Porsche Panamera

Finally got to drive the PP at last. We’ve just bought three of them for a corporate customer of our’s and our local friendly dealer let us have a blast in a 4S and a Turbo for the afternoon. The black one in the picture above shows what they look like before the PDI.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The car is not pretty but it doesn’t offend the senses. Sometimes it looks all cute and cuddly then suddenly you walk around the back end and go whoa! But let us not pre-judge because every review of the car so far has raved on about how well the Panamera drives and drive well it does.

First up was the 4S in black (which makes the car look smaller) with so many toys that it takes you several minutes to take it all in just like a small child in Hamleys. The interior is comfortable. Supremely comfortable. Four bucket seats and plenty of headroom. Enough said. Sitting in the back there was no sense of claustrophobia and the side and front views would keep any car-sick prone individuals from spoiling the carpets.

Depending on the driver’s penchant for ‘comfort’, ’sport’ or ’sport plus’ it is pretty conclusive how the rear passengers are likely to feel during the nip down to Sainsbury’s. The Panamera is predictable for a big car and will go wherever you point it and whatever the ride setting it is mightily impressive. It is a car that will flatter the most inept of drivers.

Sitting at the wheel the layout is easy to understand with little or no confusing ‘electronic’ interference such as i-Drive et al. A nice touch is the ’window’ to the farthest right in the instrument pod which is able to provide a variety of useful status displays including the satnav screen. 

There is a stunning array of good old-fashoined buttons that do what they say is written on them. Refreshingly simple. The build-quality is exemplary and beyond any criticism. The 4S felt quick until we stepped into the ‘Yachting Blue’  Turbo.

They told us at the launch that the car was almost as quick as a 430 round the ‘Ring and it is easy to believe. The acceleration is instant and in yer face. An easy license points accumulator so beware. Strangely the Turbo did not come with the ‘Sports Exhaust’ button as featured on the 4S which emits such a nice angry snarl that it is hard to think why you would not have it on all of the time – so why have a button?

Talking of buttons the ‘Sport’ and ‘Sport Plus’ are badly positioned. Only a small criticism but it would have been so much more convenient  (and safer) to be able to change the setting from the multifunction steering wheel. Taking your eyes of the road to search for the right button was sometimes a bit tedious and highly distracting.

So there you have it. The forthcoming Rapide will win all of the beauty contests when it arrives in town but the Panamera (here’s a guess) will have it licked on interior comfort. The PP is definitely a car that is better from the inside looking out.

Brand New Porsche Design 3 Cayenne GTS

TheCarSpy.Net are delighted to announce that we have a cancelled order for a UK delivery of the fantastic Limited Edition Porsche Design 3 Cayenne GTS! These cars have a limited production of just 1,000 examples worldwide and are finished in Lava Grey metallic. Our example will be available from the end of June 2009.

This car has a massive specification as follows:

Black leather and Alcantara Interior Trim
Heated Seats
Sports Seats
Embossed Porsche Logos on Headrests
Porsche PCM Navigation
Light Comfort Pack
Universal Audio Interface (iPod Connection)
Panoramic Roof
Powerlift Tailgate
Six Disc Autochanger
Cruise Control
Air Suspension
Porsche Entry Drive
Sunblind on Rear Windows
Porsche Composite Ceramic Brakes
Four Zone Climate Control
HomeLink
Magnesium Gear Selector
Seat Belts in Guards Red
Porsche Rear Seat Entertainment
TV Tuner
Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control
Reversing Camera including Park-Assist
PCM Telephone Module
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
Porsche Vehicle Tracking System

Please note:  these are options in addition to the standard spec!

For additional information about the Cayenne GTS Porsche Design Edition 3 please click here

This car has almost every conceiveable extra totalling £85,611.62!

If you wish to know more about this particular car please call us on ++44 1474 854490 or email mark@thecarspy.net

