Is the Panamera the J-Lo of the automotive world?

Ok, for many months I keep reading car rags that rip on the Porsche Panamera for the rear end. Saying it's huge, bulbous, gargantuan, ungainly and the like. Now, I'll admit that it isn't the most sleek rear end I've ever seen but it's a very usable design (hatchback) and is large enough for 4 full 6-footers to sit in it. And their knees won't even touch their temples.
So, why b!tch? The base model is faster than most street legal cars folks here own, the front end looks very Porsche-like, the rear end is ok by me and it's a usable design. I just don't get it.

I mean, if it was just another 2+2 with a back seat that is really just a leather clad grocery shelf they'd be lambasting it for that

I don't think it is bad, the rear reminds me of the love child of a 928 and a Cayman.

I'd rock one if it were cheap enough... though gasoline may not be available when one is cheap enough for me to consider purchasing.

My opinion is that "car mags" are upset that 1.) Porsche is producing, yet another 4 door....anything (the HUGE SUV was bad enough, even tho they now say it's fantastic 2.) They are upset that Porsche is not being a bit more original in the styling of the Panamera....as in, it looks like a HUGE/ungainly 911. 3.) It looks like a 911, but they put the engine in the wrong end of the car.

BTW, I read yesterday that Porsche is seriously working on an X3 sized SUV and a sport(y) car SMALLER than the Boxster. The X3 competitor looks more likely of the 2.

Porsche is also working on hybrid versions of their SUV (sorry, I forget the name at the moment) and the Panamera.

After seeing a few around (Porsche's North American Headquarters are right down the street from where I live) I can say there's nothing crazy about them until they pass, then you realize how long they are, other than that, from the front it's a porsche, from the rear it's a porshe, from the side, well it's a long porsche...

Raze wrote: After seeing a few around (Porsche's North American Headquarters are right down the street from where I live)

Haha, i used to live on Hammond Dr in the Park Towers. The residents called it "The 4oclock Parade" when all the executives would get off work, it would be a parade of 997s, 987s, Cayennes...

integraguy wrote: Porsche is also working on another restyling of the Cayanne to offer an uglier, heavier Hybrid version of the VW Toureg.

There, I fixed that for you :)

integraguy wrote: Porsche is also working on hybrid versions of their SUV (sorry, I forget the name at the moment) and the Panamera.

Don't forget the 911 GT3 R Hybrid.

http://www.insideline.com/porsche/911/porsche-911-gt3-r-hybrid-2010-geneva-auto-show.html

Has anyone seen a Panamera in real life? I like it in some pictures, but not in others, so I'll have to reserve judgement until I see on in the flesh.

Bob

Hey, I drive a 7-series BMW. You know, the one with the "Bangle Butt". I know cars with big butts, that Panamera isn't one.

If someone said "Can you imagine a 4-door Porsche sedan?" I would probably come up with something close to the Panamera. Not original, but not bad and very Porsche

Overall,I like the Panamera.My only issue is the body line/panel fit that starts at the wheelwell and continues over the rear tail lights.

The way the glass of the back doors was styled is probably worse than the trunk/tail treatment. I wish they flattened the rear hatch a little more, closer to how the Cayman's is set up.

I think I'm more bothered by Porsche going to names and away from model numbers than I am the existence of a Porsche with four doors.

It needs a Shooting-brake makeover

I've seen one in person, no real problems with how it looks. Certainly seems, well, like how a 4 door Porsche should look. The J-Lo comparison seems reasonably accurate - a lot of teasing from magazines, and nobody else thinks it's too big...

I think it looks like a bad photoshop. It is nearly as ill proportioned as the asstek

I think overall it's just an incredibly ugly car.

911s are a very "form-follows-function" design. The shape is due to the location of the engine. To maintain that iconic shape without the reason behind that shape is pretty lame in my opinion.

Maybe a drive in one would change my mind, but nothing about this car is attractive to me, outside of maybe a tuner company chopping out the rear doors and making a modern 928.

I'm not sure I'd use the 911 as a "form follows function" example. The current 911 has tried pretty damn hard to look like the first one. It's certainly iconic, but I'd argue that (non-functional )history dictates the look of the 911 more than almost anything else. (I do love them)

As a 4 door, front/mid hatchback, I'd say the Panamera's shape is actually pretty functional. Certainly not a repeat of the New Beetle.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote:

Raze wrote: After seeing a few around (Porsche's North American Headquarters are right down the street from where I live)

Haha, i used to live on Hammond Dr in the Park Towers. The residents called it "The 4oclock Parade" when all the executives would get off work, it would be a parade of 997s, 987s, Cayennes...

I drive through the 'parade' every day, I'm off Barfield so the light near the towers has every porsche known to man in about a 20 minute window...

Schmidlap wrote:

integraguy wrote: Porsche is also working on hybrid versions of their SUV (sorry, I forget the name at the moment) and the Panamera.

Don't forget the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. http://www.insideline.com/porsche/911/porsche-911-gt3-r-hybrid-2010-geneva-auto-show.html Has anyone seen a Panamera in real life? I like it in some pictures, but not in others, so I'll have to reserve judgement until I see on in the flesh. Bob

living in Fairfax county (home of rich people who work on K street and like to show off their money), I have seen at least three of them so far, including one. My thoughts are

1. When I saw them, I wasn't like "DAMN" the way I am when I see pretty much any 911/Carerras. They don't really look all that cool, frankly. Just kind of wierdly boring. Nonplussed.

2. The front looks fine, like a Porsche. The rear truly does look very odd and big-booty-ish....and the fact that you know there's no engine in there makes it even wierder. Looks great from the b-pillar up. Looks awful from any angle behind the c-pillar.

Overall, I always get the impression that they took a Cayenne and squashed it down to make the Panamera.....

For the 4-door euro-luxo-scene, I would much prefer an Audi/BMW/Benz. (for two-doors, I'd take a porsche over any of those).

if they hadn't tried so hard to make it look like a porshe it wouldn't look so much like a matador

m4ff3w wrote: I'd rock one if it were cheap enough... though gasoline may not be available when one is cheap enough for me to consider purchasing.

Don't worry, Honda has just the thing for you:

Me and another guy at work hate them. I used to crew with rally guys and he used to crew on a low dollar IMSA team.

We fight with a girl at work who likes them very much. She likes expensive new things. I mean the interior would go with her LV purse... ugh.

I know why they are making it, because they think they can make money.. but.. DAMN they are crazy ugly.

I have seen a couple of Panameras in real life and I was surprised how nice it looked. Photos don't do it justice

I then looked up the price for the turbo version $150K wow! Althought base turbo is only $130K http://www.rsportscars.com/porsche/2010-porsche-panamera-gran-turismo-turbo/

Porsche purists can only generate so many sales... if they want to expand, they have to branch out. It is a dangerous move for their core image, but I'm sure they don't mind the money.