Porsche Panamera

The Porsche Panamera is a four-door, four-seat luxury sedan, which was revealed to the public at the 13th Auto Shanghai International Automobile Show in Shanghai, China on April 2009. The name of the car is derived from Carrera Panamericana, the legendary long distance race.

The Porsche Panamera is generally considered to be the long-awaited fruit of Porsche's 989 concept from the late 1980s; some argue that it also presents itself as a successor to the 2-door 928. The Porsche Panamera is marketed as a direct competitor to high-end cars such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, Aston Martin Rapide, Maserati Quattroporte and Lamborghini Estoque. The Panamera may also be considered as a less expensive alternative to vehicles such as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG. In India, the Panamera will compete against the BMW M6 Convertible, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Bentley Continental GT.

The Panamera is front-engined car with rear wheel drive and with a four-wheel drive version as well. The Panamera is a unique sports car for four with abundant space for occupants and luggage. Porsche will build around 20,000 of Panamera per year.

The Porsche Panamera comes in three variants viz., the Panamera S, Panamera 4S and the Panamera Turbo. The three variants of the Porsche Panamera are equipped with a 4.8L V8 engine. The Panamera S and 4S come with a 4.8 L V8 engine that can deliver 400 bhp at 6500 rpm and a torque of 500Nm at 5000 rpm. The Panamera Turbo has a 4.8 L V8 Twin-Turbo engine that can churn out a robust power of 500 bhp at 6000 rpm and a torque of 700 Nm at 4500 rpm.

The Panamera S can hit 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds and the 4S takes 5 seconds to cover 100 km/h from static. The Turbo can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in only 4.2 seconds. The S has a top speed of 285 km/h and the 4S can run at a top speed of 282 km/h, while the Panamera Turbo can clock 303 km/h.

The 7-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) automatic transmission is standard in the 4S and Turbo versions. Moreover, the Porsche Traction Management (PTM) with active all-wheel drive supplied by an electrically controlled multiple-disc clutch comes as standard in 4S and Turbo. The Panamera S comes with a 6-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) manual transmission that transfers power to the rear axle.

The exquisite styling and designing of the exteriors of the Panamera gives it an elegant stance. The Panamera has 19-inch wheels, rear parking sensors, a sunroof, adaptive bi-xenon headlights, adaptive suspension dampers.

The car has a very elegant interior which has been designed to perfection with fine materials like wood, leather and aluminium. The luxurious interiors have comfortable and supportive seats that are electrically controlled. There is ample head and leg space. It also has a tilt-telescoping steering column, eight-way power front seats, driver memory functions, heated front seats, leather upholstery. The car has enough trunk space too. The centre console is rich with options that remind us of a Vertu phone. For entertainment, the car is equipped with a supreme High-End Surround Sound System from Burmester which offers sound quality with 16 speakers that are fed by 16 amplifiers. The intelligent air condition offers four temperature zones for the four passengers. It also comes with launch control.

The Panamera offers high level safety with airbags, ABS, ceramic composite brakes, variable-assist power steering, and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control.