hyperion667

okay, damn....
you heads have me wondering about the inside....I feel I'm too tall and thin for a Porche.....wouldn't look right on me.....I have never driven one....sat in one once at an auto show.....it was nice...

my next car will be from Jaguar........either January or February.......not sure yet

hyperion667

okay.....sat in a panny with a turbo tranny today at my Mercedes dealer....I think they were asking over 130 for it......
it was used obviously but WW.....what an inside! buttons galore...even in the backseat, which was also very bucket-ish....in a good way.....don't know about long trips in the back though..
but yes indeed the inside is quite amazing....I found the wood on the steering wheel to be very nice.....
that was the first Panamera I have seen in person.....still don't like the outside....

park423

If I was looking for the next bigger sedan, I think I would go for a Panamera S, it's odd looks are growing on me, then again I also like the BMW X6...yes love the interior

K-A

I'm fully convinced.

The Panamera is my current 2nd favorite Sedan (behind the E-Class), and in WHITE, with some Mods and good equipment, it has a road presence that is outstanding IMO. I'm really falling for it.... Must... stay.... away.... don't.... have.... enough.... money.... to.... blow....

whiteongrey

great looking car in that shot - too bad its taken in the 3rd world somewhere

togaclk55

LOL

K-A

The Panamera is like an SNL Skit:

So bad, so many times, but it's just that *ONE TIME*, that one time where the stars align and it is everything that they tell you Heaven is supposed to be.

I stole that idea from somewhere.... I think Family Guy.

gohan

My uncle has a Panamera 4S, actually it was my recommendation, I'm the unofficial car adviser.

He lets me drive it sometimes when hes overseas, and while it doesn't look like it, its actually really roomy in the back, downside to me though it can only fit 4. The ride is really comfortable and soft (setting dependable). Drivetran is a little jerky at times because it starts off on 2nd gear on non-sport mode(similar to our E/S mode), 0-60 is very fast, watching the spoiler rise up is awesome everytime. as for dependability it's been to the dealer twice for suspension sensor failures, damn NJ potholes.

blk beauties

csquared

The E class is an old man's car to be honest. It's smooth and quiet but it lacks driver emotion. The brakes are utter crap for a 80K car. A toyota camry probably has better brakes. The Panamera is true sports sedan that drives like a true porsche. A stock Panamera is ugly, but with the right mods (especially to rear) it look quite aggressive and beautiful. That's why you see more tuned panameras than w212s.

hyperion667

what about the BUTTONS Gohan? LOL.......
tons of buttons in that pana right?
that is still the thing that sticks out in my mind about these
cars, that and the fact that I've only seen well to do ladies driving them too

gohan

i love buttons! it makes me feel like a fighter pilot.

hyperion667

just another thing I like about our cars you know?
they do have lots of buttons......sometimes I find myself
swirling around looking for the button I need....but I have become a dial ninja
on the command dial, LOL.....so it's dial for me mostly...

today I was sitting in this obsceeeene S600 with everything except rocket launchers.....but the buttons were not there you know? damn that was a lot of car......sticker was 175 and some, but I need more buttons.....
the 63 is also very good on buttons.....

park423

Agree on the S class, my mother-in-law has an S550 and when I drive that car, I find myself searching and searching for the buttons to change the radio station. However that dual view screen is super cool.

E63 is super cool on the buttons...

K-A

Yeah, my best way of describing how the Panamera drives/feels, is like a Bentley meets a Porsche (both owned by VAG, so it makes sense). A Panamera owner on a Message Board actually said that about his car, and it made total sense to me.

How do you like the Panamera's driving and visual experience (speed/handling/power aside, as that's obvious) VS your E-Class?

gohan

I'm not very good at describing these things, so i'll just list them.

