Porsche Panamera - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

M62007Black · 2nd November 2009, 21:29

Has anyone got any experience w/the Porsche's new Panamera.

I test drove one of the weekend and WOW!!! The PDK gearbox is what I suppose BMW was trying to do w/the SMG, the interior is spectacular, lots of electronics (touch screen nav.)

My lease comes up in a few months and I am seriously considering buying a Panamera.

My only concern is the newness of the car - I don't want to have to go through 2007 M5 teething experiences again.

Thoughts??

Mark Carson · 3rd November 2009, 00:02

Touch screens are a bad UI (User Interface) for the driver both in terms of safety and accuracy. If the touch screen is essentially vertical, your hand does not rest on a stabilizing surface, so instead of fine motor movement muscles, you use gross motor movements (arms and hands instead of fingers). The safety aspect is that more of your time and attention is taken off the road compared to an iDrive where you don't need to visually coordinate your hand (on the controller) with the screen.

Touch screens are sexy and new but they only make sense when the car is stopped or they are being operated by the passenger.

Just my 2 cents as a software guy.

Cheers,

MiamiSixer · 6th November 2009, 01:23

The Panamera is definitley a nice car, if it was me I'd extend my lease for a year on my car and get the new model with the turbos. I drove a 997TT Before my car and while I loved the performance what made me go with the M6 was the M button, as you can drive the car comfortably and get the performance and suspension whenever you feel like it. Also I think BMW as a company is awesome and I'm spoiled with the full maintenance

Falb · 6th November 2009, 08:35

I am seriously considering a Turbo Panamera and have driven the 4s version. It was hard to get a good read on the handling but it seemed to stiffen up quite nicely on sport plus mode and they also have an active rollbar which should be great on the twisties. The car is large and feels large. 4,600 lbs and 4 wheel drive so you will need all 500 ponies to make it sing. I really like the interior - top notch. There are too many buttons and the touch screen may not be a great idea either. I really like the idea of being able to mod the turbos for more power and having 4 wheel drive is a plus with all that power.

Copasetic222 · 20th November 2009, 05:32

I have a similar touch screen on an '09 Cayenne Turbo S. I had iDrive on an 06 750Li. I'll take the touch screen all day long.