In researching the Cayenne last night, it appears that I can order a manual with the base V6 with 300hp. Since this appears to be approximately the same powertrain as the base Panamera 4,which can't be ordered with a manual by the way, why does the Panamera command such a high price compared to the Cayenne?

 

cayenne is built on a shared platform, whereas porsche has to recover r&d costs for the panamera. To the best of my knowledge, there still is not another car in the VW group that uses the panamera platform.

 

an insight...

 

cayenne>panamera

and save up for the turbo, forget the base models.

 

i personally like the cayenne

 

Agree with the R&D costs. And the Panamera is an awesome ride. Feels much more like a sports car than the Cayenne to me.
I own an 05 CS but I've driven the Pana 4S Hybrid a couple days as a loaner from the dealership and it was SWEET!
I'm still a Cayenne guy - probably getting an '08 GTS sometime this week - but eventually I'll get a Panamera. LOVE them. Even here in Stuttgart they're rare so everybody looks. I know they're not built here, but normally driving a Porsche in Stuttgart is like driving a Ford or a Chevy in the US so it's fun to have everybody staring at you

 

Drove my mom around town in a Panamera loaner
Her only comment was:I prefer the Cayenne

 

That's great. What did your mistress say?

 

As mentioned before, the Cayenne shares chassis with the Toureq.

 

Also if I'm not mistaken, I think I read somewhere VW wants to create a "hatchback" based off of the Panamera. Which is why they might discontinue production in a few years.