Rent a New 2012 Porsche Panamera the new true 4 door sports car from Porsche. Hurry and be the first to drive it today.
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The Panamera, Porsche’s fourth model line after the 911, Boxster/Cayman, and Cayenne, has arrived after years of rumor, innuendo, announcements, and buzz. A four-door fastback sedan positioned at the top of the lineup, the Panamera was officially unveiled at the Shanghai auto show in April, and Porsche chose to host the first official drive at the picturesque Schloß Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, under the shadow of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. The ritzy castle hotel is separated from the Munich airport by two hours of twisty country roads and several stretches of unlimited autobahn, and we explored it all from behind the wheels of the entry-level, rear-wheel-drive, 400-hp Panamera S.
With its 400-hp engine, the Panamera S boasts impressive performance claims: 0 to 60 mph is reached in 4.8 seconds, and 0 to 100 takes 11.5. Top speed is 175 mph. Sadly, it doesn’t feel that quick. There is no masking the Panamera’s weight; the Panamera S weighs more than 3900 pounds, and all-wheel drive adds a couple hundred more pounds. The Panamera’s heft means that you have to keep the pedal firmly to the floor and keep the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission busy to put a comfortable distance between you and plebs piloting shockingly quick turbo-diesels on the autobahn.
Panameras that come to the U.S. will utilize the ZF-supplied, seven-speed PDK (Porsche Doppel-Kupplungsgetriebe) dual-clutch transmission. The seventh gear is so tall you cruise at 2800 rpm at 125 mph in the Turbo. First gear, on the other hand, is extremely short, and the shift from first to the preselected second occurs virtually unnoticed. If you hit the “sport plus” button that comes with the Sport Chrono package, the transmission will blip the throttle during downshifts. Nice.
With its fastback shape and rear hatch, the Panamera is currently an oddity in the luxury-car world, but that is due to change quickly with the arrival of the Aston Martin Rapide, BMW 5-series GT, and Audi A7. The Panamera family will grow, too. A 300-ish-hp, V-6–powered Panamera is due in the 2010 calendar year, and a hybrid version will come to market about a year after that. The latter will share the upcoming Cayenne hybrid’s V-6 engine and electric motor, which together combine to deliver output nearly on par with the Panamera’s naturally aspirated V-8. A diesel Panamera is technically doable but is not in the works yet. A Turbo S version is possible as well. Stay tuned.
