rijowysock

drove a 4S today, and although it doesnt feel anywhere near as fast as stated, its super nice and is much nicer than the comparible S class/LS460L/7Series/Quattroporte cars imo..

rides great, great feedback, feels like a coupe until you look in rearview mirror and everything is setup great..

-riley

OldGuy

I saw it on Friday and I said Panamera=WTF!
I didnt even want to drive it. It just... I dont know... didnt knock my socks off.

ricster

Its truly a super nice car. Its fast esp in the turbo model and if a guy in a 911 or 911 s/ c4s can hang with a turbo panamera he is kidding himself.

Slimwear

Really?

The Panamera TT has 8.68 lbs per horse (4343lbs/500hp) and the 9114s coupe is 8.44 (3252lbs/385hp). So I assume you are referring to a torque advantage and therefore an advantage in a drag race. That is all well and good but if the road changes direction that 1100lbs is the death of that race.

From Dr. Porsche himself;

"The lighter you make the car, the less weight there is to brake for a corner, to take around the corner, and to accelerate from the corner."

I'm fairly certain any driver in a 911 can "hang" with the panamera as long as it's not strictly a straight line, and even then it's close.

Emery

yemenmocha

Even for all that weight it's still about a full second faster to 60. I think it has better numbers on the skidpad as well, and AWD helps to put that power down more efficiently than someone can in a C2S. The 516 torque is an enormous jump in torque too over a C2S.

Slimwear

I was quoting the numbers from the AWD 9114s so it's not putting power down differently. The torque is an enormous advantage which accounts for the 0-60 time but that isn't as much help when at speed. According to Road & Track it scored a .94g on the skid pad (about the same as the Lexus IS). This is an impressive number for a sports sedan but isn't in true sports car territory. The 2008 911 comes in at 1.00g (don't have the 2010 number which is implied to have a slight improvement) which is a huge advantage in the grand scheme of things and is a product of the huge weight advantage.

My point isn't to put down the Panamera, it is quite impressive and I can't wait to drive one. I just think we need to be realistic about the performance when we say a 911 can't hang with it. When Porsche says you get 90% of the sports car experience in a sedan that is quite amazing. But it's still 90%..

Regards,

Emery

texas911

Well, how would it do against a 997TT since they are roughly the same price. The PanTT is about 20-30K more than the 997 C2/4 S. Apples to apples.

Malakas

I took a look at a 4S tonight... have to say that I really liked it a lot. The interior was incredible, and the a$s was not nearly as bad in person.

cobalt

I agree not much to fault with it. I am scheduled for turbo test drive in a few weeks.

I think the build quality is tremendous.

Alfie

Anthony, why are you waiting so long to drive it?

cobalt

Because I already know I want one I just can't bring myself to spend crazy money on a new car in this lousy economy of mass depreciation. You have a special deal I can't refuse. LOL

How are you doing BTW?

Alfie

You'll like it more after you drive it, I'm quite certain. I'll skip the special deal part...for now... The car has been received overall quite well.

I'm doing quite well, thanks. Trying to keep busy, but as you know, lots of people are just waiting to feel comfortable spending lots of money again. Glad to be back with Porsche after my failed little VW experiment.

cobalt

I have no doubt of that. It is something I am considering purchasing just not right now. Business could be better and I was well into the $150k+ range for it the way i would equip it. I have been fighting the urge because I know my wife will be hounding me once we do.

Meanwhile my son has already decided he wants one.

BTW I noticed there is no place for a front plate. What do you do when they require one.

BTW we are glad you are back where you belong.

Alfie

I have two launch Turbos, a basalt/black and the yachting blue, both mid 150's, and completely different cars. How would you spec yours?

Self tapping screws with guide points to line up the front plate bracket. Mass. sucks like that, too.

cobalt

Before you talk me into this i am going to say heavily and leave it at that.

I guess the big question more than anything is the Burmeister Stereo.

I have heard the home equipment a year ago when they were trying to hype it for the Panamera release but that did not fly well, bad timing. It was a nice system sounded great but for far less money I can put components together that would sound superior in my home. Do I need it for my car more than likely not. Although I have to hear the standard stereo first. I do like it in the darker colors although the silver is nice too.

You can't expect me to drill into a bumper like that I guess that is why my GTS still doesn't have a front plate.