Don't Buy that Merc or Maserati yet! 4 door Porsha!
 

the alleged Panamera Porsche which from what I've read Porsche President CEO big cheese guy is 100% determined to produce. So cancel that CLS or Maserati Quattroporte order now! I guess there is a 4 door car I would buy!
(reported to be $135,000)

http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/f6_...50&twidth=1024
http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/f6_...49&twidth=1024

So far, I like the pics. A bit pricey though.

The interior better be a whole lot better than what they have in the existing line (even the Cayenne) if they plan to sell any of them—the competition is strong in the "creature comforts" inside a luxury performance sedan.

I think this car will be more like a Luxury SUper Car like the Quattroporte.
Like a car for celebrity types, and knowing Porsche it will be higher on Performance than luxury. Can't wait to see it on the Nurburg Ring.
I get the feeling that if they concentrate on Luxury first and performance second it will lose its appeal.

Too bad those are the photoshop pics that have been floating around for a while....

tqtran, how do you know?

The Mercedes CLS in particular has an amazing interior.

Because those are the same pics that have been floating around rennlist and fla-6 since the begining of the year :) At first it was labled as "Artist rendition" C-GT lights, altered Boxster S facia, 997 mirrors. Almost every one I've seen has CGT lights :D

well that wouldn't be unexpected if they did use CGT front end and back end.
They did it very successfully with the Boxster and 996.
I highly doubt they would use the Cayenne for this new Panamera.
Using the 987 or 997 front end wouldn't be very exciting.

And coming up with an entirely new front end would be very expensive (making the car well north of $130,000) and Porsche, as the most profitable car company in the world, aren't into passing up an oppourtunity to use an existing design/manu. for max profits, particularly on their first Sedan. The Porsche brand is at its record high in revenues, profits and prestiege in the car world, this car needs to be a success. A Porsche SUV was controversial and so far its been a success albeit an enourmously late one in SUV scheme of things.

I'd be willing to bet that these CGT-esque renditions are pretty accurate.

porsche sedan vs. quattroporte
 

Last firday I saw a Quattroporte on I-80 in Berzerkeley. I'll take the Porsche anyday.

Sorry guys, my likelyhood of buying the Porsche sedan over the CLS is equivalent to the chance of me buying a base SLK over a Boxster S.

I saw the CLS this weekend in the lobby of the Borgata Casino. Looks very futuristic but not at all exotic like these concept photos of the Panamera Porsche (more like its competing with a 7 series).
Actually the CLS looks a bit small due to the 'chop top' look of the short windows.

You'll be surprised how much room there actually is inside the car. It looks small from the outside but it's not at all on the inside. Keep in mind that it's only a 4-place car, so you're not gonna get a whole bunch of people in it, but it's very comfortable and roomy for 4 people, and headroom doesn't seem to suffer much because of the "chopped" look.

are Mercs reliable these days? (I mean the German made ones) Whenever I go to my local Porsche dealer who is also a HUGE Merc,Aston Martin,Maserati dealer
the service waiting area is hopping with people. Just sitting there for a couple of hours I heard lots of different repair stories it sounded to me as if only a few were there for routine servicing.

I actually saw a story in the news not too long ago about the degrading quality of Mercedes. Most of the taxi drivers here in Germany drive mercedes benz, and not just the base models either. But recently because of degrading quality and increased maintenance costs, many of the taxi drivers have switched cars to cheaper reliable cars like-- even Kias. Not to say that the Benz isn't reliable, but for much lower costs the quality of the Benz does not outweigh the cheap reliability of the Kia, for example.

yes I noticed that on my last trip to Dusseldorf. The Merc Taxis were E class(?) with full leather. Everyone in Immaculate condition.
From Merc to Kia? boy you think they could throw VW a bone.

You assume too much about VW's reliability. Some people (me included) have great luck, while others have horror stories to tell.

4-Door Porsche
 

Well folks, it looks as if it may be real...

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/Autos/porsche_panamera/index.htm

According to my dealership, this car is a go. They are having to make their facility larger to deal with the new models coming so I assume this is pretty certain right now.

Quattroporte & Mercedes
 

[QUOTE=Perfectlap]the alleged Panamera Porsche which from what I've read Porsche President CEO big cheese guy is 100% determined to produce. So cancel that CLS or Maserati Quattroporte order now! I guess there is a 4 door car I would buy!
(reported to be $135,000)

The Maserati coupe or roadster are pleasing to the eye. The Quattroporte is not what I would consider pleasing. The last Quattroporte looked like a car on steroids. A rather corpulent body that looked outdated from day one. The new one is sportying 4 vents on the side a la Buick. Just on that I would reject the car. That is hideous beyond ugly. Maybe Audi 8L for that type of vehicle. Not a fan of big cars at all.