Panameras complete lap of glamour
Porsche's Panamera launch comes to a close after a lap of AustraliaNearly 20,000km and 33 days later, the Panamera S and Panamera Turbo have arrived back at the Porsche Centre in Melbourne.
The Panameras completed the lap of Australia in time for the official on-sale date, October 3, without any punctures or mechanical issues and managing reasonable consumption figures along the way.
According to Porsche Cars Australia's figures, the Panamera S averaged 10.9L/100km and didn't need a drop of oil, while the Turbo used 12.2 and required just a 0.4-litre top-up of the slippery stuff.
PCA's other trip figures included eight Make A Wish Foundation charity rides, 11 Porsche dealership visits and 186 packets of Mentos consumed by the 22 motoring journalists invited to drive some of the grand lap. Countless bugs met their end; so too five birds but a kangaroo avoided an early end due to the quick wits of the official photographer, who shot off over 10,000 images of the event.
The Carsales Network took part in the memorable launch, driving three legs from South Australia's Barossa Valley to Esperance in WA, and then on to Cape Leeuwin. We drove the longest stint of the event, from Wilpena Pound to the SA-WA Border Village, and can confirm the Panamera is a very pleasant grand tourer capable of making even 1100km glide by.
The Panamera S and Turbo models were air freighted to Australia especially for the Right Round Down Under event. PCA ordered the S model in Yachting Blue duco and matching blue/cream bi-colour full leather interior which showed off the cabin's spaciousness to best effect, but at a $9000-plus add to the start-up price of $270,200.
As driven, the Panamera S featured adaptive air suspension, 19-inch wheels from the Turbo model and aluminium interior trim for around $290,000.
The Turbo model starts at just under $365K however the rather complete version we drove at the launch featured the 'chauffeur's pack' rear comfort package and four-zone climate control, 20-inch RS Spyder alloys and other additions like servotronic steering, raising the price to over $380K.
All Panamera models (S, 4S and Turbo) come with Porsche's seven-speed PDK transmission.
Read our Porsche Panamera reviews here
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