Porsche 911 Turbo

1963, that’s when the 911 was born. And in 1981 it should have died. Fortunately a gentleman by the name of Peter Schutz who happened to be the company’s new CEO at the time had the vision and foresight not to replace the 911 with the 928. So the company was probably saved because without the 911 there wasn’t much in reserve to ensure Porsche’s financial well-being for the future. Think of Porsche and one shape comes to mind. One car, one company, one huge profit and today they own VW for goodness sake. Vielen Dank Herr Schutz! One model in the range that surely would have been chopped in its prime in 1981 was the Turbo. This lairy wild child was already pumping out 300 horses by the early eighties and the red-braces brigade in the City bought them by the shed-load with their super-size bonuses. Guards Red was de rigeur of course. Into the early nineties and the Turbo was pushing the performance boundaries for street-legal road cars and the arrival of the 993 model designed by Tony Hatter had the purists swooning. Even today the 993 Turbo can command a whopping premium and residuals are about the best you will find on any car. All down to the desirability of the twin-turbo air-cooled flat-six from which Porsche could now extract over 400 bhp. For economic and environmental reasons the only way Porsche could move the game forward in 1997 was to switch to a water-cooled design of the flat-six and along came the 996 and 450 bhp for the Turbo version. Sub 4 second times for the scrabble to 60 mph were easily achieved now and the 911 Turbo was still the car to set the benchmark for all other ’supercar’ players including Ferrari, Lambo and the new kids on the block Audi, BM and MB. Today’s 997  Turbo will slip past 190 mph according to the official figures but does it in a more refined, technically superior way than its predecessors. Some road-testers have managed to get to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and the latest model will use less fuel getting there than the 996 version. The 911 Turbo has always been described as the most practical supercar money can buy and in 2009 it is still probably true. We know of  a new one that is up for sale with a tidy saving on the list price. Click here for details.

Porsche Cayman S Sport Limited Edition

Here’s another car that looks good in white. Standing next to this Cayman S Sport the car looks bigger than the standard Cayman. White seems to give the car a bit more road presence and the black detailing adds a nice touch of contrast. Did you know that Cayman’s are assembled in Finland? Seems like our Nordic cousins are building nice motors as well as mobile phones for the world! They probably have the best drivers in the world too. Anyway back to the white Cayman. This is a limited edition example of 700 ’specials’ that Porsche produced before the most recent facelift took place. So what’s different about the Sport S? Well, they came in some pretty wild colours for starters – Bright Orange, Signal Green, Speed Yellow and Guards Red. Black and Arctic Silver were available to the more conservative purchaser. They were slightly quicker than the standard 3.4’s because a tuned exhaust was fitted which upped the number of horses to 303. It also sounds a bit more rorty. What else? Well there’s a gorgeous alcantara steering wheel and the instrumentation pod loses its cowling. 19″ Alloys came as standard with ‘Cayman S’ stickering down both flanks. The car was also lowered a tad by 0.4 inches. So there you have it. This is a Cayman which still offers the crackerjack ride of the ’standard’ car but offers a touch of individuality that makes it stand out in the pub car park. The Carrera White one referred to here is up for sale as a brand new, unregistered car with big savings on the original list price. It also has the rare Tiptronic gearbox option fitted. Give us a call on 0845 643 2047 for more details or click here to view this Cayman S Sport in all its glory.

2005 Porsche 911 GT3

Sitting snugly in the bucket seats of a GT3 you get the feeling that this is a 911 that leans more towards the Lotus Elise/TVR school of thought that less is more. ‘Lightweight’ is the key word here which is why a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds is easily achieved in a car that has few of the creature comforts associated with most showroom-ready 911’s. What is the point you may well ask? Well Porsche had already made quite a name for itself on the track up to the late 90’s and the factory had a strong presence at Le Mans up until 1999 when it decided to hand the baton to Audi. The GT class was the new focus for Porsche and hence the series of homologation specials that started the run of GT cars for the road. These are not warmed-over versions of your bog-standard 911. Oh no, the GT3 comes with a completely different engine. The displacement might be similar (3600cc) but interestingly the engine and gearbox design is based on the older air-cooled version. Incredibly this gives the GT3 a racing heritage that dates back to the 1960’s with the 904/906 from that period. Just shows you how good the boys at Pawsha are at combustion engineering! Titanium engine components help reduce weight even further and with 380bhp on tap this is a car that feels seriously quick. 80% of the engine’s torque is present at only 2000 rpm. Yummy! For the record Walter Rohl managed to chuck the car around the ‘Ring in 7 minutes 56 seconds so it ain’t no slouch. Apart from the GT3 badges and the big double-decker rear spoiler there is not a great deal to set this rare 911 apart from it’s lower-powered stablemates. Which is cool if you don’t want any unwelcome attention otherwise go for the RS version with its loud stickering emblazoned down its flanks. If you are looking for a nice Seal Grey example with the optional CD and climate control then get in touch because we have just placed one on our books on behalf of the current owner. Click here for full details

