Experience: A ride in a Porsche Panamera

Experience: A ride in a Porsche Panamera

It’s every petrol head’s dream to drive or at least get a ride in an exotic car. This time, I am the lucky one to hop into the passenger seat of a Porsche Panamera. A big thank you to Porsche Bengaluru for making this happen.

Porsche’s objective was to build a dynamic and powerful sports car for the track and a luxury saloon with four doors, a big boot and four seats to take the family around in comfort. The result is the Porsche Panamera, a GT car that combines the better of the two worlds beautifully, was launched in Shanghai, China in April 2009. Later, Porsche decided to improve the fuel efficiency of the car. So they decided to replace the petrol engine with a V6 diesel. The Panamera diesel was born on May 2011.

The diesel does not mean the car is a slouch either. The V6 produces 300 hp at 4000 rpm and a maximum torque of 650 Nm between 1750-2000 rpm. This, in conjunction with an 8 speed Tiptronic gearbox helps the 1.9 ton beast to hit 100 km/hr in about 6 seconds and reach a top speed of 259 km/hr. The claimed average efficiency for the diesel is around 15.64 km/l which is excellent for a sports car.

The Panamera, for long has been considered to be an ugly looking car. But to me, this car does not look bad. It looks its part. When you see the Panamera, you get a feeling that this car is a practical sports car, exactly what it was meant for. Its low stance looks brilliant when you stand back and admire the car. Yes the front could have been better and yes, white does not suit the car. But in any other colour, it actually looks good. You get a good looking rear wing which extends at speeds above 120km/hr. This can also be extended by the driver whenever required. The body is made out of a combination of steel and aluminium to help shed weight. The car sits on 18 inch wheels at the front and at the rear. The drag coefficient is rated at 0.3.

From the inside, the Panamera feels extra special thanks to its exquisite cabin. The demo car was fitted with optional full leather. The build quality and fit and finish is exceptional. You get four individual seats with a continuous centre console. There is enough room at the back but the visibility is hampered thanks to the high window line. The boot capacity is 445 litres which can be increased to 1263 litres by folding the 60:40 rear seats which fold flat. As standard, the car comes with five circular dials which show fuel and oil temperature, and a navigation map, among others and an instrument cluster with a high resolution 4.8 inch TFT colour which shows various other things. On the options list, you get either a BOSE surround sound system or a Burmester surround sound system. You also have the option of a four zone climate control which can be used to switch off air conditioning to the rear seats when there are no passengers at the back. You also get parking sensors all around the car which shows the proximity of obstacles and a reverse parking camera which essential since there is no rear visibility at all. This being a practical car, you get a lot of storage spaces inside the cabin. There are two cup holders above the glove compartment as well. The seats offer good support and are extremely comfortable.

Though the car has been designed to be dynamic and sporty, on the move, it feels to be engineered to be more luxurious than sporty. Even in sport mode, the ride is superb. The acceleration does not give you a kick in the head, instead it is more gradual. It just surges forward without too much drama. There is a decent amount of exhaust note but that’s only in sport mode. As you drive faster, the suspension automatically lowers by 10 mm. It can also be raised to improve the ground clearance when travelling over speed breakers. It then automatically lowers. For those who take their cars out to the track regularly, you get ceramic brakes as optional. For everyday driving, the regular disc brakes provide more than sufficient stopping power.

At an on-road price of around 1.5 crores for the standard Panamera diesel without customisation, it is approximately 2 crores cheaper than its rival, the Aston Martin Rapide. Though it cannot be compared to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, it does cost the same. The Panamera may not get as much equipment as the S-Class but it is definitely more comfortable, more luxurious and way more sporty. The Panamera is exactly what Porsche intended it to be, a good GT car catering to the practical family petrol head.