BD

As for me, I’ve sufficiently compromised with a 3-series which will hold four adults for short periods and remains small enough to be maneuverable and reasonably spritely in day-to-day driving. It is not a Cayman, and is further compromised by the bangle set-back of BMW “design”, but was good enough that I put down my cash to drive one.

I suspect that there is a market for those who want a four-seat non-truck mate to their 911, Boxster or Cayman, so the Panamera should fill this small niche. And if Porsche can make money on it in small enough batches, god love ‘em for offering an alternative to the dreadful S-class and boring 7-series. Personally, if I wanted a car in this segment, I’d buy the LS460, which has no sporting pretensions whatsoever and can be had for 2/3 of the price. I don’t need a car nearly the size of a Lincoln Town Car which pretends it’s a sports sedan…

i like that…actually Clarky even puts words in my mouth when he describes cars, because in those cases I’m lost for words. and i was still looking for a way to describe the Panamera and i found it, inside out monkey… but most of the time i don’t agree with his taste…

but in any case, in person the Panamera looks much better just because of it’s sheer width. The interior is very inviting to say the least. i haven’t driven it yet, but will soon, and i have no doubt that it’s a mighty machine. BUT, i have a few quips….

and on another note, Clarckson used to call the Cayman the Coxter, which made perfect sense…

And to continue beating the dead horse, I think if you asked ole’ JC if he considered himself a auto journalist first, he would respond no. He is an entertainer who talks about cars. It’s like criticizing Lewis Black, because he doesn’t present all the nuances of the latest bonehead move from Congress.

Have you read a lot of Clarkson reviews in the Times? Typically he spends the first page talking about his day, and the car doesn’t get even a mention until the end. That’s just how he writes.

In his review of the Lexus GS awhile back, he spent most of it talking about their Japanese exchange student that vomited after trying to eat a plate of mashed potatoes, and wondering, in a vaguely racist way, how it is that the Japanese even understand how to make a “European style car” such as the GS because they don’t have autobahns in Japan.

I’ve driven the new Panamera S for few days. In real life the car has presence. It is big and wide, and has that special Porsche feel. It is not ugly by any means, its different, but different in a good Porsche way. And I am not a Porsche fan, not even little bit.

But real virtues of this car become apparent when You sit in the car and drive it. I have driven lot of different new expensive cars, but Panamera has the best interior I have seen in past few years. All the materials and buttons are extra high quality, all the switches click with percision, the disain of the interior is very driver orientated (dials, screens etc), the seats look and feel very cool and Porsche like – they are more sportscar 911-type seats, than large sedan seats. When you sit in this car, you feel really special. I even don’t remember when was the last time I’ve felt that way in a new car. And it drives like a Porsche. Good roadfeel from the steering (although the steering feels a bit lighter than I expected), very good percise suspension – this car really communicates with the driver (very suprising for such a heavy sedan), nice suspension settings which really make the difference how you feel the car (from comfort to sport plus). Joy to drive. And when you drive it you can feel how well the car is put together, it feels really tight – a sensation you rarely get from new cars in past few years.

Only complaint is the gearbox. 7-speed PDK is very economical on highways (100kmh cruise control on – 31mpg, not bad for a 4.8L V8 with 400hp in a heavy sedan), but on slow city speeds and stoplight starts it feels bit jerky and when you make a full throttle start from the stoplight then it becomes even more confused and jerkier and even creates little bit of wheelhop – the rear starts bouncing and vibrating (for those who like to make quick starts from the standstill I would recommend to opt for the awd 4S model, or Turbo :)).With speeds higher than 30+kmh the gearbox is perfect. The NA V8 is adequate for such heavy car, but it doesn’t feel very powerful. Then again that’s why Porsche also makes the Turbo model :)

But he’s an entertainer as much as anything else. Rush Limbaugh with opinions that I agree with (some of the time at least).

But I don’t get the complaint here. De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, but this thing is hideous.
*disclaimer, haven’t seen one in person yet*
I’d definitely take the monkey inside out and backwards, lookswise. And , by the way, I think the 928 is Porsche’s styling high water mark.

Having said all that, if it fit the budget and the need (which it doesn’t in either case), I’d take one of these in a heartbeat. And the interior, as others have said, looks extraordinary. And that’s where I’d want to be…

Almost reminds of a late 90’s/early 00’s Hyundai 4 door hatchback……

YOU UGLY

U-G-L-Y

you ain’t got no alibi

YOU UGLY

What this illustrates is the problem with trying to incorporate 40-year-old styling cues into a 21st century car. Jaguar did that for years, and it got them nowhere. But the new XF manages to be beautiful and convey a Jaguar feel without trotting out every old XKE and XJ styling cue they could find. Maserati also managed to incorporate a strong brand feel into the Quattroporte without referencing their glory-days ’70s designs.

But Porsche trying to morph 911 styling onto SUVs and sedans simply ain’t gonna work. If they want to start building sedans, they’re going to have to given them unique designs.

Yeah, it’s FUGLY. It’s very awkward. The very nature of the vehicle and the just ABSURD levels of luxury make it that way. Then Porsche took all this absurd, bulky luxury and tried to make it look like a 911. Lol… of course. Trying to appease the purists or whatever … look it’s ALMOST LIKE A 911!!

However… like quite a few others… if it’s fugly and has awesome performance… it might grow on you. The Cayenne (which is brutally UGLY) was a sales success of incredible magnitude. So if you make something hideously ugly and make it really powerful… there is certainly (for better or for worse) a huge swath of the population that will absolutely head over heels adore it. The Cayenne is proof of that.

Used bargain? I think not. The upkeep on the Panamera is going to be hideously expensive. As with many limited edition vehicles, the purchase price will only be the price of admission.

A big Mercedes—say a CL500 with a couple of blowers and some summer rubber, or a CL600, or an S55 AMG—would offer most of the fun for a fraction of the price.

The Cayenne’s success was a result of the SUV craze coinciding with a lot of unbearably pretentious and tasteless people having money to burn. I doubt there’s going to be a subsequent market trend for 100K+ mutant hatchbacks, and then there’s that whole recession thing. Panamera will flop miserably, making it a car to seek out in a few years as a performance bargain. If you can get past the looks, of course.

If I was a Cayman, I’d one pissed off red-headed-step-child at this point. Cayman needs to murder the Cayenne and Panamerica and steal their turbos.

… doesn’t matter to me how many people hate this car. I want one bad.

I don’t want one bad … for starters I’ve no use for a car of this size. But the more the haters pile on, the more this car’s looks grow on me. Maybe it really will flop and we’ll be able to pick up low-mile, 2-year old specimens for $50k. But I doubt it.