When Porsche unveiled the Cayenne sports utility vehicle in 2001, there were fears – even among dealers – that it would flop and tarnish the marque best known for its lust-worthy 911.
Well, the Cayenne proved to be a runaway success, helping to lift Porsche’s profile and profitability by quite a few notches in recent years.
As far as radical goes, there has been no other Porsche that matches the Cayenne. Until now.
The car you see on these pages is the Panamera, the first series production 4-seater Porsche saloon.
The Porsche Cayenne Coupe is a sleeker Merc GLE Coupe, Audi Q8 rival
It may not seem radical to the casual observer, but Porsche making such a car has long been as unthinkable as Boeing making bicycles (or me making dinner).
Porsche expects to sell at least 20,000 Panameras a year – or one-fifth of its total sales. It is obviously a modest projection.
Going by the ride-and-drive programme held at the picture postcard Bavarian countryside south of Munich in late June, the car has more than a good chance of becoming a huge hit.
Singapore Porsche agent Stuttgart Auto already has about 25 firm orders in hand – well before the car is slated to arrive in September, and well before prices and specifications are revealed.
These faithful fans are not likely to be disappointed.
The Panamera is, in a nutshell, a very fast grand tourer with ample space, creditable build quality and a heap of pampering amenities.
It also has enough gadgetry to please those who appreciate cars that employ technology intelligently.
It is, as you can see, a visually arresting machine, except perhaps for a rear that ends rather abruptly.
Porsche might also have made the Panamera Turbo more distinctive.
Unless you scrutinise closely, the top-end saloon looks just like the Panamera S and its all-wheel drive twin, Panamera 4S.
Could Porsche be saving some tricks for a Panamera Turbo S?
The prospect is mind-boggling because the Panamera Turbo is already a thundering thumper with 500bhp and 700Nm of torque on tap (770Nm with overboost if equipped with the optional Sports Chrono Pack), allowing it to fly to 100km/h in four seconds flat.
That is incredibly fast for a 4-seater.
That, in fact, is quicker than the new 911 Carrera S as well as the 911 Turbo of not too long ago.
How did Porsche manage to make a car that is nearly 5m long and 2m wide so potent?
The monumental bi-turbo V8 aside, the answers lie in the seamless gearbox, the car’s relative lightness and the tyres.
The Panamera employs Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch transmission, which swops cogs faster than the fastest human, and with no more lag than a continuously variable transmission.
The characteristics of the PDK suit the Panamera to a T, because it offers efficiency as well as the sort of silken operation you would expect of a refined limo.
Tiptronic, Porsche’s previous cog changer of choice, would have been too raw for the GT, not to mention being all so yesterday.
Even over the winding, lake-hugging stretches along 500km worth of roads mapped out in a three-day test drive, the transmission is intuitive enough for the car to be driven in “D” alone.
Manual commands are easy and ultra-swift via the steering-mounted tabs.
This tranny makes the car so much more enjoyable.
Yet it stays in the background and is never in your face like Tiptronic or other sequential shifters you care to recall.
And it is a whole lot more emotive and punchy than a conventional automatic.
Steering shift interface still boggles the mind – which way is up?
One peculiarity about this PDK is that it is eager to switch back to “D”, presumably for fuel efficiency.
As big as the Panamera is, with as lumpy an engine as its 4.8-litre V8, it is relatively light.
Here is a car that is almost as long as an old BMW 7 Series. Its wheelbase is more generous than what the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class offers.
Yet it weighs between 1800kg (Panamera S) and 1970kg for the all-wheel driven Turbo.
Even the latter is lighter than the similarly positioned Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S.
Porsche has made the Panamera quite sleek. Like a sports car, it is disproportionately wide and low slung.
Its rooftop is just 1418mm from the tarmac.
Besides making it a cinch to wash the car (even for those among us who see eye to eye with Tom Cruise), the dimensions make for a remarkably stable car indeed.
It also makes the Panamera a damn sporty-looking car.
The measurements, however, call for an unconventional solution to seating four adults.
Porsche has opted for sporty one-piece seats rather than the cushy pillowy ensemble common in grand tourers.
