road stories
Panamera
Road Trippin’ by Porsche in a
What is the “ultimate road trip” car? Which car provides the best
mix of comfort, economy, highway manners (high speed passing,
electronic driver aids, etc.) and performance?
I
s it a hybrid SUV? What about a
sports car, for those occasional
sojourns off the beaten path,
those little trips that make road trips
memorable? What about a comfortable
luxury sedan?
Or, what about a mix of (almost) all
of these?
I’ll be the first to admit; I was a little
hard on the Porsche Panamera when
it arrived in ’09, just as I was on the
Cayenne about seven years prior. I’ve
been a Porsche fan my whole life, and
these awkward-looking people movers
just didn’t fit my mould (and that of
many others) of what a Porsche should
6
THE DRIVER
be; sporty, rear- or mid-engined with
two doors and room for two.
Things didn’t really improve for me
when I first sampled the Panamera S
eHybrid, either, for it mixed two things
that, when paired with “Porsche” just
didn’t say “for enthusiasts” to me; four
doors, and a hybrid powertrain.
Of course, I understand that these
models are necessary if we want
Porsche to continue to build the special
stuff. Stuff like the Boxster GTS, or GT3.
Special stuff like the 918 Hybrid, from
which this Panamera actually gets some
of its design flourishes, such as the
bright yellow brake calipers and badges.
by
Dan Heyman
It was with all this in mind that I set
off from Vancouver, BC to the heart of
central BC’s Okanagan region (440 km
away), loaded with two full-grown male
passengers, to see if the Panamera had
the chops to cut it on the long haul.
Firstly, however, the short haul. After
all, hybrids are meant to excel in the
cities; it’s where they hit their stride,
even though that stride often includes
stopping every three minutes. Especially