Porsche’s moves that have antagonized brand purists are well-chronicled; the Cayenne and Panamera both have not been well-received by those enthusiasts.

To us, the Panamera is definitely more of a Porsche than the Cayenne is. Regardless, the market has taken eagerly to both models, powering Porsche to new sales and profit heights. People like their four-hour Porsches!

The car was born out of Porsche’s realization that BMW and Mercedes-Benzes were parked next to their owners Cayennes in the driveway, leaving a huge untapped potential for the company.

With that type of clientele, you wouldn’t expect manual transmissions to be the most popular option. And they aren’t – the take rate is so low in fact that Car and Driver reports the next-generation car will be losing its manual-transmission option.

A lot of the buyer base wants to row their own gears in a car like the 911 (hence recent reports that car will be getting a seven-speed manual) but not so in a four-door grand touring sedan.

Still, do you think it makes sense for Porsche to cut the manual transmission option from the Panamera? Is it a key part of its character to offer the choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

I do like the Porsche Panamera. It may look like a very large toad and if you parked it beside an Aston Martin Rapide, a Maserati Quattroporte or a Mercedes Benz CLS you would find that it is actually very ugly in that sort of company. But that hasn’t stopped Porsche from selling a whole lot of them. The reason for this is presence. It has bus-loads of road presence and if one suddenly pulled up right behind you, you’d be slightly intimidated and move over in an instant. Unless you’re in something as equally rapid, that is. And with that little thought out of the way I’d like to introduce the new Porsche Panamera Diesel.

The oil burning Panamera Diesel is obviously catered to those who believe in all the looks of the Panamera but want the efficiency of a diesel powered vehicle. In markets all over Europe, diesel is a very sensible choice especially when fuel prices are soaring. And no, the announcement of a leading terrorist’s death isn’t going to cause a downward spiral of fuel prices any time soon.

Anyway, this new diesel powered toad of a car is powered by Volkwagen’s 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6 engine. Being a modern day diesel it features common rail injection that has an extremely high 2000bar injector pressure as well as a variable geometry turbo unit. Couple these two with some decent ECU tuning and a fabulously crafted engine you get 247bhp and 406lb-ft of torque. But note that this is a diesel engine. You get all that torque between a very low 1,750rpm to around 2,750rpm.

Porsche claim that this power output is similar to the Porsche Cayenne Diesel but over a wider rev range. Yes, it is hard to fathom how wide is wide when peak torque happens so early in the rev range for a good 1,000rpm spread and that the car has a red line somewhere in the region of 4,800rpm. It’s isn’t a 8,500rpm screaming 911 GT3 RS 4.0 if you want some sort of comparison. This car could be like Mike Tyson with a killer punch but without the stamina like a young Muhammad Ali. He would tire out after round 5 while the young Ali may just carry on till round 10 of the match.

The best thing is even with 4,800rpm to play with, Porsche has mated this slugger with an eight speed Tiptronic automatic transmission. Imagine the closeness of the gear ratios and how so many gears figure out what’s best for the car.

So what does this combo of high torque and a lot of gears get you? It will basically get you from 0 to 62mph in 6.8sec and on to a top speed of 150mph. Porsche also claims CO2 emissions of 172g/km and combined fuel economy of 43.5mpg. With its 80 liter fuel tank it is theoretically enough for the Panamera Diesel to travel about 745 miles on a single fill. And that’s not all. The car will also be offered with optional low-resistance tires that help to extract an extra 1.5mpg and cut CO2 emissions to 167g/km. But I’d stick with the normal tires, as firstly they still don’t allow you to sneak under any congestion charges in London (if you happen to commute over there) and secondly, if you can afford a Panamera Diesel please live a little. Low resistance tires usually have less grip than normal tires, regardless of what manufacturers tell you. You shouldn’t be seen to be such an obsessive fuel saving anorak as you’ve bought yourself a Panamera in the first place for goodness sake!

So what else do you get in the diesel Panamera? You get some badging to tell people that you’re doing your part in trying to save the environment. Your front doors get ‘diesel’ badges. Don’t worry. They look tasteful and people will hardly notice it when you drive by.

Other standard stuff include the PASM suspension management system, bi-xenon headlights, the usual LED driving lights, park assist on the front and rear, engine stop-start, tire pressure sensors and touch screen Sat-Nav for those itching to touch something during those long commutes. The option list also includes air suspension over the stock steel springs if you feel the need for a more cosseting ride.

