Panamera meets the people

Porsche's 'Right Round Down Under' launch of the Panamera is less than halfway complete but already the big four-door GT is attracting its fair share of fans.

A Panamera S and Panamera Turbo were air freighted especially for the event, arriving just in time for the scheduled start from the Porsche Centre in Melbourne on September 1. The tour will take 33 days and cover 17,000km, following sections of the 1953 Redex Trial where the first imported Porsche, a 356 Coupe, made its debut in Australia.

The Carsales Network drove three legs of the journey, from South Australia's Barossa Valley to Esperance in WA [Ed: and will continue onwards up the WA coast via scribe, Joshua Dowling]. The cars ran faultlessly for the 2500km run and we can attest the Panamera's cabin is a very pleasant place to be for a grand tour such as this... Even after a stint behind the wheel for 1100km.

By the time we'd travelled from Barossa to the incredible Wilpena Pound in northern South Australia, the Panamera was drawing curious onlookers. Hikers and cyclists asked to try out the back seats of the new Porsche, commenting it would be a far more comfortable mode of transport than their chosen boots or bike.

After 1104km -- the longest stint of the entire Right Round Down Under route from Wilpena to the SA/WA border -- and arriving in time for an early dinner at Border Village, several truck drivers wanted to know about the cars making light work of overtaking their huge road trains, including our own little white rig: the Cayenne diesel support vehicle.

Stopping along the way to take photos of Australia's magnificent landscapes, the trucks would often pass us only to see the same Porsches leap in front again. Here, we'll say thanks to the truckies for indicating when it's best to overtake, and Ronnie who took time out to explain to us all about rear bogies and wind turbine blades.

Day Six of the tour took in 864km from the border to Esperance. Cold mornings meant we'd met with several sunbaking Stumpy Tails on the road but the sharp-steering Panameras and quick-witted Cayenne avoided at least seven of the sleepy reptiles. Why doesn't Australia have more roadside protection for our fauna?

Along the way we met Mary Taylor: self-confessed "compulsive driver", who at 91 years was "only going half way this time" -- her 19th trip. Mary began driving laps of Australia aged 75 and has since become an ambassador for Honda Australia, but she certainly took to the new Porsche's rear quarters. Keep an eye out for her little yellow Jazz (plated 'Jazz5') if you're on the roads.

We averaged 11.4L/100km in the Panamera S and low 12s in the Turbo model.

The S was particularly enjoyable for its raw rear-wheel drive response but both cars acquit themselves well, despite their weight and girth. Read our upcoming Right Round Down Under review for details.

Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) has arranged transport in the Panameras to school for children in each state as contribution to the Make a Wish Foundation. The Right Round Down Under tour also takes in dealerships for interested customers. Panamera models will go on sale Down Under next month.

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