2011 Porsche Panamera Review



The 2011 Porsche Panamera. "Controversial" doesnt begin to describe the styling.

The Nissan Juke. The Scion xB. Those are the two cars that have gotten the most negative comments about their styling while we were driving them. And by the most, I mean a 50/50 split on the xB, 60/40 negative/positive on the Juke.

The Porsche Panamera? 100% thumbs down.

Now, this is rare. Normally, when I roll up in a Porsche...any Porsche...even the Cayenne and especially the 911...theres a lot of oohing and aahing and "omigodiwantone" going on.

Not with the Panamera. "Looks like someone dropped a boulder on a 911" was the frequent review.



Approach the 2011 Porsche Panamera from the front the first few times. Itll help.

The good news is that, especially from the front, there is some family resemblance to the cars weve come to know and love from Porsche. And, while not blindingly fast, at least not in Panamera 4 all-wheel-drive form like our tester, it still is a very quick big sedan...0-60 in 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 159 miles per hour.

That performance is from the 3.6 liter V6, which cooks up 300 horsepower and 295 pounds per foot of torque. With a 7-speed automatic, the Panamera gets an EPA estimated 18 city/26 highway miles per gallon. Which, again, is very good for a big sedan. And it handles very, very well.



The four-seat interior of the 2011 Porsche Panamera.

Inside the car, you cant see what the car looks like on the outside, and you are in a very Porsche environment...at least a Porsche environment as defined by the Cayenne SUV. Theres room for four, its all very plush...but the Teutonic simplicity of the marques best sports cars? No. Of course, you probably couldnt sell a luxury sedan equipped like that, but the Panamera went the exact opposite direction. There are forty-four buttons on the center console alone. Factor in window switches, audio system stuff and the rest, and the count throughout the cabin gets stratospheric.

The list of what comes with the car as standard equipment and whats optional is very long and highly dependent on whether you order the Panamera, Panamera S, Panamera 4, Panamera 4S, Panamera S Hybrid, Panamera Turbo or Panamera Turbo S, so well just let you surf over to Porsches website to check it out for yourself.

As noted above, ours was the Panamera 4. Base price $79,800. And Porsches press fleet folks added Basalt Black Metallic paint ($790), a ski bag ($405), auto dimming interior and exterior mirrors ($420), front heated seats ($525), heated steering wheel ($250), 19" Panamera Turbo wheels ($1,950), a Bose surround sound system ($1,440), SiriusXM radio ($750) and Porsche crest front headrests ($285). Bottom line including $975 destination charge: $87,590.

The only thing missing...at least to this Porschephile whos never met a 911 he didnt like? The roar of the engine. Porsches sixes give off this wonderful wail when you tromp on the accelerator, but the Panamera V6 just gathers up speed silently. I wonder if the faster Panameras (the S hybrid makes 60 in 5.7 seconds with a top speed of 167, the S 5.2 and 175, the 4S 4.8 and 175, the Turbo 4.0 and 188 and the Turbo S 3.6 and 190) have any of that snarl or if its all speed.  Hopefully Porsche will allow us to find out first-hand.

Again, you have to remember that the Panamera is new territory...Porsches response to swoopy luxury sedans like the Mercedes-Benz CLS, Audi A7, Maserati Quattroporte and the Jaguar XJ. And by any objective measure, theyve hit the target. 

CHP Officer On Mulholland Go Ahead Make My Day Motorcyclist Obliges

Really kinda speaks for itself, doesnt it?

Russia has already collected 10 000 Volkswagen

Today, April 17 from assembly line Volkswagen AG, located at Kaluga, came 10000th car (production started in November 2007). Jubilee car was silver Passat Highline 1.8 TSI (160 hp), with leather trim in black. By the way, Volkswagen plans a few years to increase the volume of car production in Russia up to 150,000 pieces per year. We also recall that the Germans recently announced price reductions for Volkswagen Passat and Jetta, which are collected in Kaluga. For example, prices for Passat decreased by 4,0-5,2%, while the Jetta and does on 7,2-8,0%! At the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga going Passat (in the sedan) with the following engines: a petrol 1.6 (102 hp) and 1.8TSI (160 hp), diesel 1.9 TDI (105 hp) and 2.0 TDI ( 140 hp). Cars with the engines available in the following trim levels: Trendline - 1.6 (102 hp) and 1.9 TDI (105 hp); Comfortline - 1.8TSI (160 hp); Highline - 1.8TSI (160 liters. sec.) and 2.0 TDI (140 hp). Volkswagen Jetta is going to the following engines: a petrol 1.6 (102 hp) and 1.4 TSI (140 PS) Diesel 1.9 TDI (105 hp). Cars with the engines available in the following trim levels: Trendline - 1.6 (102 hp) and 1.9 TDI (105 hp); Sportline - 1.4 TSI (140 hp).

Top Gear Gets Volcano Exclusive

Nobody will be shooting car shows on the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano anytime soon.

Actually, no one had before...until last week, when James May and Top Gear did exactly that and got out just in time.

Tongue-in-cheek news release from Top Gear here.

Old Porsche With Helicopter Engines!

Cars with the highest speed on the highway are often created. But what would happen if a car equipped with a helicopter engine Boeing?

The man from Oregon, United States (U.S.) has been successfully installed into the Porsche engine Boeing 982 lasiran 1982.

Turbine jet engine from a helicopter QH50 (Vietnamese version) chosen this guy to produce power 350 bhp (272 kW) with peak torque to 700 lb-ft (948 Nm) of the old Porsche.


"Although it should be able to power of this car can reach 550 bhp," wrote Worldcarfans as quoted on Friday (07/16/2010).

