than a year.

I told myself -- "It'll grow on me." Or even, "Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to relate to this radical styling."

But are so many cars in that class and cost category that got the performance and design balance right there isn't a need to compromise on either. Porsche may not have missed the mark ... but they missed me on this one.

 

Funny how polarizing this design is and it's always interesting to hear the different opinions.


"If a car looks good right away, it soon starts looking old hat."

- Toney Lapine

 

Test complete. Test complete. (you Navy guys will get that).

So the Panamera has gone back to the dealer, and I have driven my freshly serviced 996 home. Getting back into the 996 was as comfortable as my favorite shoes. No more whizz-bang electronic light shows, 747-esque flight deck buttons, *****, and switches, to constantly distract my attention. Just pure driving (remember my '99 has only ABS - not even PSM or whatever to fiddle with).

And to that I say Amen!

The Panamera was a vast array of every sort of thing known to modern man. Analog gauges mixed with digital gauges, mixed with digital display monitors and multifunction switches and sub menu upon submenu, and buttons that pushed (sometimes several times) and ***** to turn, and thumbwheels, and mechanical switches and on and on, ad infinitum.

It was as if the Porsche engineers were our government. Instead of "Everything we know to date", it was "Let's put at least one of everything we can possibly think of, regardless if it makes sense, and then we will have something for everyone to like. As long as everyone can find at least one thing they like, they will completely ignore all of the things they don't like or won't use". The perfect "committee" car. They almost had me on the ventilated seats.

There are those folks who love big digital watches with lots of functions, and there are those who prefer an extremely accurate and nicely hand-crafted time piece. For me, my 996 falls in the latter category.