Ducati Monster Forum

(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NTIuanBn.jpg)

A 4 door grocery getter.

It's the Porsche Panamera.

(http://www.carenvy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/porsche-panamera.jpg)

It's more homogenized bland-ness!  Yeah!!!!!

Say, why don't we equip all true convertibles with those heavy, folding fake-hard-tops too!

More computers in cars!

Why don't we make computers to control those computers which are busy controlling other things!!!

HOORAY for modern homogenized bland-ness!  My car will be the same as yours except for the specifically approved color!





















 [roll]

amen brother.. i've considered a 60's car as my daily driver a few times now...

You can take your opinion and... 


Actually I kind of agree with you.  This thing is gonna be a nightmare for awhile.  Porsche totally dropped the ball getting this one out of the gates.  We don't have hardly any of the special magical tools we need for this car yet.  In fact there is a tool that is required every time you align the damn thing.  Its for setting the laser cruise control so the car sees straight.  Problem is there is only one of these tools in the country and we have to request it and then wait. [roll]   Only one tech from each dealership is going to be certified on the thing because they don't have enough classroom space until mid next year.  Here's the catch, in order to maintain Porsche certification every tech has to be certified on the car.  Yeah I'm thrilled.   [bang]

+1, often.

More pics of this fat ass car.

Lots of buttons.  The cupholder is above the right side of this expensive switch panel.
(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NTcuanBn-1.jpg)


(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NTguanBn.jpg)


(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NTUuanBn.jpg)


(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NjAuanBn.jpg)


(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NjEuanBn.jpg)


(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/porschaholic/SU1HMDA0NTkuanBn.jpg)

Well, I guess before cars got so complicated, they were homogeneous too.  They were uncomplicated and homogeneous.

It is a thin line to walk.  I like the idea of an older car as a daily driver, except no modern braking, safety, or comfort features, bad gas mileage, and poor crash performance.  Also, expensive to maintain.  Aside from all those things...  :)

On the other hand, I wonder (read:doubt) if most buyers of these cars, who are really seeking a powerful luxury car are really getting much out of the blinky lights and buttons and screens that they add on. 

I miss my '62 Falcon but that's a whole other thread and yes...I daily drove it.

It's true that my opinion is my own and I can shove it where...uh, yeah.  But it just seems like more technology for the sake of more technology is all.  

The more we divorce ourselves from actually feeling the road, feeling the car, etcetera the more we become less 'drivers' and more 'slightly more involved passengers' is all.

My 2 cents and that's 98 short of a bag of chips...


(BTW:  It looks LOADS better in black and the front end is really quite nice!)

Kinda looks like a vertically squished Cayenne...which I guess is what it is.  :P

It does look better in black. $155K  :o

seems like enough... :-\

Hey Stew I was messin with ya, I would never say that and mean it.

thanks for the pics.

If I wanted a 4 door tourer, and had 150k budget, I would probably look at other alternatives though.  I wonder how they will sell.

mitt

mmmm.... So many shiney buttons. I wonder how well they work when someone spills coffee all over when the car is driving itself and the driver has a O.S. moment when traffic suddenly stops in front of him and he wasn't paying attention.

Supposedly we have a fairly long waiting list. Most of em that we are getting through next year are sold already.

I say having an older car as a daily driver is a bad thing from the vantage point of a old manual transmission truck with 230k miles.  I crank my windows myself, my tape player doesn't work.  I could not be more in touch with this vehicle and the roads it slowly leaks oil on.  So take my statement with a grain of salt, is what I am saying :)

There was one time when I thought I would be OK putting up with something uncomfortable for the sake of more pure driving experience.  For example, I always thought an s2000 would be my commuter, as loud, small, low to the ground as it was, the benefit of having a zippy car would make all of this worth it.  Today, I am shopping for something to insulate me from the multitude of assholes I share the road with.  One day I will have an s2000, or super 7 or something that I will tear up the track with on weekends - for now, I understand the appeal of a mobile cocoon for point A to point B driving.

If I lived in a smaller town, or had a more civil or fun commute I would definitely factor in style and driving experience...

One of the reasons I got into motorcycles was to get out of the high tech crap that auto manufactures build now. I wanted something simple. I like being involved in the driving experience. yeah, manuals suck in traffic but would rather suffer than give in to an autoslush box. I want the motorcycle/car to do what I want it to do when I want it to do it. I don't want a computer to guess what I want it to do. As Colin Chapman said, Simplify and add lightness. That's what I want. It's one of the reasons I loved and now miss my Wrangler. Simple - maybe not lightweight though... :)  Manual everything. Simple to work on. The only thing I want in a car is a decent radio. Everything else I want base level or manual. Good looks help too. Too bad both Ducati's and Wranglers are also headed in the ultra high tech direction. I might be following Corey's lead with buying older cars.

The Panamera is the antithesis to this. Plus it's ugly. Mix of pregnant 911 with the side vents from a Tiberon. Even if I could ever afford it I wouldn't.

