Porsche Panamera gets the revordie test drive

"It's just a four-door Porsche, nothing else" That's what people think about the Panamera but I always had second thoughts about this sedan. If the legendary German automaker dares to include a four-door vehicle in its super sporty vehicle line up is because it is backed up by what made Porsche recognized in the auto industry (or so I thought): a powerful, highly reliable luxury vehicle.

At the Porsche Aircraft Experience, I had the opportunity to test drive the 2011 Porsche Panamera.  Even if I had to skip class, I was not about to let this one go by. The look of the car? It is a stretched 911 with two extra seats that seats pretty low for a sedan. The interior of the car is my favorite part about it. It's simply flawless! The seats are wrapped in fine leather and the headliner was elegantly dressed with suede. I can not stress enough how pleased I was with the prime quality of the materials in the car. Leg and head room for the driver and front passenger are comfortable.

After drooling all over the driver and co-driver seats of the car, I jumped in the back which is exceptionally comfortable and has an unmistakable luxurious accent all around. Leg room is only comparable to a limo, and did I mention the back seats are bucket seats? not the typical bench type of seats that sit a number of people on them. I could live in this car!

 But, I'm not here to rate interiors. This is the revordie blog so it was time to put this German babe on the road. Like the Cayenne Hybrid S, handling is unmatched. Though I wasn't allowed to take the Panamera on the highway I drove it in the snake-like roads surrounding the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Pushing the Panamera through sharp turns at speeds nearly double the local speed limit allows me to tell you that this car can twist and turn like a sports car. When it comes to handling this is not the average sedan.

But once again, Porsche managed to disappoint me. As I came to a stop I floored the Panamera to see how its V6 3.6 liters engine would pick up. I was blown away to see that Porsche's PDK transmission starts in second gear even after switching from comfort to sport mode. As the tachometer approached the redline I never felt the kick a performance car should have. It reminded me of my mom's decade old Camry; Bulky, heavy and lame. Is that all Porsche can do with its 300 hp engine? And I'm not the only one complaining about it. Insideline mentions it too in its review of the Panamera. And the Steering wheel-mounted switches were just as lame. At one point I switched gears with them and an interested buyer in the car who came along for the ride asked if the car went into neutral.

So why does Porsche develop a car so far out of what they're known for? I can't understand. I must include in this review that the Panamera comes in 5 different models and I drove the most basic one. The Panamera Turbo which is the top of the line has 500 horsepower and it's an all-wheel drive as compared to the rear wheel-drive basic Panamera I drove. The Panamera starts at $74,400 and the turbo version of it nearly doubles its price at $135,300. I would not recommend buying this car to any one of my fans unless you want to spend so much cash to be driven (instead of driving yourself) with a little bit of style.

Got the money sitting around? get a GT-R for $84,060 which will give you 485hp and spend the rest of the money fighing your speeding tickets.