2016 Porsche Panamera: Analysis, Review & Tribute.

For sale at Auto City in El Cajon, CA. This is a Porsche Panamera. It’s a 2016 in white with a luxor beige interior. It has 24k miles, a 3.6 liter V6 engine which makes 310 horsepower and 295 ft lbs of torque. It gets 27 mpg on the highway. This “4 Edition” is all-wheel drive. And at $59k, it’s the most expensive car that I’ve seen on auto city’s during my time here. Period. I love Porsche. Who doesn’t? The profile of the 911 is so iconic, that it has remained virtually unchanged for 55 years… Why mess with a good thing? It’s also the singular shape responsible for turning people like myself, with a certain loose screw into car people. Gearheads, Petrolheads. But I’m also of that purest mindset who believes that Porsche should be building nothing but rear engined sports coupes. Ok ok, they had a good run of front engined coupes in the late 70’s through the early 90’s with 924, 928 and the 944. Those were cool. But you get the idea. Sports cars. So when this car came out, the Panamera, Porsche’s first ever sedan / 4-dr grand touring coupe, whatever you want to call it, I was hesitant. I’m still hesitant. But now I have an opportunity to see what it’s really like. Up close and personal, and to see if this gently used Panamera with only 24k miles really is worth the $59k price-tag. The last company I would ever expect to succumb to the pressures of competitive marketing was Porsche. When all the non-SUV building car makers started adding SUV’s to their premium brand lineup, Mercedes had their ML, BMW soon followed with the X5. Then came the Cayenne in 2002 and everything changed. That opened the floodgates, allowing Porsche to expand their market beyond buyers of the 911. It was only inevitable that their next big bold move after the Cayenne would be a family friendly 4 door sedan. Thus the Panamera was born. My hands on experience with porsche is admittedly, limited. It’s not the most accessible brand to a car enthusiast on my budget, so I don’t have much to compare it to as far as driving goes, so this Panamera is sorta getting a clean slate with me. And I tested it not as a Porsche, but as a car. And whatever you consider this car to be, be you a 911 purist or not, it’s tremendous and it’s worth every penny... For Tony B. Written, Directed and Presented by Ariel Levine - [email protected] Music “Treefingers” - Radiohead (Greenwood, Greenwood, O’Brien, Selway, Yorke) “28 Ghosts IV” - Nine Inch Nails (Reznor, Ross) “Fullness of Wind” - Brian Eno (Eno)