Porsche Panamera

Introduction

Designed by Chief designer Michael Mauer, Panamera is a four door luxury sedan. It was a dream of Ferdinand Porsche to build a GT and which came true through this car. Panamera is different from every other Porsche in a way that its Porsche's first full size four door luxury sedan, with engine mounted on the front. It can be looked as Porsche attempt to expand its market.The name Panamera is taken form the Mexican race “Carrera Panamericana”. In Sri Lanka it is available through Eurocars (Private) Limited which is the authorized importer and seller of Porsche cars.

Engine, mileage & variants

Panamera is available in as much as 10 variants though the diesel variant is not available in Sri Lanka.The top petrol variant Panamera Turbo S comes with 4.8 litre V8 engine delivering 570hp at 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 750 Nm from 2250 to 5000 rpm. With such a powerful engine it runs from stand still to 100 kmph in just 3.8 seconds. Also not to forget it comes with all wheel drive capability and the engine is married with 7 speed dual clutch transmission and gives the car a top speed of 310 kmph. This luxury sedan with its all wheel drive system gives combined economy of 9.8 kmpl which is pretty good and would have been better with a diesel engine.

Exteriors

Porsche never disappoints with its styling this Porsche is no different. Its design is seems to be inspired from 911 its high end front wings are its proof. It has a wheelbase of 2920 mm making it long and and spacious inside apart from improving its stability. Its overall dimensions are 5015mm x 1931mm x 1418 mm (L x W x H). Porsche has provided two different set of tyres, summer and all season tyres. Summer tyres comes in 18inch wheel size to 20 inch wheel size with tyre size ranging from 245/50 ZR 18 to 295/35 ZR 20 respectively. Whereas all season tyres comes in 19 inch wheel size and 20 inch wheel size with tyre size ranging from 255/45 R 19 to 295/35 R 20 respectively.

Interiors

Since its first luxury 4 door front engine car from Porsche stable, Porsche has done excellent job in making the interior as luxurious it can. As a result it is the car to beat in its segment in terms of interiors. The tail center console which was first seen on Carrera GT can be seen here too, with buttons, dials and a TFT screen with Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system which controls all the audio, communication and navigation functions. Seats are comfortable and supportive and you wont feel any problem even in long journeys. The quality of material used is top notch ,Porsche has left no room for complaint about it. It has boot capacity 445 litre, fold its rear seats and you get extra boot capacity of 1250 litre. It comes with Burmester High-End Surround Sound System to give your ears pleasant music. Overall in terms of interiors it is gives stiff competition to Mercedes-Benz S Class which is way costlier than Panamera.

Safety, Braking and Miscellaneous

With all the luxury Porsche has also taken care of safety of the car with latest of technology. For braking it comes with Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) which improves the braking capability of the car and handling characteristics,a total of 8 airbags are provided for the safety of passengers and driver, there is also option of adaptive cruise control too. Porsche Stability Management system (PSM) comes as standard which maintains the stability of the car with sensors monitoring various parameters of the car throughout the drive. It also has Active bonnet system which is designed keeping pedestrian safety in mind. Also to mention here for its safety standards it is rated five star by EURO NCAP.

Verdict

With its luxurious interior, sporty look borrowed from 911 and practical boot space Panamera is all around feature pack car. Only thing going against it seems to be lack of diesel variant, it would have been better if Porsche would have provided diesel variant here in Sri Lanka too.