2009 Porsche Panamera interior, performance and Aust pricing revealed
February 13, 2009 by George Skentzos
The controversially styled four-door Panamera is slowly being unveiled by Porsche, this week revealing the plush interior along with performance specifications and pricing.
The cabin can accommodate up to four passengers, each with an individual power-adjustable sports seat, surrounded by a range of luxury materials and high class creature comforts.
Customers can choose from 13 different colour and material combinations on offer, including four bi-colour options matched with seven optional interior trims such as carbon and open-pore wood.
Accommodating the four passengers is an appropriate four-zone automatic climate control system together with a new premium audio system developed together with Germany’s Burmester.
In total, 16 speakers are scattered throughout the cabin through 16 amplifier channels with more than 1000W – with a further 300W supply for the subwoofer alone.
Luggage space for the Panamera S and 4S is 445-litre, while the Panamera Turbo is slightly hindered with only 432-litre of space – although with the rear seats folded down, storage space across the range extends to 1250-litres.
Standard safety features incorporate driver and front passenger airbags, curtain airbags as well as side and knee airbags for the front seat passengers with additional side airbags available at the rear as an optional feature.
With power sent to the rear wheels, the entry-level Panamera S, which boasts a 294kW 4.8-lite V8 engine, manages zero to 100km/h in just 5.4 seconds through Porsche’s PDK transmission and on to a top speed of 283km/h.
The all-wheel-drive system of the Panamera 4S shaves another 0.4 seconds off the time of its rear-drive sibling – completing the sprint in 5.0-seconds flat from a standstill.
The flagship Panamera Turbo sports a 368kW twin-turbo 4.8-litre V8 engine that translates to a zero to 100km/h time of just 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 303km/h.
In Australia, the Panamera S will start at $270,200, while the AWD Panamera 4S is priced from $282,400 and the flagship Turbo completes the range from $364,900.
Still looks like a mutated Cayman. Interior inspired by the new Jag.
Aus pricing
$270,200 Panamera S.
$282,400 Panamera 4S
$364,900 Panamera Turbo
US pricing
$89,800 Panamera S
$93,800 Panamera 4S
$132,600 Panamera Turbo
We do need to consider the lower volumes at play, but gee. Even allowing for currency conversion of $0.65USD to AUD, we are truly being ripped off. ie Turbo is $204,000 AUD…
Interior is gorgeous. Thankfully that’s the part you can see when you’re driving it.
+1 to what Captain M said. Who gives a flying **** what anyone outside the car thinks when you get to sit in that interior!
Super dooper cool. No doubts the purist Porsche fans will complain about the four doors bit.
Whens the 4.2 diesel V8 from Audi being slotted in.
I think the front styling is nice, though the rear is awkard. However, like Captain M, i think the interior is gorgeous and very well designed. However, why can’t they fit a pair of normal paddles like everyone else. Those pull/push paddle like those on PDK 911 is ridiculous.
I like how they conveniently dont show any rear shots. Interior is nice but that things is over priced and looks like Quasimoto retarded brother.
Jerome, go to http://www.netcarshow.com and there is interior shots of the rear seats – they are large and capable of accomadating full sized adults.
I can’t help but notice that basically all the rear-awkwardness of this car would be fixed if the side windows hadn’t been in a tear drop shape. If they had gone back more and been in line with the back window it would have looked so much better.
Lovely interior. I’m sure it will be great quality as well. I think the biggest problem with the looks of this car is that there are cracks everywhere. Lots of big spaces between body panels and bumpers. It makes it look busy. The back lights look cheap too. I do think it looks good from the front though.
Hmmm yeah nice face but it bum does look big, thanks but I’ll wait for the Aston……
World’s most expensive 5 door hatch :-)
Frontman, i’ll rather have this over the Rapide. Or even better, a Lambo. This looks bit awkward from the back, and i’m bored of Aston’s design. They have all looked the same since DB7 with only minor alterations, this is especially true after DB9, with DBS, V8 Vantage and now Rapide all basically the same in design.
The Aston Martin is way better looking than this – I would even say the BMW X6 as does the BMW 5 Series GT Concept looks better
The difference between the Panamera and the Aston Martin however is that the Aston Martin still looks like a DB9/Vantage coupe despite having 2 extra doors.. the rear doors are shorter but still provide easy access.
Whereas this looks like a stretched and slightly squashed 911 and is all out of proportion
The interior in the Aston Martin is classier as well whereas the Porsche interior look s like a something you’d find in a “haymarket hot rod” at Autosalon.. that is all show but not very practial
Alan – it’s funny that you say Aston Martins are boring because they haven’t changed the design of their cars over the last 20 years but neither has Porsche now have they?
The reason is because the look of the DB9 is unmistakably Aston Martin in the same way the look of the 911 is unmistakably Porsche.. and that’s what makes them so desirable – they look so different to everything esle on the roads that they grab your attention.
I mean the AU Falcon is a perfect example of what can happen when a car company drastically changes the look of a car from what people are used to.
As motoring Journo Peter Robinson says “in the Auto industry Evolution is better than Revolutiion”
I dont think this is as good a effort as the original 928 four seater thay made decades ago.I know this has four doors and the 928 only had 2 but the prob with this is thay tryed to hard to keep it looking like a 911 and it just looks like its been streached every were its all out of proportion.Thay would have been better with new shape as thay did with all the 928 and 944 models.Thay made same mistake with the cayene tried to make it look like 911 with that front but dont work again would been better with its own look
Why can’t/doesn’t the front end of the [Hideous] Cayenne look like this?
Am I the only one who found buttons beside the transmission are resembling like buttons in highly exclusive Vertu mobile phone? Looks like Porsche copied it.
yea thats the exact thing i was tihnking. just couldnt think which nokia phone. i think interior looks like any other million dollar luxury car. except with four doors and more space for rear paasengers
Altezza, you are right – i just knew those buttons from somewhere… same as Vertu. maybe porsche used their phone technology inside too :) it’s same class.
Aston vs Porsche. i think it’s not about look, but driving experience. Aston was always big british GT. fast, but only fancy cruiser. porsche was always fastest car from A to B. not strongest engine on the world, but grip, cornering, acceleration – beautifully ,german precise balanced. That what panamera is build to be – fastest 4 door car for urban and country driving. and I am sure it will fulfill that expectation. my money worth.
design look like they could done better, but this is the first one, I am sure they’ll done better in next revision. i guess it would be good sell and lot of profit (same as cayenne), so they put more effort next time and be braver. and as in 2011 hybrid version should be available, I’ll start collecting money… how much will interest rate be in 2011, mr. Rudd?
enjoy
Phil C you are forgetting the $90 000 – $100 000 tax the australain government adds on the Turbo.
I totally agree with you that car companys riff off australain buyer especially on expensive cars, but the government is gouging us far worse.
they should have learnt their lesson when they increased the lurury car tax and caused the ales to drop by nearly half, their greed actually decreased their tax revenue.
And Wheelnut I agree with you the Aston Martin is a beautiful car, it looks designed as a 4 door, where this porsche look like a stretched two door.
Take in the Aston herritage of real ‘class’ and the high price of the porsche and the Aston seems like good value.
HA HA HA HA (I’ll still stick with my $35k Mazda)
I just don’t get the styling. I’ve tried, but it just doesn’t work for me. Something just isn’t right. It looks like a lowered Cayenne.