SOS with the panamera threads...the OP asks about styling and the talk goes to handling and performance.

No one can argue its driving appeal; but its butt-ugly. (and they still sell tons of them so what do I know!)

 

I've thought about this before...how can so many ugly cars be sold. Sure "ugly" is subjective. However, I think the recent rise in ugly is a hold over from the SUV craze of the last 10 years. I think ugly has been confused with utility. The uglier a car is the more "aggressive" or "utilitarian" it is perceived. Case in point the Mitsubishi Morano. You'd have to be a Morano to like the looks of that car. There's also a Nissan variant with similar *** ugly styling.

J

 

It grew on me the first time I saw one with a nice set of 22's on it. I usually hate wheels that big but this car can handle it. It does not look the same with smallish wheels. Sort of awkward. With a nice set it transforms and dominates the landscape. Your eyes are drawn to it.

If you haven't seen one with wheels in person, you can't fully understand.

 

Hated it when I saw the pics, hated it when I saw it in person, and still hate it after testdriving a 2011 S. I might change my feelings after driving a Turbo but I doubt it. The interior is nice but there's too many buttons.

I won't argue with the Panamera's performance but looks wise the Quattroporte and Rapide are in a completely different league.

 

Its grown on me - with some nice RIMS looks decent.

 

I like it. Isn't the back shaped that way to accommodate a 6' 2" German? Not many cars can do that.

My Yukon XL can, but it is 1 foot off of the ground and doesn't take turns quickly.

 

I own a Panamera 4S as well as a Carrera S, so here's my take on the subject.

As a high-performance sedan, the Panny is NOT a very good looking car. But I didn't buy it as a sedan.

I've owned a number of Audi S4 Avants (station wagons) as my ski cars over the years, and loved them. I wanted a new one, but Audi (those swine) stopped importing the S4 wagon. What to do?

Then I started looking closer at the Panny. Hmmmm.... Big hatchback. Rear seats fold down. Lots of power. All wheel drive. Eureka! THAT's my new station wagon! I have 20" wheels for summer, but got a set of 18" wheels for my snow tires. With the Pirelli Sottozero snows on it, it's just as good in the snow as my S4 was -- and with the air suspension set to "high" it even has some ground clearance.

If you look at it as a high performance awd station wagon - it all makes sense AND even looks pretty good in the process.

My salesman just rolled his eyes when I told him the above. I'll probably get some more eyes rolling on the forum.

DMoore
'10 P4S
'09 C2S

 

Let's not kid ourselves. I'm used to it now but it is NOT an attractive car from the outside. It looks fine from the front but that's it. However, the interior looks great and it drives like no other sedan so I think the ownership experience would be good. In summary, I'd buy one if I were in the market for performance sedan in its class...but it is not a styling triumph.

 

Ya, I've had to leave my 6'2" German at home ever since buying the 911.

J

 

FUNNY!

 

+1 This sums it up.

Pretend for a second that the Panamera doesn't have an engine, then respond to the thread.

(and thanks to the person who correcting my spelling for "Masszzerrotttiii"). My ex-wife is Italian. I should know this...

 

Any pictures with racks (car, not wife)? My wife is pushing me to buy one and it would replace our Avant as well.

 

OK, someone has finally made sense of this thing. As Wagons go, it looks pretty good and possibly justifies the utilitarian ugly fad.

 

Yes, its butt ugly when I first saw the pictures, then it grew on me.

My wife loves it when she first saw it and said she wants one. So she got one.

A lot of time we go out with 2 cars. When I followed her, the rear end looks more acceptable, almost like a 911 rear end but in bigger dimension.

 

Wow hot pics