Date: 23rd November 2009

Each day of our lives, we learn and experience new things. As for me, I will be testing out the latest offering from Stuttgart’s finest car manufacturer Porsche which is the Porsche Panamera 4S. The Porsche Panamera 4S is available at QAF EUROKARS SDN BHD.

This is Porsche’s first ever attempt in the 4 door segment and I must admit they have successfully made one of the best looking Gran Turismo in the market. Not bad for a first try. The Panamera is available in 3 variations; the S, 4S and the Turbo.




Porsche has been building numerous legendary supercars such as the 911. Porsche’s super SUV, the Cayenne is also a successful car built by Porsche. It should be a no brainer that Panamera is other than less special than its other siblings. It looks like the BMW M5 and Mercedes C63 AMG got a serious competitor now.







At first glance, the Panamera’s front end looks very familiar to its other 911 sibling due to the fact its facial design is similar. Porsche design team uses the philosophy that form should follow function. But the obvious difference between the 911 is the addition two doors. This makes up the huge length of the car which is 195.7 inches.






Despite its lengthy body, the Panamera aggressive body line, sleek low roof line and its seductive front apron makes up the overall look. The side air vents located behind the front wheel is a design derived from the Porsche Supercar the Carrera GT.






The Panamera is fitted with Bi-Xenon headlights and a daytime running light with LED technology comes standard on all Panamera variants. The rear end is short which is also similar to the 911’s. It features dual twin exhaust and a rear spoiler that can be retracted and hides on plain sight by a touch of a button. When travelling at a speed of 90 Km/h, the rear spoiler automatically deploys giving extra aerodynamic.


The Panamera is fitted with a 19inch Panamera Design wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport tyres (255/45/R19 for the fronts and 285/40/R19 for the rears). With 400hp on tap, a powerful braking system is required. And the Panamera happens to have the best braking system for the application. Behind the 19inch wheel, you can see the six piston aluminium monobloc fixed brake calipers for the front and four piston aluminium monobloc fixed brake calipers for the rear. With brake disc diameters of 360mm and 300mm, respectively. The groove disc brakes ensure optimum braking even under extreme conditions.



Here comes the fun part. The Porsche Panamera 4S is equipped with a 4.8 litre light weight V8 engine that generates 400hp @ 6500 rpm and 500Nm of torque. This engine is the very same one found in Cayenne except that it is specially designed for the Panamera. It features direct fuel injection (DFI), VarioCam Plus and variable intake manifold. The Panamera uses an all wheel drive system and comes equipped with Porsche traction management (PTM).



The V8 engine is equipped with 7 speed Porsche Doppelkupplung transmission (PDK for short). It is also known as the dual clutch transmission. The PDK has both manual gearshift and an automatic mode and enables smooth gear changes with no interruption in the flow of power. What this means, you can enjoy the full power of the V8 without the split second loss of engine power during gear changing. The power coming out from the V8 engine match with the PDK simply defines the whole point of the test drive. The V8 engine is very responsive and comes with a lot of torque that can put an end to most two door sports car out there.

The sound coming out from the double twin exhaust is breathtaking especially when you slam on the throttle. The performance of the 4S is as follows; 0-100km/h in just 5.0seconds and a top speed of 282km/h.


The Panamera handles fast corners effortlessly thanks to the Adaptive air suspension, PASM and Servotronic. The Servotronic is a speed sensitive power-steering system. At high speeds, the steering is firm and responds with extreme precision and at low speed, the Servotronic’s ratio adjusts for easy manoeuvring and parking. The Panamera aluminium suspension is a double-wishbone arrangement up front, and a multi-link setup in the rear. To further enhance the handling of the Panamera, a Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) is used. The Porsche Active Suspension Management is an electronic damping control system offers continuous adjustment of damping forces according to the road conditions and driving styles. The driver can select three modes; Normal, Sport or Sport Plus.

