Porsche Panamera - Design Analysis

Porsche Panamera maybe is the most interesting car to write about from the last cars that arrived on the market. One very important thing is the fact that the Panamera is so much more than a 4 door Porsche. And all this because it is a true 4 seats coupe with a hatchback and dimensions that belong to the very high end of the market. Also in the same time it is the “limo” designed around the driver and not around the back seat passenger. Is it a new niche discovered by Porsche? I don’t think so. It is more an interpretation of an already existing niche market the upper executive saloons. I’ll tell you why… The Panamera can compete against more cars that belong to different segments. And this because of the price, size, 4 seats and hatchback. It can compete against the Maserati Quartoporte that is his natural rival by status, exclusivity and being both the 4 door incarnations of two brands renowned by their coupes and sports cars, more than everything else. But the Quatroporte has only one engine and two levels of equipment, while Panamera already has two engines, two type of transmissions, and 3 different types of equipment, while in the future there will be a hybrid Panamera and a diesel one. Wait to see that diesel into the Maserati… The Panamera can compete also against the BMW M5 and the Mercedes CLS AMG in performance terms and sportiness.

But here is a problem too. While the Panamera by price, status and dimensions is in the upper class of Porsche, there is no other model above the Panamera in the Porsche range; both of them are not the highest you can get from the BMW and Mercedes. I mean in terms of performance, yes, but the M5 is still a number below the 7, and the CLS is some letters below the S class. It’s kind of “cheap” alternative to Panamera. Lexus? Cadillac? well here we don’t see anybody that will look at a Cadillac or Lexus to turn his/her head to a Panamera. They are so different that maybe is no worth mentioning them. At least not in Europe, or maybe if he/she gets a life crisis. The America and Asia are other worlds… But, if you look at the Mercedes S class and the 7 series models from BMW, they all have a model in the very upper segment with cars that have just 4 seats. But there is the problem of these two cars that they are build around the rear seat passenger more than around the driver. Other cars that can go close to the Panamera´s character are the: Bentley Arnage the Flying Spur and the new Jaguar XJ.

So we see the Panamera as a car that can be taken into account if you are looking to a car that defines: spottiness, luxury, exclusivity, strong character and high price. We heard so much about the Panamera being kind of a family car… well we doubt that someone looking for a family car will look too much to he Panamera. We see it more the car of families that where the kids have passed a certain age and they ride very occasionally with their parents. Or maybe a healthy father of one or two kids that have to take them again: very occasionally in the car. For taking them to the school they will certainly have whatever SUV you like.

So from all the above-mentioned cars we consider the Maserati Quatroporte, Bentley Flying Spur and the Jaguar XJ as the main rivals to the Panamera.

Now that we decided where to put the Panamera on the market lets look at the main design characteristics. But before we want to make a remark about the Porsche design theme: always when there was a new Porsche that came on the market was not received with praises. Yes even the 911. When it appeared in 1963 was considered not a true Porsche and not a beautiful car. Just check the period magazines and car literature and read about it. Also the 928 had his part too. The car was too much for the 70´s. Compared to the 911 that was considered not new enough, the 928 was too new and too advanced for its time. And we don’t want to mention the critics received by the 914, 924, 944, Boxster (not the prototype but the production version) and Cayenne. But somehow with the passing of the years we all get used to them and 928 is considered by some senior designers from the car industry, like Peter Hornbury, as the nicest car in the car’s design history. So there comes the question of what is the Porsche design? What makes a Porsche a Porsche and not another car? Is it just the fact that it has to look like a 911? A longer one? Taller, smaller or just a shorter 911? Or it has to look like a 911 with more doors? As Harm Laagay the ex director of design and Michael Mauer the actual director of design, both said in interviews that the Porsche design is a mix of concave and convex surfaces, combined with a certain definition of the DLO that comes into play in a latter stage of car’s design process. There are some elements that belong to Porsche and can’t be changed, like the rounded front lights. And all this combined with a lot of Porsche history.

So the Panamera somehow goes directly in this controversial theme of being a nice car or the ugly duck of the luxurious market. Let’s start with the front. The front end of the Panamera is clearly a Porsche trademark. From the low engine bonnet to the higher fenders. This is very Porsche indeed. It is quite nice what the designers have achieved with the two crests on the bonnet that make the very wide bonnet look a little bit more proportioned. Also the exterior light cluster’s shape remembers the mighty race monster 917, that brought the very first overall Porsche victory at LeMans. The two rounded lamps inside each front lamp show the above-mentioned trademark of the Porsche design. Also another Porsche design element found in the last cars from Zuffenhausen are the two big side air intakes in the lower part of the front bumper. All the surfaces are very well controlled. There is no strange light going on them and no surface that goes more than intended by the designer. This is German precision at its best.

Looking at the car from the side, the most interesting feature is the fast shooting brake silhouette of the car. The roofline that seems to be the most contradictory line in the car is very high, loosing the dynamic expectations from sports GT. Here is where the Panamera´s week point comes into life. Yes, the line was designed better from the beginning, but the last minute change made by the ex CEO Wendelin Wiedeking to improve the headroom in the back brought the car to this looks. Typical German: form follows the function. From the rest the car looks low and long, powerful and we like the shoulder line with the hump over the back fender that remembers the Cayman. The play of surfaces on the side air outtake is very nice and defines very nice the Porsche´s design elements listed above. Also when you look from a higher point at the Panamera you start to appreciate the subtle geometry that plays around the shoulder line and the rear lights.

On the back the car is very different to any other car on sale today. But so was the back end of the 911 in its time. It is not what you expect from the beginning but in the same time is not bad looking, but different. The only line that we don’t like is the lower cut of the tailgate. We feel it should have been much wider because the way it is now it makes a bad proportion between it and the width of the car. It is remarkable also the way the spoiler opens into three elements on the Turbo version of the car. Very Porsche and very German at the same time. Again there is a Porsche ness into the way the section that we have over the tailgate and the rear fenders. Michael Mauer described it as one of the most emotional part of the car. We agree with him, but is like a German emotion, where again everything is very controlled… it’s like a “wow” but a quiet one… that you say it for yourself not to disturb too much your neighbour.

The interior is one of the best in last times. Very luxurious, it has lost the fragile looking of the 911 and smaller models. The dashboard is massive and well proportioned. It remembers of Porsche with its simple lines, but in the same time it feels expensive and solid. The quality is very high. Very nice the influence that the Carrera GT´s interior had on the central console. A tall and wide one, full of buttons. And the good thing is that this buttons are very big, so easy to reach. One thing that we have preferred: to see the suspended console like in the Carrera GT. Also we like that Porsche has chosen a different path not to adopt a wheel system like BMW, Audi and Mercedes to control the sat-nav and the audio systems. We think it is much better the touch screen. The seats look the part, especially the optional ones in the Panamera Turbo.

And now to the final question: is it a beautiful car? How should I put this in the best way? You know when you see a group picture of 5 women. And in the picture there is one that you like it most. Looks better than the others. But latter you are presented to this women and interesting the most beautiful girl in the pictures is not the one that interest you most… but another one, that you thought she is the 3rd best looking girl. And after you see it you start to like her more and more… So this is what we think about the Panamera, it is not beautiful like being over sensual and makes you fantasies right after you have seen the pictures. But if you see it for real… how it moves and how the light plays with its curves and surfaces and the proportions, you may be hooked or not. Is it a good design? If we judge it by what the Porsche design themes over the past, the sensation of luxurious and expensive expected from a car like this, and the exclusivity of it’s shape, we think it is a good one, but again we have to wait for it to sell the numbers to be considered indeed a good design.