I am a thrilled U.S. 2010 Panamera 4S owner with now over 37,000 frequently hard earned miles. I have to wonder about the sensitive aesthetes who pan Panameras on the looks thing: have any ever walked up to a 356, especially from behind? Did they think "inverted bathtub" -- as applied to the cars that made brand -- was a synonym for beautiful?
Despite reviews which in most cases employ literally extreme, positive adjectives hard to garner just once in a car review let alone in multiples, I still don’t think the actual "car" is sufficiently understood/appreciated somehow. Here, especially in my case, is a practical 4 door sedan/hatch that shames -- in critical function -- many supercars: in Turbo or Turbo S, most fall to its 0-60 mph times (CD tested a "plain" turbo at 3.4: I suspect this one is more like 3.1). My 4S, with no U.S. fuel guzzler tax -- and ultra low emissions, gets 4.4 in 0-60 mph (sport chrono), has a range of 650 miles if I push it (26.4 gal tank); and both stops AND corners doing a reasonable impression of a 911! The brief on this car was to carry 4 six foot three inch tall adults and their luggage (or 2 bicycles in the folded rear seats!), at 175 mph (190 in turbo S; not that I'd ever....) in comfort, within a strikingly beautiful and technological advanced cabin, and this they've done. The look simply wraps this achievement beautifully -- and isn't that the essence of Porsche? The car is so aerodynamic I now like to just drive with the windows open and the radio off -- in Florida in the summer.
Put another way; if changing one surface feature would degrade any of the above, forget it -- so a facelift tweaking a few is a tremendous testament to Porsche's authenticity -- rather than caving in to the "but its not pretty enough for me" crowd. To me, Porsche did something different here, and eschewed the "box with evolving brand cues" approach of most luxury sedans (for years BMWs rears looked like a vacuum sucked their trunk lids into partial collapse). From the side many of these are difficult to distinguish from a Lexus or one another. Audi interiors, often touted as "tops," look to me to be stuck in 1990 albeit more refined: mine looks like a next gen Ferrari. Finally, its stark and substantial presence radiates a positive aura; "thumbs up" from all walks of life: I'm amazed at the comments. I LOVE the way it looks; in fact my heart skips a beat as I approach it, yes, from the rear, wing up: (hold the buns puns please): I can't believe its actually mine to get in and drive, I think it is stunning even if the front end does look a little too familiar -- the way Astons started to about 5 years ago.
Rapide went for beauty and is being panned on practicality: for Porsche the choice was both easy, and the correct one for Porsche! By coincidence I saw a white Rapide in a dealer window this AM: felt no pangs at all.
I stretched my budget to get it, and no earthly possession comes close to giving me as much satisfaction (although my 2004 XJR, my first big stretch which I also never regretted, came pretty close in its day).
Hump that.
