On this episode of Ignition
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 There's nothing quite like the Porsche Panamera.
00:04 Nothing in terms of style, but more importantly, nothing
00:07 in terms of practicality.
00:09 The Panamera is one of the most uniquely, bizarrely
00:13 versatile cars in the world.
00:15 It's also one of my absolute favorites.
00:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:22 Why?
00:22 Well, let's look at the specs.
00:24 This is the GTS, and it slots between the Panamera 4S
00:28 and the Turbo.
00:29 We have all-wheel drive.
00:30 We have a twin-clutch transmission.
00:32 We actually get brakes from the Turbo,
00:34 although this car's on ceramic rotors.
00:36 This car rides 10 millimeters lower
00:39 and has more aggressive suspension tuning.
00:42 We also have, thankfully, a high-revving and naturally
00:45 aspirated 4.8 liter V8.
00:47 It has new valve springs, new camshafts,
00:50 and an airbox, which help it develop 430 horsepower.
00:54 That's 30 more than the standard V8.
00:56 Torque is increased, too.
00:58 And thankfully, so has the redline to 7,100 RPM.
01:02 Top speed, 178 miles an hour.
01:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:08 So what does all that mean?
01:12 Well, the Panamera's fast.
01:15 At the test track, it hits 60 miles an hour in 4.1 seconds,
01:20 and a quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at 107.2 miles an hour.
01:26 That's about as fast as a V8 Audi R8.
01:29 And it's simply effortless.
01:31 You hit the Sport Plus button, hit both pedals,
01:34 and then lift off the brake.
01:37 Our best stop from 60 miles an hour was just 106 feet.
01:40 [TIRES SCREECHING]
01:44 During its 25-second figure 8 lap,
01:51 it generated 0.99 lateral average G,
01:56 which is, again, on par with the R8.
01:58 [TIRES SCREECHING]
02:05 So you hear all that, and you may be thinking, well, yeah,
02:07 that's appreciably fast.
02:09 But what makes the Panamera special?
02:11 Well, for that, you have to look behind me.
02:13 And when you do, you'll see the two extra doors, the two
02:17 extra seats, the tons of headroom and cargo room.
02:20 You see, what makes this car special
02:22 is that it's a four-door supercar.
02:25 And that finally gets us back to why
02:27 we're cruising on the freeway in the middle of nowhere.
02:30 You see, with the Panamera, it's not just the performance,
02:33 and it's not just the functionality.
02:35 It's how masterfully it blends those two aspects.
02:38 And that's something you can only really appreciate
02:40 after driving it for a long time.
02:42 So for this episode, we're going to take it on a long drive--
02:45 we're actually halfway through that now--
02:47 to a good mountain road a few hours north of LA.
02:50 After driving this thing for a long time on the freeway,
02:52 you begin to appreciate certain things,
02:54 like how when you're cruising at 75,
02:57 the engine's barely turning 1,800 RPM,
02:59 the sound it makes on a downshift
03:02 when you roll on the throttle.
03:04 This interior, too, the layout feels futuristic and unique.
03:07 It's like sitting at the bridge of a spaceship.
03:10 But it's not alien.
03:12 It's still functional.
03:13 All the gauges and knobs fall right
03:15 at the touch of your fingertips.
03:16 It's all very easy to use.
03:18 The seats are typically German.
03:20 They're very firm, very supportive, but also
03:23 very comfortable.
03:24 You can spend a couple hundred miles on these things
03:26 and never feel fatigued or tired.
03:28 And then there's the matter of fuel economy.
03:29 This thing on the freeway is rated at 23 miles per gallon,
03:32 which--
03:33 would you guess it--
03:34 beats the current R8 V8.
03:36 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:39 There has to be a few problems, though, and there are.
03:53 The first is, most obviously, this hunchback shape
03:57 in the rear.
03:58 It's definitely the clumsiest visual feature of the car.
04:01 But after spending so much time with this car,
04:03 I don't see it like that anymore because I
04:05 know it's functional.
04:06 The result of that shape is a ton of headroom in here.
04:10 Other problems-- well, this is a lot of car.
04:13 It's a large car.
04:14 And as a result, it weighs nearly 4,400 pounds.
04:19 It also costs quite a bit of money.
04:21 This car, as tested, is $146,000.
04:25 Now, $36,000 worth of that is options.
04:28 And some of them are kind of silly, like this key fob
04:31 here, for example.
04:32 It's silver, right?
04:33 $335.
04:35 This paint, $3,140.
04:38 That's right, you're paying over $3,000 for silver paint.
04:42 You get rid of all those frivolous options, though,
04:44 and you get closer to the car's base price.
04:46 And then you start thinking about how practical it is,
04:49 how fast it is, how comfortable it is.
04:52 And then it almost seems worthwhile.
04:53 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:56 You know, when you drive this car along a winding mountain
05:09 road, you can feel like you can put it right up
05:11 against its limits.
05:13 And it's never going to scare you,
05:14 never going to surprise you.
05:17 It doesn't feel overly cautious, either.
05:19 It's just rewarding the whole time.
05:21 That's really what makes this car so special.
05:25 You know, if you told somebody 20 years ago
05:28 that there would be a sedan that handled the way this thing
05:31 does, they'd call you crazy.
05:33 They'd lock you up in a mental institution.
05:35 If you were to take this car back in time somehow,
05:38 they'd wonder what planet you came from.
05:41 Not just because of the styling--
05:42 OK, maybe because of the styling--
05:44 but also because of how well it drives.
05:47 I mean, this is just a lovely car.
05:49 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:52 So what you have with the Panamera
05:56 is a very good driver's tool, a very good car for the commute,
06:01 a very good car for long hauls, a ton of cargo room.
06:04 You could take this thing camping.
06:05 You could take it up a canyon road.
06:07 I mean, this car does everything.
06:09 OK, it doesn't climb rocks, but it basically
06:12 does everything else.
06:14 It's hard to think of a car that is more
06:16 complete than this.
06:17 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:21 The Panamera is a bit of an odd one, not for its looks,
06:24 but for its capabilities.
06:26 Forget the styling, and what do you have?
06:28 Well, you have all the ingredients
06:30 of a luxury, grand touring car.
06:32 You have four comfortable seats.
06:34 You have an attractive interior.
06:36 And you have lots of cargo space.
06:38 So it's good for the commute.
06:40 It's good for road trips.
06:42 But you also have, wrapped in the same package,
06:44 an excellent sports car with brilliant driving dynamics
06:47 and a wonderful engine note.
06:49 It's an unparalleled level of versatility
06:52 that separates the Panamera from being a mere car.
06:55 It's the Swiss Army knife of driving.
06:57 [ENGINE REVVING]
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07:43 (dramatic music)