New beast in Porsche stable is real beauty

Published on Saturday 7 November 2009 16:37

EVEN before it set a wheel on British soil the looks of Porsche's Panamera four-door saloon were attracting comment, some far from complimentary. OK, it hasn't got the grace of a Ferrari or Aston Martin but the car looks superb and no rival can match its seating capacity or its race-track performance, or its loading versatility.

It looks like a 911 that has been stretched and, in that sense, the design is safe rather than adventurous, staying within Porsche's sports car tradition, with air intake, low nose and prominent wings.

It can seat four large adults comfortably and rear headroom is not an issue unless the passenger is massive.

The car has a V8 engine in the front and a huge luggage area with fold flat seats under a long tailgate. Rear passengers even have a cordless phone and other standard niceties include access to the Porsche communication centre and touch-screen navigation, leather and wood, active suspension and a sport button that controls the car's dynamics to suit the way you want to drive.

There are three versions. The Panamera S has rear-wheel drive and a 400ps 4.8 litre V8 engine from the Cayenne and a six-speed manual gearbox. The 4S has all-wheel-drive using the same Cayenne engine with seven-speed PDK automatic gears. And

the Turbo has a twin turbo version of the V8 giving 500ps and, to get it out of the way, a 0-62mph time of 4.2 seconds, 0-100mph in nine seconds and 0-125mph in 13.9 seconds (five seconds faster than the standard engine).

Porsche revealed the car to the British press at its Silverstone centre where the handling can be assessed in safety. There are skid pans and chicanes and a kick-out plate that tests the stability management control.

This is a large car, some 20in longer than a 911, nearly 8in longer than a Cayenne. At 1970kg, the Turbo is a two-tonner, and almost 400kg heavier than the 911 Turbo yet low slung, so that the roof is less than 5in higher than the 911. The result is good interior space, amazing handling balance and, as a newcomer, I was "at one with" the car in seconds. My instructor was Mark Burkinshaw, who had a driving school down south before moving on to high-performance tuition. If you buy a new Porsche, Burkinshaw is one of the team that gives you half a day's tutorial at Silverstone.

Porsche's headline driving consultant is the legendary Walter Rohrl. He has lapped the Nurburgring in a Panamera Turbo in less than eight minutes. To put that into perspective, it is quicker than all its rivals, and on the pace of a 911 4S, and 10 seconds down on a 911 Turbo.

The man running the Panamera project was Dr Michael Steiner, dark and dapper, rather like Napoleon Solo. This is what he and his colleagues say about the car's exterior design. "The Panamera comes with highly individual, strongly contoured air intakes instead of a conventional radiator grille. Striking wheel arches and the long, sleek bonnet create that typical 911 landscape at the front of the car, with the distinctly contoured wings as flanks bordering the flat front panel. The V-shaped lines along the bonnet, and the rear window tapering out like an arrow towards the tail, convey the features characteristic of a sports car."

And inside? "With a continuous centre console that extends from the fascia to the rear seating area, the Panamera offers a new spatial concept for the driver and all passengers featuring optimal ergonomic seating with an individual cockpit-like environment for all four seats."

True, there's more than a smattering of self-congratulations but the Panamera lives up to it. It will be in high demand. Annual production is 20,000 at the Leipzig factory, with some 70 per cent of content made in Germany. Europe will get a third of production, with half that taken by Germany. The UK quota is already being swallowed up. Those who have already ordered can collect their Panamera at the Silverstone Porsche centre.