Prices start at £62,134 over in the UK and I’ve even heard that Porsche is currently offering buyers a free Porsche driving experience session at Silverstone where you’ll get to drive the 911 and the Cayman for a day and then when you drive home in your Panamera diesel you may have wished you bought something else. Just a thought folks, just a thought.

Not exactly the best time to be launching an important, all-new luxury sedan. But that is the environment the Panamera launched in.

Like its predecessor the Cayenne, it defied the wishes of purists – but still managed to do succeed. Since going on sale last year, 22,518 Panameras have been sold globally.

No doubt that is an impressive figure, especially given the state of the global economy. Luxury sales are just starting to rebound now, which means it is likely the Panamera will post even higher figures in its second year of sales. It will be further aided by the less expensive V-6 model that was just introduced.

The largest singular market for the Panamera was the United States, where 6,188 were sold since going on sale last October. 890 were sold in Los Angeles, California alone. Germany was the second largest market, with 2,530 cars delivered.

The most popular model globally was the Panamera 4S, with 9,394 vehicles delivered. Second is the high-performance Panamera Turbo at 6,171 vehicles and the Panamera S checks in at third with 4,563 vehicles.

A future hot seller is likely to be the six-cylinder-model Panamera, of which 2,390 have already been sold despite being on sales for just a few weeks. Judging from the first year of sales, it is clear that the Panamera is yet another profitable and successful addition to the Porsche lineup.

Firstly, it drew opposition from purists, who were still bent out of shape over the Cayenne. As for us, we would definitely say the Panamera fits the Porsche mission a whole lot more closely than the Cayenne.

Secondly, its styling wasn’t exactly given widespread praise (including here on CarThrottle). We think the design comes across a whole lot better in person – apparently, the public agrees.

It appeared from first indications that the Panamera would be a big success, and that has happened on a pretty big scale for Porsche.

The car went into production less than a year ago, and already the 25,000th car has been built. 5,000 of those have been sold in the United States. Impressive figures, to say the least. Especially considering the fact that the cheaper V-6 model only came on line in May.

It is fitting that the 25,000th car is a V-6 then, in Ruby Red and destined for the United States. It took a while, but critics have finally warmed to the Panamera – and the public didn’t need much convincing. We can’t wait to get a hold of one ourselves for a comprehensive test.

Why not use that platform to build a exciting new 928 GT, increasing economies of scale and profit margins at the same time? Give the fans something to be happy about as a result of the Panamera platform. Many reports have swirled about just that, and today a design has appeared online.

Its just a sketch, and not necessarily a 928. But it looks like one.  You can tell we are desperate here! This design was spotted on Porsche Design Consulting’s website, and it looks pretty good to us. Porsche had to know we would pick up on it, right?

While we found out it isn’t all that bad in person, we don’t want a new 928 to be a Panamera with simply two-doors lopped off. It has to actually look like a real 928. Of course, this is where we trot our favorite Porsche 928 rendering (for the tenth time!). We still can’t find the original creator of this design, but good job whoever you are!

The realization was that having too much money has enabled people to suddenly lose all sense of style and taste. Take a look at Lady Gaga before she became the Gaga of everyone worldwide (pic above). She wore normal looking clothes with less shoulder padding than people in the 1980s, unlike her style today, and she also wore pants or skirts and looked pretty much like a normal human being to me.

Then she wrote some songs, cut a video or two, flaunted the kinky look, and became famous. After which she started wearing  swimsuits everywhere. She wore a swimsuit at the Brit Awards 2009 and performed with the Pet Shop Boys. She also wore a swimsuit in Montreal recently and everywhere else. All you have to do is browse the web for Gaga photos and you will find her wearing one-piece swimsuits. They may not be ‘swimsuits’, but since they look like swimsuits I am calling them swimsuits. Anyway, would you wear a swimsuit to a gala event if you were poor ol’ you today?

Swimsuits aside, when it comes to cars it’s the same thing. When we are starting off in life, a car is something like in the picture below.

Or worse.

When we get slightly richer this is what we may end up buying:

When we get even higher up the food chain, we end up with a Mercedes or an Audi or whatever is in our new price range.

