2017 Porsche Panamera First Look Review: The Ultimate Luxury Sedan
Hooray, Porsche has finally fixed the Panamera. Like most people we found the old one ugly but not exactly atrocious or an outright eyesore. It was only after seeing what Porsche stylists were capable of with the Mission E concept that we started to wonder why the Panamera had to look the way it did. With the second-generation just revealed, we can put all of our complaints behind us and get ready for what might be the ultimate luxury sedan.
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Let's get a few facts out of the way. The new Panamera was unveiled with three twin-turbocharged engine options. The least powerful option is a 434-horsepower 2.9-liter V6. Cars equipped with this engine hit 60 mph in 4.2-seconds with the Sport Chrono package, meaning that there really isn't going to be a "slow" Panamera. If the V6 doesn't do it for you then there's the Turbo model (even though the base car also has turbos), which is powered by a 4.0-liter V8 with 542 hp. In Europe, there will also be a 4.0-liter diesel V8 with 416 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. All of these engines will be more powerful and more efficient than the engines they replace and will help the Panamera be very competitive in the market.
The interior has been vastly improved as well. The first-gen's interior wasn't bad. In fact it was very well-appointed. The biggest issue was that there were simply too many buttons on the center stack. Porsche has learned a lot from the 918 Spyder, which may have one of the best interiors of any car. The new Panamera definitely gets some inspiration from the 918 hypercar. For instance, the new steering wheel features a mode selector that will allow drivers to activate a sport overboost function like on the new turbocharged 911. More so than ever before, the Panamera really does feel like a four-door version of the 911, and that is great news.
The new 991.2 911 is a wonderful car, even though some people are not that happy about the switch to turbocharged engines. Like the 911, the Panamera now has turbochargers across the engine lineup and the similarities don't stop there. The taillights on the new Panamera actually look like the taillights on the 991 911, and the whole car resembles Porsche's vision of what a four-door 911 should look like. The interior has been simplified but is also packed with technology. Even as early ago as the 997 911, Porsche didn't really have a reputation for making the most modern interiors. The newest 911 has the nicest interior of any Porsche and now the Panamera does as well.
The new car has a beautiful 12-inch touchscreen as well as a second touchscreen for passengers in the back. The 2017 Panamera looks like a very comfortable car, but don't think that Porsche has just focused on building a luxury cruiser. In fact, the automaker has already registered a Nurburgring lap time of 7 minutes and 38 seconds. That makes the Panamera just as fast as the 997.1 911 Turbo and just 10 seconds slower than the Carrera GT. It also means that the Panamera has bested the Alfa Romeo Giulia by one second. Clearly the new Panamera will be a force to be reckoned with, and we can't wait to see what it can do on the road.