When it was first introduced the Panamera received a lot of skeptic and many who saw it couldn’t believe Porsche would go the way of the sedan. For many the thought was this would signal the end of the days of Porsche’s dominance in the world of high performance sports cars, but they were wrong. The look of the Panamera is enough to get anyone’s heart beating faster and the amount of power under the hood makes this outstanding four-door sedan zip down the road faster than many sports cars. It seems Porsche simply so no reason why all its cars had to be two-seaters and now allow more passengers to experience the awesome ride and performance of this amazing sports sedan.
As a car that has tremendous power and acceleration the Panamera can reach sixty mph in only 5.2 seconds and offers a top speed of 167 mph. Not many cars can offer these kinds of power numbers in a sedan style car. For those who previously drove the 911 and didn’t want to give it up, even when the family started to grow the Panamera offers a great compromise with Porsche handling and performance in a car that has space enough for the new members to ride along in the back seat.
Only a few changes are introduced for 2015 to include LED headlights for the Turbo S model and HD and satellite radio for other models. The drive in a Panamera is better than you could ever expect. When looking at a high-performing sedan you can easily feel the amazing control features aboard from the perfectly balanced steering to the highly-engineered suspension system. With these features aboard the Panamera easily tackles any driving challenges put in its path and delivers a performance that rivals high performing sports cars.
There are six engines available for the Panamera and all but one are attached to the dynamic seven-speed PDK automatic transmission. The first engine is a 3.6-liter V6 found in the Panamera and Panamera 4. This engine coughs up 310 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque along with providing a fuel mileage of 18 city/28 hwy mpg in RWD and 18 city/27 hwy mpg for the AWD.
The second engine in the lineup is a 3.0-liter twin turbocharged V6 which shows up in the Panamera S and Panamera 4S. This engine screams out a strong 420 horsepower and 384 lb.-ft. of torque. The fuel mileage for this version comes in at 17 city/27 hwy mpg for both versions of the car.
Third on the list is the 4.8-liter V8 found in the Panamera GTS which brings the heat with 440 horsepower and 384 lb.-ft. of torque. The GTS shows off a decent fuel mileage at 16 city/24 hwy mpg. Fourth is the 4.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 placed in the Panamera Turbo pushing a monstrous 520 horsepower and 516 lb.-ft. of torque. With this engine under the hood owners will receive a fuel mileage of 15 city/24 hwy mpg. The fifth engine is the same 4.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 in the Panamera Turbo S which reaches the peak at 570 horsepower and 553 lb.-ft. of torque and offers up the same 15 city/24 hwy mpg of fuel mileage.
The Panamera S E-Hybrid is a bit of an interesting power plant. This model carries in a 3.0-liter V6 engine with a hybrid electric motor. This engine offers 416 horsepower and 435 lb.-ft. of torque and is attached to an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission which helps the car achieve 25 mpg combined and 50 mpge when in only the electric mode.
On the inside the Panamera is basically what is expected from a Porsche, complete luxury and top of the line equipment which allow owners to fully enjoy their driving experience along any road. Because this is a low sedan the car does take some work to enter and exit, but the space is exceptional in the front although a bit tight in the back. On the outside the Panamera is truly a Porsche with lots of great aerodynamic features to provide plenty of downforce and keep the car where it should be even at high speeds. Even though this is a sedan, the Panamera offers an electrically deploying spoiler to spoil any other driver’s idea of being able to beat it in a race.
The standard features offered for the Porsche Panamera include a slide/tilt moonroof, electronically controlled shock absorbers, Porsche Stability Management, a hard drive based navigation system, an automatic liftgate, Park Assist, Bluetooth connectivity, eight-way power front seats, and a long list of additional luxury features and safety assists. The long wheelbase executive models add Adaptive air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management to improve both ride and handling for this amazing sports sedan.
The optional features offers for the Panamera begin with having paint and leather that matches. Other optional include a variety of sound systems from Burmester and Bose, Porsche Rear-Seat Entertainment system with swiveling seven-inch screens, Lane Change Assist, adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, thermally and noise insulated glass and four-zone automatic climate control. This last feature actually offer a separate air temperature and blower intensity setting for each seat making it one of the most individualized features on any car in any luxury class. With these options aboard it might be difficult to convince any passenger to exit the vehicle when it arrives at the destination.
The Porsche Panamera starts its pricing for the base model at $80,000. The AWD version begins at $84,000 with the S and 4S coming in at 94,200 and $100,000. The Turbo model takes big leap and shows up at $142,500 with the top of the line Turbo S Executive GT having a starting price over $201,000. The added features will certainly raise the price of any of these models and the S E-Hybrid comes in starting around $100,000 but can reach over $110,000 very quickly. With this huge price range, anyone who is serious about being able to buy the Panamera will be able to find one that will be the right fit for them and their budget.
This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning a commission is given should you decide to make a purchase through these links, at no cost to you. All products shown are researched and tested to give an accurate review for you.