The Panamera seats save space. They allow occupants to settle closer to the floor, and they hold their torsos quite snugly.
In other words, what you would expect of a sports car. The flip side to this is that passengers will probably not have as good a time as the driver.
Still, you will find all-round roominess commendable in this 4-seater. Stowage is better than expected, too.
The final factor that contributes to the Panamera’s stupendous swiftness are the tyres it wears: Michelin Pilot Alpin, the choice of some of the fastest cars on the planet.
Rubbers on the Turbo are sizeably fatter than those on the S and 4S, resulting in a wee bit wider turning circle.
There is no chance to see how they measure up in the wet on the Turbo, but the Alpin-shod Panamera S adheres to the rain-soaked tarmac like a magnet to a fridge.
There is no difference in the way the car’s stability feeds back on the steering and seat, even at 160km/h in the wet.
Make no mistake – the Panamera is a racer that will keep up with some of the baddest speedsters.
A car fitted with Porsche’s Sports Chrono Package comes with launch control for optimal take-off.
Even without this, no one is likely to complain about the rate of progress the GT is capable of.
In the local context, and even for driving across to Malaysia, the 400bhp Panamera S is plenty enough.
Despite that, it has traits of a big 4-door, such as commendable ride comfort.
It is firm rather than floaty, with decent damper responses to poor surfaces.
Most impressive is the car’s high-speed stability, thanks largely to its low and wide disposition, as well as a battery of dynamic technologies.
The most notable are PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) and PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control).
The latter comes with an electronic rear axle differential, while the former comes with three settings: “Comfort”, “Sport” and “Sport Plus”.
Thus equipped, the Panamera is able to remain composed and on an even keel at all times.
It corners neutrally, with barely any roll (especially in “Sport Plus” mode).
It is sure-footed and balanced, even if it is not as communicative as a 911, a Boxster or a Cayman.
At the same time, it is an effortless car to speed in.
Panamera Turbo’s twin-turbocharged 4.8-litre V8 pumps out 500bhp, giving it proper sports car zip.
Even at well over 200km/h, the front-engine Porsche never elicits a white-knuckled response.
The steering is light (for a Porsche), but continues to impart confidence at high velocity – even when the speeding stallion encounters unexpected surface undulations.
I can vouch for this because when I attempted to test the car’s top speed, it went over a sudden dip on the autobahn at just over 250km/h.
Amazingly, it shrugged off the tarmac imperfection to continue on its quest – testimony to its sorted chassis, responsive suspension and forgiving steering.
But if the occasion presents itself and such rarefied speeds are attained, it is good to know the Panamera is equipped with some of the largest brakes in the business.
In the Turbo, the front ventilated discs measure 390mm and those in the rear are 350mm across, filling almost the entire space inside the rim.
As in other Porsche models, ceramic brakes are an option.
With two occupants and no luggage to occupy the car’s sedan-size boot, the Panamera S takes some time to get from 200km/h to 250km/h.
The more muscular Turbo makes lighter work of this, but you sense that the car has to contend with strong wind resistance as the speedo climbs.
The Panamera’s automated rear spoiler (larger on the Turbo) deploys in stages according to vehicle speed, and helps to improve aerodynamics of up to 180km/h or so.
From 200km/h, it generates palpable downforce to pin it to the road.
Funnily, for its shape, the car’s actual drag coefficient value is not all that enviable.
The S and 4S have a Cd of 0.29, while the Turbo has 0.30.
The wind makes its presence felt in another minor way: aurally through the rear windows from around 110km/h.
It is not very intrusive; nothing a twist of the bombastic stereo’s volume control cannot fix.
The Turbo gets a high-end sound system tailor-made by Burmester, a brand preferred by audiophiles in Germany.
The set produces 1000 watts of music channelled to 16 speakers and an ass-kicking subwoofer.
It handles ballads as beautifully as rock and roll numbers.
In fact, it is the best-sounding factory-fitted car hi-fi I have ever come across, and probably worth the extra $10,000 it adds to the car price here.
But even without this high-fidelity option, the Panamera’s cabin is pleasing.
