Perhaps not as prolific as the recently tested top-of-the-line Panamera Turbo, the 2010 Panamera S is no slouch. With a 4.8-litre V8 producing 400 hp of naturally-aspirated goodness and coming in at nearly 40k less than the Turbo ($155,000CAD Turbo vs $115,100CAD for the S), this Panamera S, one of three V8 versions available, is arguably the way to go. Like most things in life, there are needs and wants…or in the case of the V8-flavoured Porsche Panamera, wants and want-mores.
Panamera Power and Trims
Porsche’s first four-door saloon to hit the masses, the Panamera, is available in three V8 trims, all sharing the same 4.8-litre V8 engine: the Panamera S, the Panamera 4S (AWD version), and the Panamera Turbo (AWD turbo version). But if your wants are a little more modest, Porsche just recently unveiled two new V6 models: the Panamera and the Panamera 4 (AWD), both with a newly developed 3.6-litre engine putting down 300 hp.
Features
Late July, the 25,000th Panamera rolled off the Leipzig factory:
Oddly enough, I personally had a more difficult time handing over the keys to this S than with the Turbo. Arriving in black-on-black (Espresso Natural leather, to be exact), all stealthed-out, this particular Panamera suited me just fine.
And the good people at Porsche Canada (Tony Morris) allowed me to keep the car for a double extra days. I savoured every extra moment—arriving to soccer a little early, hitting the driving range a couple additional times, carpooling to dinner Saturday night, grabbing coffee at the third nearest Starbucks (which isn’t all that far, frankly); you know, just knocking off those errands from that weathered To Do list your wife handed over a year ago (fix toilets – done).
Whereas the previously tested Turbo in Yachting Blue Metallic and two-tone cream leather interior seemed to be more on the ‘executive’ side (and there’s nothing wrong with that!), this blacked-out, non-turbo-just-as-awesome version seemed a bit more raw, a little more modest, if you will; encompassing all the fine German engineering you’d expect from Porsche (unreal handling, consistent power, etc) but without some of the frills (i.e. the $3110 Sport Chrono Pkg in the Turbo).
