In the case of Panamera v. Porsche, purists in the court of the WSJ we hereby rule in favor of the Panamera!
The attorney in mewants to argue both sides of this case. The plaintiff says: The 2011 Porsche Panamera is a crime against the brand, a merely competent luxury sport sedan that—given its bloated-corpse looks, your honor—deserves no leniency. I will not attempt to re-litigate whether any two-ton four-door deserves to be called a real Porsche—c.f., Enthusiasts v. Cayenne (2000). But at a minimum, Porsches need to be thrilling, powerful machines, and this car couldn’t stir a martini.
Look at the evidence: The Panamera S has a 400-horsepower V8. The Panamera Turbo has a 500-hp V8 and hits 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds. That’s just epic.
The just-introduced, entry-level Panamera (and all-wheel-drive Panamera 4), by contrast, is fitted with a paltry 3.6-liter, 300-hp V6, and the new gas-saving stop-start system, which shuts off the engine any time the car is stopped. Clearly, the base-model Panamera is offered only to puff up the company’s fuel-economy numbers and pander to eco-weenies.
