The Panamera is a mighty impressive four-door sports car reckons Aspi Bhathena after a first drive in majestic Dubai
Porsche invited CAR India to Dubai for a first drive of their new offering, the Panamera. The company’s Middle East division had invited the man responsible for designing the Panamera, Michael Mauer to do the presentation. During the event, Michael stressed upon how Porsche wanted the Panamera to be as similar to the 911 as possible in all aspects right from the looks to the performance and the handling.
The front of the car has fenders that are distinctively higher than the hood and the big air intakes show their lineage to the 911. The roof has been extended compared to the 911 to accommodate the rear passengers but at the same time, the driving position is similar to the 911 keeping the center of gravity low. The rear end also had to have a distinctive appearance as they wanted the car to look like a Porsche even from a distance of over a hundred meters.
According to the designer, Michael Mauer it is very important that a car looks good from the outside as that is what draws a probable customer to a car. At the same time, you cannot ignore the interiors of the car. This is one of the reasons why Porsche has given the interiors a lot of thought. Importance has been given to the design and the materials used as well.
The leather interior garners appreciation for the car’s top class build quality. Despite the saloon’s low slung roof contour, the cabin is spacious. The seats are eight-way adjustable and offer pneumatic lumbar support. The sloping center console is devoid of irritating control knobs and joysticks. The plethora of buttons may seem old school, but the blocky fascia is elegant in its simplicity and is finished with chunky aluminum linings and inserts. The transmission tunnel extends to the back where the two passengers have individual climate control consoles and a good amount of leg space thanks to the slimmed front seat backs. Headroom is more than adequate even for people with above average height. The car has a rear hatch (so it is technically a saloon then) and a long luggage cover that extends over the load area which has a claimed capacity of 445 litres. This can be increased almost threefold by flipping down the rear seat backrests.
They had lined up ten Panameras outside the Emirates Tower hotel for journalists from Africa, Middle East and India. The drive would take us from the city to the Miramar beach resort. No, not in Goa but 175 kilometers outside Dubai and back. But before we could get behind the wheel, we were warned that the authorities in Dubai had 600 speed cameras and in case we were caught speeding, the tickets would be sent home!
The drive was mainly made up of six lane highways with a speed limit of 120km/h only. This restriction was frustrating but you could evaluate things like NVH and ride quality. Both these elements are absolutely superb as you can have a contestation on the move without having to raise your voice level. The ride quality is good in the Normal mode but the minute you select the Sport and the Sport plus modes, it gets uncomfortable.
This car comes from the Porsche stable and a lot is expected from it in terms of performance and driving dynamics. The V8 blown direct injection 4.8-litre engine features electronically controlled on-demand oil pumps and map controlled coolant flow management. It pumps out a whopping 493bhp of power and a humongous 700Nm of torque and can propel this flagship car from zero to 100km/h in four seconds with a top speed close to 300km/h. They have done a lot of work on the fuel efficiency front as well for the car averages 100km in 12.2 litres on the EU cycle.
I did get to try out its awesome performance on the drive back. When you go pedal to the metal, you get shoved right back into the well supported seat as you are being propelled at a great rate of knots. The return drive had a mountain pass where one could exploit the car’s handling capabilities and let me tell you that the Panamera did not disappoint at all. There was excellent feedback and all you needed to do was aim the car in the intended direction and it would follow the line like it was on rails. This car behaves like a sports car with all the comforts and space of a saloon. Porsche has rewritten the rules of a super saloon.
