LeithCars.com Zero To 60TV picks up where we left off. In our last episode at the Pinehurst Concours, we got behind the wheel of the all-new 2017 Porsche Panamera – the Twin-Turbo V8 debuting at Porsche’s Ride & Drive Event.
The new Porsche Panamera is of course a very serious performance car as well as a comfortable, long-range saloon car. So it proved to be a wise decision to have Keith McIntosh, Porsche Sport Driving School Instructor on-board to make sure we didn’t miss-out on experiencing some of the new Panamera Turbo’s performance capabilities and technology.
For starters, the 2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo is lightning fast! Putting 550 horses and 567 pound-feet of torque to the ground through its 8-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission. It creates a sense of awe and assuredness. Just knowing that the Panamera’s all-wheel drive set-up and 315 / 35 ZR 20’s have “got your back” allows you to settle-in for a thrilling drive. Just ask Mark Arsen why his Porsche Sport Driving School Instructor told him to “Hold on to the wheel and don’t forget to breathe.” After all, the acceleration is that dramatic.
After co-host Mark Arsen’s thrilling introduction to Porsche’s latest marvel, Mark and co-host Steve Ulin, continued the test drive in Cary at Leith Porsche. Here, Steve was presented with a turbocharged V6 example of the all-new Panamera. Just before launching into a jaunt through back country roads, Steve sat down with Porsche enthusiast and Leith Porsche Certified Sales Manager, John Alvi to learn even more about this amazing 4-door sports car.
“Porsche did a great job with the first generation Panamera, they got it right”, said John Alvi of Leith Porsche. “It was a new design built from scratch that featured Porsche’s latest technology but there’s always room for improvement. Porsche listened to it’s clients and then went to work on putting those suggestions into this new second generation Panamera. I think one of the most overlooked options is actually one of my favorites, the four-zone temperature control. While you could get the four-zone in the first gen car, with this new generation you get the four-zone with the added benefits of a full color display screen that not only controls the interior environment, it also shows navigation, entertainment and vehicle diagnostics for the rear seat passengers.”
While driving a new 2017 Panamera equipped with the standard 330 horsepower V6 and rear wheel drive, Steve Ulin was most impressed with how well mannered the car is. Whether you’re having a go at some sporting turns through the country like we did or cruising along the highway towards scenic Jordan Lake, the new Panamera Turbo is a poised but very potent performance car. Steve added, “Why would you want to fly to Chicago when you could simply hop into your Panamera saloon and make the drive in a couple of days, enjoying every mile of the trip.”
See the Porsche Panamera in our LeithCars.com Zero To 60 video and in person at Leith Porsche of Cary. It’s said, you’d have to fly to Germany to get a more authentic Porsche experience.
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