Then when we get to the point where the next car is still a Mercedes or a BMW or an Audi we end up buying this.

Before making it into this….

Then comes the Rolls Royces, Bentleys and Bugattis when you become a Captain of the Industry. Or if you want to be invisible, a Volkswagen Phaeton.

Then comes the insane pimpage of your automobiles in absurd colours such as bespoke pink as you have nothing else to spend your money on as you don’t want to be insivible when you’re rich. You want to tell the whole world you have tons of money and can afford a pink Bug.

The tons of money also allows you to over-customize not only that Cadillac Escalade of yours but also to bastardize any car you feel like bastardizing. Take this Mansory Porsche Panamera.

My morning cup of coffee nearly exited the way it entered after viewing the photos of it. It is what I believe to be the ultimate in self expression…of the totally wrong kind. It shows loud louder than anything that ever existed before this. It lights you up like a lightbulb telling everyone that you have the money to create monstrosities, or too much money till it goes into something as garish as this.

Money makes people feel that they can buy everything, anything and also anyone in the world. It is also a ticket for some to be ostentatious, loud, debauched, and garish. I really don’t know whether this is a good thing or not. Cars like the ones pictured above may create a social backlash. Imagine if you were a zillionaire driving through some area where everyone wears hand me downs and eats only bread (not cake) everyday. It may start a social revolution and cause communism to take root again as some peasant decides that he cannot live just by driving a 1977 AMC Gremlin or an Austin Allegro. Everyone who is poorer than you will want equality again and then they’ll force people to drive Trabants, Yugos and Zils again.  You wouldn’t want that would you?

But having someone crazy enough to turn these cars into monstrosities sure makes life fun doesn’t it? Contradictory, but this is the reality nonetheless. Now where are those Elton John white framed star-shaped sunglasses I just bought?

Lady Gaga pic – Glamourvanity.com

It looks like history is about to repeat itself with the Panamera, Porsche’s first four-door. It has recently gone on sale in the United States and it is already making waves – as the brand’s top seller.

The Cayenne has been Porsche’s top seller in our market for some time. The new Panamera has replaced it at the top for the month of April, selling 678 vehicles, an impressive tally that blows away all other Porsche models.

Will this trend continue? It will be interesting to see. Porsche, along with other manufacturers, is getting ready for the 2011 model year. The 2011 model year brings an all-new redesign of the long-time top selling Cayenne.

That likely has something to do with the decline in sales for the new model as buyers (smartly) wait for the new car. It is still far too early to tell for sure, but early signs show the Panamera performing well.

Last year, we reported that a convertible version of the Panamera was coming, as a way for Porsche to reduce costs for the platform due to economies of scale.

However, also in that report it said the Panamera Convertible would be a two-door. Which is why we (and everyone else) were surprised to see a four-door in new images from Autocar that look like authentic filings with the patent office.

It is something that no one else is really doing at the moment, offering Porsche a chance to stand out and do something different. Would there be a market for it? Porsche seems to think so.

We think it can’t hurt to try, as the development costs are likely to be low and no doubt Porsche will stick a hefty premium on it. Still, we’ve got to see a vehicle with two-doors result from the Panamera’s excellent platform – no not a two-door Panamera convertible (although that would be cool too), but a new 928. It needs to look like one too – otherwise just call it the Panamera Coupe.

Obviously, that didn’t work out quite like Porsche anticipated. Porsche has expanded quite a bit since then, introducing the Panamera, whose platform would make the perfect basis for a front-engined 928 GT.

It could serve as Porsche’s fifth model for what would likely be a low development cost, not to mention increasing economies of scale for the Panamera. But, what would it look like?

Member Wild-Speed on the Teamspeed forums thinks he has an idea. Basically, it looks like a Panamera turned into a GT, and the result comes out looking not too far off the original 928.

There is only one image that was rendered, so we don’t get a chance to see what it would look like at different angles.  However, the quality of the rendering is excellent.

We think Porsche would be well-served by adding a 928 to its lineup, but our favorite rendering of such a model still remains to be the one shown below.

If Porsche makes a new 928, it needs to look just like that. Unfortunately, we are unable to find the original creator to attribute it to.

Got to hand it to them – besides a walk around (like Audi and Infiniti), this has to be one of the most boring Porsche videos ever. They’re driving yes, but you can’t hear anything. That’s half the fun!