Omeletpants

Porches have been ugly for the last 40 years. What else is new?

Swissman564

Very interesting discussion. My son insisted this time around I should buy the Panamera or the A7. (31 years old and he loves the looks) I test drove both. Fantastic cars on a stand alone basis but not up to the measure of an A8L. Again, I have only owned one Audi...a 2007 D3. I ended up with a D4 again this time because for me, no one has matched the perfection of this vehicle.

AirForce-A8L

Actually, I was looking at the S7 before I got the A8L. Even took the RS7 for a test drive. Problem was, I could not reach the drivers door to close it. With the seat lowered all the way, the roof line was ear level. "I do not fit, so I had to quit." I won't even discuss the S7 back seat room. Fit just fine in the A8L.

L0U

I had a loaner panamera 4 for two weeks while the macan was in the shop. It was no where near the S8. The car did look nice, and cornered well. Everything else was better in the S8. I can say the attention of the general public towards the panamera was far beyond my S8.

I had always wanted to test drive one, so the two weeks basically took every whiff of ever wanting one away. This is actually a good thing, since I had wondered for awhile.

It did get great gas mileage...lol.

CobraCommander

Interestingly enough, I just replaced my D3 S8 with a Panamera 4S. My impressions of the car are contrary to others in this thread. I am actually ok with the overall looks of the car, but I can certainly tell you that from a performance perspective it performs better than my D3 S8 did. I attribute this to the fact that Porsche built a 4 door sports car, rather than Audi building a "sport/performance" version of their flagship.

Sport mode absolutely turns the car into a bit of an animal with the transmission shifts and the suspension tuning that happens. The PCM vs. MMI discussion is still a toss up for me, but I value the touchscreen functionality versus being forced to use the dial as the only input source.

I do have a problem with the lack of a spare tire, for which I'll be purchasing one just to have for any long trips I plan on taking.

1 annoyance thus far (only had it for 4 days and driven it only 2) is that the speaker grills rattle a bit with the volume turned up...looks like it will be an easy fix but certainly not a problem I had in my S8.

There was a comment above about the Panamera feeling heavy and I attribute that to a more responsive and less isolated suspension/steering system.

Just my thoughts...