Porsche weathers the storm

The Panamera has four doors and a front-mounted engine, but it's a Porsche through and through. Photo / Phil Hanson

It's cold and raining when we meet Porsche's Panamera, as Auckland's spring weather continues a convincing imitation of mid-winter - in other words a perfect day to drive the latest German supercar.

Pelting rain and the slippery, twisty roads of the west coast bring out the worst in a car, especially a rear-drive V8 with 294kW of power - that's an even 400hp in the old money - and 500Nm of torque with the potential to flick the rear end out of kilter upon even a slight driver miscalculation.

Then there are other issues. Can the air-conditioning cope, are the wipers up to the job, does the car's general behaviour make you want to turn around and go home to a nice coffee, or press on enthusiastically?

A $260,000 price tag is the first suggestion that maybe the Panamera will have the right stuff, although this is only the "base" model S. The top Turbo lists at $350,000 - and there are still optional extras available to bring up the price.

At mid-point there's the 4S that, for another $10,000, adds all-wheel drive to the S.

Like the Cayenne SUV before it, Panamera has been controversial. Traditionalists say that no Porsche should have four doors, or even an engine in the front. Porsche, keen to broaden its product range, says that's the way it is, so get used to what it calls its sports car for four - although they say it in a nicer way than that.

Flowing lines that instantly give away its design heritage do little to disguise the Panamera's generous size. At 4970mm, it's 76mm longer than a current Holden Commodore, a little wider but significantly lower. It's longer and wider than Porsche's other four-door, the Cayenne. Unladen weight is a not an unreasonable 1770kg, or about 55kg lighter than a Holden Calais V8.

For anyone offended by making a comparison to a Holden, it's much the same size and a bit lighter than its most direct rival, the Italian Maserati Quattroporte that starts at $290,000.

Porsche expects that in New Zealand the Panamera will cast a wide net for buyers, from owners of Mercedes S Class and BMW 7-Series, to Bentley owners and, gulp, perhaps even bored Cayenne owners wanting to try something different.

If it matters at its price point, overall fuel economy of 10.8 litres/100km is excellent for a car able to go from zero to 100km/h in just over five seconds, and with eight cylinders.

CO2 emissions are less friendly at 253g/km. Both figures have deteriorated noticeably on the Turbo.

Meanwhile in the wet, Panamera has swept away questions posed by the weather as surely as its powerful wipers clear the windscreen; talk about singing in the rain.

The 18-inch Continental tyres with rubber band-like profiles have great grip. The traction and stability controls are tuned to come in later than on many cars, allowing the driver a sporting chance of not screwing up - but when he does, the electronics have everything back under control in millisecs. The brave and skilled may choose to turn off.

Despite the nimbleness and "communication" that's expected of any Porsche, a driver's left in no doubt that the Panamera is a large and rather heavy car.

Good job it's so easy to drive, but it is let down around town by limited outward vision.

Back-seat passengers get a good deal and it's easy to see why Porsche reckons the Panamera will appeal to owners of limo-like premium cars. The shape of the rear bucket seats is almost identical to those in the front, including the excellent lateral support.

Leg room is good, but suffers the farther back the front seats are set.

Despite the car being only 1418mm tall, head room is fine. Urban legend has it that the 1.9m Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking stipulated he must be able to sit comfortably and still have the width of his fist between his head and the roof.

Come to think of it, Porsche seems to have made a pretty good fist of the whole car.