Porsche Panamera Review
The Porsche car range is growing. Once known only for its high-performance two-seater sports cars, Porsche has broadened its portfolio over recent years to include models like the big Cayenne 4x4 and the four-seater Panamera.
Originally launched back in 2009 only as a petrol model, the Panamera has been a strong success for Porsche globally. Within the car's first two years in existence, some 30,000 Panameras were sold worldwide, and that included more than 1,300 in the UK. Now its scope has been expanded to encompass a petrol-electric hybrid and this 150 mph diesel version.
The diesel model is of particular interest to business customers who want a high-powered luxury sports car without the astronomic taxation that can accompany it, and private buyers looking for high performance with reasonable miles-per-gallon. Taking its fuel from the black pump has given the Panamera a wider appeal and has provided Porsche with a car to rival powerful diesel models already on sale from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. The prediction for the Panamera Diesel is that within the next couple of years it could well become the best-selling version, accounting for more than 50 per cent of all Panameras sold.
Standard kit on the car includes 18-inch alloys, a full leather interior, xenon headlights, rear parking aid, cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, electrically-adjusted and heated front seats, automatic dimming mirrors, Bluetooth connectivity and Porsche’s communication management system and touch-screen satnav.
Performance
By any standards this is a car with sumptuous performance. Shoehorned in under the Panamera Diesel's long bonnet is a three-litre, V6 turbodiesel engine produced by the Volkswagen Group and more usually employed as the power source for up-market Audi models. Technical details reveal a common-rail design with Piezo precision injectors and a variable geometry turbocharger. Like most Porsches the car is rear-wheel-drive. The gearbox is an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic with steering column paddle shifts to let you control gears manually. As a fuel saving measure, the car is equipped with standard stop-start to halt the engine in traffic and automatically restart it when conditions let you move off again.
