First Drive: 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid

Impressive range and only $6k more? That not much of a premium relatively speaking.

 

Very impressive...especially on the E-Charge mode. I hope Porsche enthusiasts hate this car, so it will depreciate quickly, so I can afford it...

 

Porsche nice cars until it's time to repair or pay maintenance. Then it will turn you upside down and shake you around until all your money falls out.

 

500/year, until they call it quits.

 

if you can afford one.. don't worry about it!

 

I want one because it's so practical! NOT!! But I still want one....

 

it sure is practical and especially from this maker.. .. a Porsche with 4 doors! who heard of such a thing until recent..

 

Well if you put it that way, it makes it easier for me to justify! I've been a fan of Porsche since the 80's but it is such an extravagance in my mind. Especially as I'm getting older it seems more so. I don't care - I still want one.

I was thinking on my way in to work this morning that for the most part, the majority of drivers, for the majority of their driving habits, only need a PTV, or Personal Transportation Vehicle. When you think about it, it's such a huge waste of resources that we drive around 1.5 to 3 tons of mechanical devices just to move from point a to b. Before the auto, we rode around on horses or in a buggy pulled by one or several horses. But I don't recall in my history books seeing one person riding in a small buggy pulled by a team of 30 horses. Don't ask me why I was even thinking about all this today - stuff sometimes just pops in my head.

 

yes, we humans wastes.. and some a lot more than other.. when you start trying to justify a lot of what we do, it's in extravagance. Look at all those cars that are over the top, high performance SUV's, talk about weight and power.. M X5, Cayenne GTS.. not only the weight but the enough power to do 1/4 mile times impressive for a sports car! Makes no sense to me.. yet sadly there's a market. I've always favor light weight car as you can't hide weight in the turns.

Yes, we can all do without.. capitalism at it's best/worse?.. I make up for the luxuries by riding and racing my bikes. On a good day, maybe hit 1HP. lol..

 

BTW, the M X5(E70) 1/4 mile is 12.5 seconds! That's not a luxury but a necessity.

 

I wonder, what is more practicle, a Lexus LSh, or a panerama-s-e hybrid. The porsche is $20,000 less expensive and 0.4 seconds faster to 60. From a fuel consumption point of view there is no comparison the porsche sips fuel, the lexus chugs it. You can seat more people in your lexus, but..... how many people actually do that. I guess if you have the money to pay for a cheufer the back seat of the LSh is nicer If you like to drive your own car, its no contest the porsche wins.

The porsche panerama also looks like a pratical bargain compared to the porsche 918, its only about 1/7th the price and has similar electrical bits. The big differences are with the 918 you get a porsche racing engine, instead of a common super charged audi mill. The 918 has a super car body, and acceleration.

Now compared to say a chevy volt, camry hybrid, or tesla S, its not all that practical or inexpensive.

 

I agree, if money is no object than by all means take the plunge.

The Panamera plays in a very competitive 100K sports sedan market. The Panamera witnessed a huge success of Maserati in NA.

Now the porsche hybrid plug in is very impressive and may capture the enviro buyers but Tesla is the car to beat now and that is a tall order

 

Though Lexus LS series are gorgeous, the Panamera is a different car all together. Talk about excess!

 

Tesla S beats all the cars in the panamera's class in sales for the US

GOOD CAR BAD CAR: Large Luxury Car Sales

But there are buyers that will want the panamera's handling and like the way porsche does interiors. The nice thing about this car is porsche is saying the way to add more power elegantly is through phev, not a bigger engine.

 

what I notice is when it comes to luxuries at this level.. there isn't a right or wrong.. just yes, it's expensive and it right because I can afford it..

 

I love the driving experience of a 911, its simply incredible, and the cars are reliable for that class of performance. The boxters are simply delightfully engineered for a rag top. I don't really get the Panamera, but some people wanted to cross a porsche with a four door sedan. I like the way they electrified and improved this though with the phev package.

The adding the hybrid parts to the LS didn't really do much but increase its price and weight. It didn't even greatly improve fuel economy.

 

Perfect example.. justify?.. so as long as I know it costs more than your's. I just watch in dis-belief. But perhaps only because I don't have the money to blow..