2005 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera 2S

We’ve come across some well cared-for cars in our time but we’ve just taken photos of a 911 Carrera 2S that wins the cigar for presentation. This 911 has been owned from new by one car-loving businessman who has driven a very careful 12,000 miles since he purchased the car new from the Porsche Centre in Hatfield in 2005. This 911 is barely run-in! 997’s are looking incredibly good value for money these days and an early one with low mileage like this is very difficult to find. The 997 has some nice design updates over the previous 996 and hints at the earlier 993 in more than one or two areas such as the headlamps which have a more upright look to them. These are cracking cars to drive and are by far and away the least compromising of all ’supercars’ to own. This is one of the reasons you don’t see many of them with such low mileage as this example - many 911’s are indeed purchased for everyday use such is the ease of ownership of these cars. Reluctantly the current owner is putting his mint Atlas Grey pride-and-joy up for sale and full details of the car can be found by clicking here.

2006 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera 4S

Do 911’s get much better than this? We have just been asked by the owner to find a buyer for his totally stunning – yes totally stunning 997 Carrera 4S. Finished in Guards Red – how rare is that! – with gorgeous magnolia hide with red stitching. The detailing on this car is impressive when your eye follows the red stitching over the seats, dashboard and door panels. Nicely placed bits of aluminium pepper the cockpit and there isn’t a mark to be seen for a car that has done only 17,500 miles. The list of extras is none too shabby either with its PSM, PCM and BOSE. The Porsche-crested 19″ Carrera alloys look fabulous and with the factory-fitted Aero bodykit the car is a real show-stopper. We are told that the original purchase price of this car was over £95k – ouch! So what a bargain it looks today. Take a closer look by clicking here or give us a call on 0845 643 2047. Is there a better-looking 911? We doubt it.

2006 Porsche Cayenne 3.2 Tiptronic S

There was a time when the name ‘Porsche’ meant one thing - the 911. Not any more. Times have certainly changed and the power of brand marketing has forced many traditional car manufacturers to explore genres and market segments that previously might have been considered out-of-bounds. Porsche is a powerful brand. If they made toilet paper it would be a top-seller in spite of its high price. To find Porsche, however, making its name in the crowded 4×4 market has taken a little time for us to feel comfortable with. It’s a bit like Land Rover suddenly making a car to take on Ferrari. Nobody can deny the popularity of the Cayenne though and the usual Porsche traits of high quality, reliability and dependability shine through in every model. Drive a Cayenne and you know you are sitting in a Porsche. They feel solid and ready to take on the world. So congratulations to the team at Stuttgart and in a world where numbers mean everything the sales figures for the Cayenne prove it was no costly mistake. Good, low-mileage examples are becoming available at excellent value for money these days. We have just placed one on our books for the owner with a very nice spec and only 16k miles on the clock. Finished in Titanium (one of the best colours) this 3.2 V6 Cayenne comes with Tiptronic gearbox, PCM (a must on these cars), PSM, Multifunction Steering Wheel and stunning Charcoal Leather interior. Take a close look at this lovely example by clicking here.

2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cabriolet

Britain is Europe’s largest market for convertibles – fact. For a country that has one type of weather i.e. unpredictable and largely wet us Brits have an inexplicable appetite for soft tops (or coupe-cabriolets). Maybe we like to imagine that we are cruising down Sunset Strip in balmy LA when in reality we are basking under a thick chilly blanket of grey cloud with the heater on full blast. Maybe that is the point though. Let’s face it driving topless in searing heat can be a rather unpleasant experience. It’s certainly a quick way to get your bonce barbecued which is why we end up tearing around on the Costa del Sol in an air-conditioned small hatch just like the rest of the locals. So our moist little island is made for convertibles and what better example of the genre is the Porsche 911. So well-made that there is no perceptible difference between the build-quality and integrity of the coupe and the cabriolet versions and that turbine-like 315 BHP flat-six sounds even better with the roof down. Got that appetite whetted? How about one in silver with grey leather with a matching hardtop? 6-speed manual gearbox, GT3 body mouldings, Carrera Alloys and a Full Porsche Service History. Forget the weather – strip off and crank up the heater – there’s nothing like it! Click here for more details.

1996 LHD Porsche 911 (993) Carrera C2S

Another splendid left hand drive example just imported from Japan – they certainly know how to look after their classic 993’s over there! This is a European-spec example finished in Cobalt Blue with Charcoal leather Interior, Tiptronic Gearbox, Air Conditioning and showing only 63,000 kilometres on the clock. Click here for more details.