Visually compared to the E:
P-car, too many blind spots, can they make the rear windshield any smaller? and once the wing goes up, forget it.
Ride heights are similar as I have the sport model, doesnt feel like i'm driving a rice rocket but still has a pretty low profile.
you'll get a lot more looks in the P-car, i've actually gotten a few "thumbs up" from other drivers. Where as the E you'll just blend right in, cause i see on average 3~4 a day, which isnt very much but considering how many other luxury midsize sedans are out there as well.
Both comes with DRL LEDs so thats similar.
Touch screen navi in the porsche is nice, but it should be bigger.
A weird reason that made me get the Mercedes is because it reads chinese characters where as Audi and BMW didn't. The porsche does too but only on the smaller tach guage display and not the navigation screen

Driving experience vs E: I won't compare the power cause they're clearly very different, but handling can attribute a lot to the overall driving experience.
P-car makes makes u forget it comes with back seats, it takes corners like a champ, perfectly balanced. It looks like a big car, but it drives small (hope that makes sense). Unlike the E, it looks like a big car but it feels much bigger. Not confident on turns due to the amount of body roll (4matic does help stabilizing it a bit), and I just dont trust the small OE 350 brakes compared to the huge Brembos that are on the P car.
P-car is louder inside and out (sometimes i like that), compared to the E it's a little harsher on the road, i dont know if its the tires (19") or the suspension or a combination of both, just a little too much feedback for a luxury sedan but still comfortable enough for long trips. on the flip side the E is nice and quiet on the road to the point where it can put you to sleep.

K-A

Sweet, thanks.

I agree that the E seemed a bit more serene when getting back into it (made me happy, as if it gives up in the Sport department, which it should, it should make up for it in the calmness aspect).

The Panny is a very well balanced ride, maybe one of the best balanced out there. Somewhat exotic, but not brash (like a Ferrari or Aston whatever-it's-called 4-Door Coupe), unique but conservative, sporty yet luxurious, built with the intent to be pushed to its limits, yet bank vault solid and able to transport businessmen to work in quiet isolation, etc.

I do like the Panny a lot, but when I stack it up against my E, from the driving/engineering to the styling, the price premium just doesn't make sense, and the E comes out victor.

I will say, that if I were looking to get into a new car and spend more money than my E, the Panny is #1 on my List. Far ahead of the CLS (which has terrible functionality with frontal headroom), and ahead of the 6-Series Coupe, which is very nice, but lacks that "specialness" factor for its waay too high price for this generation.

MBNUT1

Nice going now you have me interested in one. Out of spite I have included this link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOADE...item4ab059d858

K-A

Damn you! And you had to post a white one, with wheels upgrade, perfect wood color, and solid interior color.

Argh, I must resist the temptation. I need to get back on the "Panamera is the ugliest looking thing on wheels" bandwagon!

At $1,111 a month (with 0 down), I think the numbers should do the talking, lol.

Gsc

K-A I presume that 1111/month is for a base vehicle, right? My wife and I were quoted 1900+ for a loaded Turbo this weekend, with $$$ down.

hyperion667

..that's a lot of groceries

Gsc

Hype- dont cop the Jag until you drive this beast.

hyperion667

that car does not really appeal to me.........

K-A

Yeah, $1111 for the base model (seems to have a few Options, but light, at "only" $82K). Mind you guys, this is for the 300 HP V6 model.

That's a chunk of change.

Ain't gonna lie, if I could get a V6 for $65K with a moderate Options list (mainly necessary aesthetics) and very low (under 10K) Miles, I would really, really, consider it right now, even if it means giving up my E, which costs me less, and I still think technically looks better. But that Panny is growing and growing on me.

threeMBs

Well, is Panamera a (far) superior car to E by most parameters? IMO, absolutely yes (except maybe for the exterior design, which is subjective for each individual).

Is Panamera (about $90K for a moderetly to well optioned 2012 V6 sold at MSRP; other realy nice available options can add at least an other $10K) worth 50% "premium" over similarly equiped E (about $63-65K - 5% discount for 2012 V6)? IMO, absolutely not.

K-A

Well said, and agreed. On non-subjective points, it's hard to find any aspect from the E that exceeds the Panamera (although, in things like solidity, fit/finish, quality, etc. I feel that it at the very least matches it). On the subjective points, that could be a different story of course.

The "is it worth it" aspect is where the Panamera starts falling off the radar, IMO.