2014 Porsche Panamera S – Little Changes, but Huge Improvement
Luxury Cars - Auto, Sedan Comments Off
In the China and United States, the Porsche Panamera luxury sedan has become Porsche’s top-seller because it offers up an alternative to traditional luxury sedans out there the likes of Mercedes-Benz S Class, BMW 7 Series or Audi A8.
For the 2014 Panamera models encompasses some slight styling changes which has been made to the front and rear fascia and minor changes to the interior and driver assistance systems. A new long-wheelbase Executive model for Panamera have been added for much room for passensgers on the inside. In terms of major changes though, just look under the hood where the engine has been tweaked to shore up better fuel mileage.
The 2014 Panamera S E-Hybrid no doubt, would offer the best fuel-efficiency it starts at $113,300 (base price) , Porsche’s marketing boast it is “the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid.” The old Panamera Hybrid gave a fuel mileage of 7.1 L/100 km , which is pretty good already, but Porsche claims the new plug-in version scores a remarkable 3.1 and up to 36 kilometres of driving under electric power only. If it is true, that is really amazing.
If you are not in the market for a hybrid and want the sound and feel of a gas engine for 2014 Porsche Panamera gives you four choices:
- The base model uses a carryover 3.6-litre six-cylinder, making 310 horsepower, in both the rear-wheel-drive version ($89,500)
- All-wheel-drive Panamera 4 ($94,800).
- The RWD Panamera GTS’s 4.8L eight-cylinder with 440 hp also continues $129,400
- AWD Panamera Turbo, which uses a blown version of the V8, making 520 hp $161,800
- AWD Panamera Turbo Stretched Executive body for $184,100.
The new 2014 Panamera S E-Hybrid was big news in the hybrid world, however Porsche did make a big change in gas engines, which is going from a eight cylinder to a six cylinder. The $106,600 RWD Panamera S, $112,500 AWD Panamera 4S and $143,600 Panamera 4S Executive models still have last year’s 4.8L eight-cylinder. But the rest of the models have a re-worked twin-turbocharged 3.6L six cylinders.
The Porsche Panamera S has a new twin-turbo V6 that outputs 420 hp (20 more than the older V8) and 384 pound-feet of torque similar output with the new GTS model. In addition to two turbos, Porsche’s engineers also added a new fuel-injection system and variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust side. To save fuel, a new extended start/stop function deactivates the engine earlier when coasting to a stop.
The Panamera S E-Hybrid gets an eight-speed automatic transmission, while all 2014 Panamera models use a seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) dual-clutch autobox.
The aim of Porsche for the 2014 Panamera S was to make it quicker and more fuel efficient and it has acheived that outcome. Zero to 100 km/h time has improved from 5.4 to 5.1 seconds. Porsche now boast an 18% drop in fuel consumption compared to the older Panamera S’s 12.9 L/100 km city and 8.3 L/100 km highway.
For Panamera owners who are wealthy enough to hire a chauffer, the new Panamera 4S Executive. The wheelbase is 15 cm longer and it opens up more rear legroom it feels like you are sitting in the back of a limo. All Executive models also receive Porsche’s air suspension, which along with the longer wheelbase, delivers excellent ride comfort.
The Porsche Panamera is definitely an alternative choice for the luxury sedan buyer who would normally look to the other typical German luxury brands like Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
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Editor @ April 10, 2014