Besides able to catapult extraordinary power, it turns out the use of jet engines can produce a fire that could shoot out with temperatures up to 270 degrees Celsius.

Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Crew Cab Review

What you see is the new Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Crew Cab in its natural environment. The 3500 is a one-ton pickup...the kind of thing best suited for hauling huge horse trailers (or Brahma bull trailers) around. The ideal rodeo vehicle.

In fact, I would have said that the market for this was pretty well limited to the horses for business and/or pleasure set until I drove it.

You see, as civilized as trucks have become over the years, theres a sliding scale and it has to do with towing/hauling capacity and heavy duty status.  It applies across Chevy, Ford, GMC and Dodge pickups. A 1500 is a half-ton pickup...light duty. These have become pretty comfy cruisers.

2500? Thats a 3/4-ton. Now were on the entry end of heavy duty...you climb up to get in and youd better hang on, because the ride is usually noticeably rougher than the 1500.

And the 3500? Well, unless youre going commercial hauling, thats the big boy. One ton, riding high and....well, like a truck.

Its tough to tame a one-ton, but somehow, Dodge has done it. The 3500 Laramie Crew Cab I drove for a week was not only luxurious, but actually comfortable to drive. Parking? Not so much. Ive had smaller apartments.

The key to the livability here seems to be the Laramie trim level. You can get a 3500 for as little as $35,630, but its a 2-door, bare bones beast. At the base ST trim, a Crew Cab like ours begins at $39,200.

So pop an extra $10,745 (total base $49,945) into the calculator and the transformation is amazing. Suddenly, leather trimmed bucket seats are part of the package, along with heated second row seats, ventilated front seats, an AM/FM/Sirius/CD/mp3/DVD audio system (506 watt Alpine Premium Sound with 9 speakers and a subwoofer), 17 inch aluminum wheels and a bunch of brightwork to make it look...can you say this about a one-ton?....pretty.

The beautification continued on our tester with extra-cost paint...the Deep Water Blue Pearl Coat adds $225 to the sticker...and by the time the Dodge PR deparment finished with the six-speed automatic transmission, power sunroof, a further upgraded audio system (with a 30 gig hard drive and navigation) and Sirius Backseat TV, the price (with destination charge) was $56,820.

Now, that, cowboys and cowgirls, is steep...but its a testament to just how good the all-new Ram 3500 is that at no point did I think it wasnt worth it.  And a big part of that is the engine. The 6.7 liter Cummins Turbo Diesel engine is a marvel...quiet, smooth and powerful. 350 horsepower, but as always with diesel, the story is in the torque...and its very nearly impossible to beat 650 pounds per foot of torque at just 1,500 RPM.

The word is that the 2011 Ford Super Duty is an amazing truck. It needs to be. Until it arrives, the Dodge Ram 3500 is king of the mountain.

New Car Review 2013 Volvo S60 T6 R Design

The phrase “Mid-size Volvo sedan” no doubt causes some eyes to glaze over, especially for those who think they know what Volvo’s all about. But the key is to ask “Which mid-size Volvo sedan?”

Yes, they’re all called the S60, but that car comes in three different turbocharged flavors these days: The T5, a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder with 250 horsepower; the T6 AWD, which adds half a liter, one cylinder, two more driving wheels and 50 additional ponies; and the T6 AWD R-Design, which pulls 325 horsepower out of the same 3-liter six. And that’s the one we’re talking about here.

First, the color: While you have a choice of three, including Ice White and Passion Red, the majority of the R-Designs in Volvo press materials and press fleets this year seem to be Rebel Blue. Frankly, we harbor a strong suspicion that on the way out the door after purchasing Volvo from former owner Ford, Volvo’s new masters found the Dearborn paint vault and snagged as many leftover gallons of 1970 Boss 429 Grabber Blue as they could carry. Whether it’s the right color for a four-door sedan, even a performance-oriented one, is an open question.

As for the working bits, they do. The potential of the extra power is maximized by a higher redline in the R-Design (6500 RPM instead of 5600 for the standard T6). There’s another 20 pounds per foot of torque, which peaks in a narrow sweet spot between 3000 and 3600 RPM. That cuts 0-60 runs down to 5.5 seconds (according to Volvo), with an electronically limited top speed of 134. And specifying the R-Design means a special sport chassis that adds a front strut brace, rear monotube dampers, stiffer springs and bushings.

Despite being 55 pounds heavier than the T6 AWD and having another 25 horsepower, EPA fuel economy estimates are identical: 18 city/25 highway. They may also be optimistic. In a 60/40 mix of highway and city driving, we couldn’t break 20 MPG. You’re also going to pay more at the pump, anyway. The R-Design specifies premium fuel, instead of the regular 87 octane the standard T6 AWD can use.

For $43,900, Volvo focuses the standard equipment list on performance and safety, leaving a lot of gee-whiz electronics (adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, collision warning) as extra-cost options.  Still, you get a 7-inch color monitor for the audio and systems monitoring, a power glass moonroof, dual climate control, Bluetooth, an upgraded audio system and a lot of other creature comforts.

Downsides? We found three. Despite what feels like impressive power off the line, there’s considerable turbo lag. Floor it at 45 and you’ll finish “twomississippi” before the engine room gets the message. Steering feedback is a bit vague, which doesn’t inspire confidence despite the fact that the car actually handles very well. And Volvo has reverted to old-fashioned indirect lighting for the gauge cluster. The numerals and needles on the speedo and tach don’t light up, but are bathed in light from above. Dial down the brightness on a dark road and watch your information disappear.  If Volvo can fix those three issues (or if you can overlook them), the S60 T6 AWD R-Design has a lot to offer.