I think the Piech family has regained some control at Porsche?  maybe that will help. I still think I like the older, simpler cars, but then there was a nice 1975 911 for sale near me for $10,000. Good body, fresh paint, whale tail, Scheel seats. All I could think about were those 35 year-old electrics and trying to keep the thing running... I passed.  (wimp!!)

The only front engined Porsche that ever did anything for me was the 928.


(http://www.928gt.com/images/gallery/GregSchickels928GTS/slide05_lg.jpg)

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Porsche Panamera at Top Gear (challenge) - Part 1 - 12.07.2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h_D9nQabKQ#ws-normal)

Porsche Panamera at Top Gear (challenge) - Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXUUE8Kl9w&feature=related#ws-normal)

Speaking of 4 door tourers, I would rather one of these and the Maloo for weekends with a bike in the back.  ;)

Top Gear 13x07 - Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst Ed & HSV VE Maloo R8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEh84Hoq82Q#ws-normal)

Personally I would go for a 944 [thumbsup]

(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm272/jacopansegrouw/porsche_944_girl_cranking_over_knee.jpg)

I'll take a 959 please...

(http://www.beepwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/porsche-959-1.jpg)

Good luck with that [thumbsup]  I wouldn't mind one of those either.

Yeah, the whole "not street legal in the U.S." kinda puts a damper on things. Well, that and the extraordinary cost!

I've got to agree with Clarkson. That is one ugly car.

356: The soul of Porsche. Light, simple, fast.
550: Porsche Soul to the extreme
911: Porsche Soul for everyday use
Boxster: so-so impersonation of Porsche Soul
Cayman: Boxster for those who don't EVER want to muss their hair
Cayenne: Poor attempt at Porsche Soul for the mistress/soccer mom/avid golfer
Panamera: Soulless performance for pretenders.

I disagree, the Cayman is a much better car than the Boxter and is almost on par with the 911 for a good chunk less money...

If I had my choice between Cayman S and a 911 the Cayman would win hands down.  It is that good of a car. 

I have some direct insight into that. This morning I noticed that I forgot to close the sunroof last night. Its been raining buckets since 2 am. So I just got done taking the center console apart and drying all the printed circuit boards and stuff down in there. I had three malfunctions and the car urged me to take it to the shop. So after all that, I got it all fixed, messages went away. Lets see stability control program, ABS, display malfunction... Didn't burn anything out though. Phew...

That being said I like all that stuff in the car, its nice to drive performs well, very comfy, and it saved my butt in the ice last year. (Stability control program again) However I'm working on a 1979 BMW 320i to be my "grocery getter" and I would consider it "Old school" at this point. It has the little 4 cylinder engine mated to a 4 speed manual and its basically a pretty simple car. It even has hand cranks on the windows.

Amenities are one thing, but technology just for the sake of technology is purely another matter...

I removed my starter and installed a hand crank.

You would...

I had a '79 320I.  Great car.  Comfortable, excellent road feel, just enough trailing throttle oversteer to keep life interesting, and not one power accessory unless you want to count the power brakes.  As long as the car was moving the steering effort was light enough to operate with a couple of fingers although the car was equipped with manual steering and had about 8^o of caster.  The steering feedback was just incredible.  Manual windows, manual sunroof, both low effort, and, if you wanted to raise or lower the antennae while in the car all you had to do was roll down the window, reach out and there it was.  Every control could be reached without moving in the seat and every control and switch was so simple to figure out there was no need to read the manual.

That's way cool. I have to rebuild this engine to make it run but I'm stoked about it. The interior is near perfect but it needs a (cheap) paint job and some real minor bodywork. It will get a stereo upgrade of course. Nothing fancy just a radio with MP3/I pod capability, no amps or crossovers. Maybe GPS but probably not.

I want to see you hand crank the 5.0 in the Falcon....

Think "trickle down".  My understanding is that car mfgs need a platform to sell this high techy stuff.  What better place than an expensive new model produced in limited numbers.  Some day that technology trickles down to the cars the masses can afford.  For example years back, ABS was expensive and now it's standard on just about any decent car that you'd want to drive.

My 2 cents and other misc ramblings:  Panamera looks way better in black than most of the silver photos that are published.  And (not just for the value/money), the Cayman S is potentially a much greater car than the 911.  I read that Porsche "dummies" down the performance to ensure that their flagship 911 can still outrun its little brother.  If I could pick a classic car to drive, it'd be a 1971 Mercedes 280SL in cream.  That's my style.

Ciao!

oh no.  no sirree bob.  not a chance...not falling for that line again...I'm not cranking nothin....you put that key back in the ignition and pull that zipper up or I'm getting out of this car right now.

I spoke too soon about not frazzling the electronic shifter. Man everything went haywire. lights on all over the dash, transmission didn't know what gear it was in so it didn't shift. Tach intermittant...and a few other things. I bougt a new one today for $545. everythings as good as new.

what kind of car was it?

mitt

Mercedes E320