The Panamera 4S uses an Adaptive air suspension. It comprises of a levelling system, manual lift function, ride-height adjustment capability and to ability to vary the spring rate. The use of the levelling system is to ensure the vehicle level is constant regardless of load distribution. The vehicle body can be raise up by 20mm by using the manual lift function. When the PASM function is set to sport plus, the ride height of the car is lowered 25mm and at the same time a harder spring rate is achieved through reduction in the amount of air stored in the air suspension.

The interior of the Panamera is all business. It features yards of leather covering throughout its interior. It uses a four seat design with tapered back rests and integrated head restraints. The front seats adjustment is fully electric. Both front and rear seats come equipped with a heater. Uniquely speaking, it appears that Porsche team installed its front seats to the rear as well. Passengers seating in the rear will be feeling comfortable as well as fully support due to sport style rear seats. There are plenty of leg room at the rear. The front centre console with numerous switches such as Sport Plus button, climate control button starts from the cockpit and ends at the rear seats.










The dashboard of the Panamera is very unique, stylish and yet innovative. The primary cluster makes up of five circular dashboard instrument; a large tachometer fitted in the middle, a high resolution 4.8 inch color TFT multi function digital display fitted on the right hand side and speedometer, oil pressure and oil temperature gauges are to the left. Fuel and water temperature gauge is located at further right of the primary cluster. A 7 inch high resolution touch screen LCD located at the middle centre of the dashboard.





The Panamera 4S comes equipped with Burmester® high end surround system. The system has 16 amplifier channels with a total output of more than 1000 watts, 16 loudspeakers including an active subwoofer with 300 watts class D amplifiers. This will satisfy even the most avid audiophiles out there.


The Panamera comes with all with the features that you would regard as luxury if equipped. The 4S comes with a cruise control, adaptive cruise control, climate control, thermally and noise insulating glasses, water repellent side windows, wiper system with rain sensor, ParkAssist, reversing camera, HomeLink, Servotronic, Porsche Entry & Drive, Anti theft protection, Porsche Traction management (PTM), Porsche Stability management (PSM) and slide & tinted sunroof. All of these luxury technologies for the sake of driving pleasure.

The rear luggage space is well sorted out and is amazingly spacious. The luggage compartment has a capacity of 445litres. Large enough to fit two golf bags inside. The rear lid is made of lightweight aluminium and it unlocks in response to the remote control or the button on the handle. It features a wide opening for comfortable loading due to the top hinged rear lid.




The Panamera comes prepared with high level of protection to ensure that piece of mind. The Panamera is fitted with full size driver and passenger’s airbags which are inflated in two stages depending on the severity and type of accident for eg. Frontal or offset frontal. Two sensors in the front end allow a crash to be detected and evaluated far sooner and with considerably greater accuracy. Porsche Side impact protection system includes knee airbags, side airbags for pelvis and thorax region and curtain airbags deploys in case of offset frontal accidents.

The Panamera feature a new active bonnet system. When the sensor on the front apron detects a collision, the pyrotechnically assisted system raises the rear portion of the bonnet which reduces the risk of injury.


Final Word

My opinion on the Panamera 4S; It is a superb and well designed Gran Turismo currently available on the market. It is very fast and its quick responsive handling makes you forget that it is actually a four door sedan. Its luxury interior pampers you in every journey you take with the Panamera 4S. Porsche really redefines the word Sports sedan. The only downside is the hefty price tag of $235,000.00 for basic 4S model. Nonetheless if you are an avid car enthusiast who would spend more for an exclusive four door sedan that has a heart of racer and interior of luxury plane, than the Panamera 4S is the one that you have been looking for.


Porsche Panamera is available in 3 variations;
1. Porsche Panamera S - $218,000.00
2. Porsche Panamera 4S - $235,000.00
3. Porsche Panamera Turbo - $297,000.00


For more details,
The Porsche Panamera is available at QAF EUROKARS SDN BHD
Contact: Ak Hj Alli Khairurrijal Pg Hj Marali [673]8901109