It exhibits the best fit and finish across the entire Porsche range, with a cockpit that is modern and sportily functional.
New choices of wood veneer and metallic panels lift the interior’s ambience.
The most distinctive feature is the centre console – a stylish affair that resembles Nokia’s Vertu phone.
In the middle sits a wonderfully tactile gear lever that is second only to BMW’s joystick contraption.
Along with steering-mounted shift tabs, it activates the Panamera’s PDK gearbox, a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that employs a wet clutch (smoother than Volkswagen’s 7-speed dry-clutch system).
In more ways than one, the Panamera is nothing like the thirsty V8 land rockets of yore.
Inspired by the 911 Turbo, the Panamera Turbo has a wing that pops up at speed to aid stability.
Besides its drivetrain, the car is fitted with features that help make it gentler on the environment and more user-friendly than any sporty carrier.
One of these features is the automatic engine shut-off function.
When the car comes to a halt, and when the brake pedal is depressed, the direct-injection engine cuts off.
This may seem trivial, but if you notice how a car’s average consumption figure rises while stopping at the lights, the stop-start function helps in no small way.
Being a Porsche, the Panamera’s stop-start mechanism is smarter than those of others.
Via sensors, it keeps track of crankshaft position and fires up the piston that requires the least effort to move first.
And, for safety, the stop-start function is deactivated when the car is on a steep gradient, so as not to compromise brake pressure when the engine is off.
This fuel-saving feature, the first in an automatic car, restarts the car smoothly – in keeping with the Panamera’s overall refinement.
The other feature that contributes to the cause is the car’s radar-based adaptive cruise control, which is also smarter than most cars’.
It works at crawling speed, and even brings the car to a complete halt when traffic comes to a standstill.
Stepping on the accelerator resumes progress.
And the car returns to its pre-set speed in such a way that balances haste with frugality. In other words: smoothly.
Stuck in a long traffic jam in Munich, the feature proves to be effective in keeping aggro at bay, and is easy on the ankles.
But should you be in an environmental frame of mind, use the brake pedal and let the engine “die” when not in motion.
As such, it is as pleasing on the unrestricted highway as it is in an urban setting.
The only places it is a mite out of place are the B-roads snaking through small villages.
The extra-wide Panamera made its largeness felt there.
Incidentally, the Panamera impresses with its fuel efficiency.
Despite being driven maniacally most of the time, the Panamera S consumes just a tad more than 11 litres per 100km – not too shoddy for a 4.8-litre V8 lugging such a sizeable body.
The Turbo is thirstier, but not by much.
For those who like the idea of a Panamera but not the extravagance of a V8, a 3.6-litre V6 variant could be out as early as next year, followed soon afterwards by a petrol-electric hybrid model.
The latter will have a single motor working alongside a 3-litre V6 – the same combination that will power the Porsche Cayenne Hybrid preceding it.
Will this Porsche be as big a sleeper hit as the Cayenne? Quite possibly.
Porsche Panamera Turbo 4.8 (A)
ENGINE
Capacity 4806cc
Type V8, 32-valves, turbocharged
Bore x stroke 96mm x 83mm
Compression ratio 10.5:1
Max power 500bhp at 6000rpm
Max torque 700Nm at 2250rpm
Power to weight 253.8bhp per tonne
GEARBOX
Type 7-speed dual-clutch with manual select
Driven wheels All
SUSPENSION
Front Double wishbones, adaptive air suspension
Rear Multi-link, adaptive air suspension
BRAKES
Front / Rear Ventilated discs
TYRES
Type Michelin Pilot Alpin
Size 255/45 R19 (front), 285/40 R19 (rear)
SAFETY
Traction aids ABS, traction control
Airbags 8
MEASUREMENTS
Length 4970mm
Width 1931mm
Height 1418mm
Wheelbase 2920mm
Kerb weight 1970kg
Turning circle 12m
BUYING IT
Price incl. COE To be announced (car arrives September 2009)
Warranty 5 years/100,000km
+ Sheer power, high-speed stability, surprising spaciousness
– Abrupt rear end, poor rear visibility, can be mistaken for a Panamera S
