cole328

Brief summary here, as I thought that like me, some 997 owners might be considering the Panamera as a family car. First off, the car is WAY better looking in person than it is in the magazines. Even my wife walked up to it and said whoa, this car looks stunning. The doors have these great hydraulic opening devices that allow them to stay open at any width, there is a "huge," and I mean a huge hatchback trunk, and the rear seats are true bucket seats, just as comfortable as the driver's seat, and just as sporty. Once in the cockpit, the technology is quite cool. The center console is super well designed and very ergonomic. NAV is complete touch screen, blue tooth is voice activated (as are most NAV commands), all gauges are easily visible, etc. Not one complaint with the interior at all.

When I fired up that engine, with the PSE on, it had a great bark. Let her idle for a few moments, and then headed off. That is where it gets weird.

I have never been in a car with "worse" rear visibility than this car. It obviously has to do with the slope of the hatchback, but it was like looking into a pair of binoculars....backwards! The rear of the car seemed about 26 feet behind me, and the window was literally sliver. Once you got about 55 or MPH, the rear spoiler deployed. However, it deployed right into your viewing area, and cut off another 50% or so of the window. Drivin on the highway, if a car was less than 300 yards behind me, I almost literally could not see anyone. Very unsettling.

Now, the car itself handled very very well for a large sedan...true porsche handling in a true four door ride. super compliant, even in sports mode, great acceleration (I was in the 4S with SC), wonderful exhaust note with PSE, and I could easily fall in love with a Porsche family sedan.

For me, however, I'll have to wait until they get it right. I could easily see accidents happening in this car from the lack of visibility. Also, the two side mirrors were also quite small, and there was this annoying side pillar frame that blocked most all of your view when you turned left to look over your shoulder for navigating.

All in all, great Porsche quality...however, the engineers certainly missed on a few key things. I'd be curious if people that bought one got used to all of the aforementioned, or if these are issues (albeit issues you are simply living with given all of the other positives). I walked in thinking I was going to get this car next, and now I am really questioning it.

Rojda

Well, I agree the rear view window view is limited. However, there is enough view to tell if someone is behind you when cruising. (Keep in mind that rarely is anyone that close since this car is hard for anyone to keep up with.)

I have the rear backup camera which is great when backing up. Also I have the rear view mirrors set up perfectly to cover the blind spots.

So rear visibility hasn't turned out to be a major problem for me.

rmapson

I agree the side mirrors are very small and looking thru the rear view is challenging...BUT there is nothing like this car in 4 doors, on the road today...it's a classic design that will still look good 10 years from now...IMO...my wife had the same reaction of "Whoa" when she saw it...LOL

Ape

You get used to it. It took me about 3 months to really feel comfortable in reverse. Now, it's a breeze.

cab&coupe

Thanks for sharing.

DRJMK

I am seriously thinking about getting one. I want to trade in both of my cars on one. I did drive one and thought it was excellent! I drove the 4s. I would love to have the turbo. I am concerned that I would miss the 997, but it really drove like a car much smaller. Anyone here switch from the 997 to the Panamera?

roberga

the view out the back is way more than at GT3 and now the RS. just a matter of getting use to the difference between say the E class. Same with the side mirrors. Adjusted correctly solves the blind spot issue.

W211

I test drove one and agree with the difficulty in checking my blind spots.