Getting your player ready...
For 2013, Porsche has introduced a GTS version of its four-door Panamera. It will fill the gap between the Panamera 4S and the Turbo. Somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000. Yeh, that gap.
I’m not complaining; I find the GTS to be an excellent all-wheel-drive sedan, one of the best I’ve driven. Certainly one of the most enjoyable and entertaining. Yes, it has a launch control, which I tried a couple times, or six. Beyond that, though, it is quick and comfortable and sporty, and handles like a sports car. Its naturally aspirated, direct-injection 4.8-liter V-8 engine, with revisions to intake camshafts and stiffer valve springs, generates 430 horsepower, 30 more than the 4S, and it is tied to Porsche’s 7-speed PDK (Doppel-Kupplunggetriebe) dual-clutch automated manual transmission. Settled into the sport buckets in the interior of dark alcantra and leather, trimmed in brushed aluminum, we spent an afternoon following U.S. 287 from Loveland to Longmont, Colo. 66 west to Lyons, Colo. 7 to Raymond, Colo. 72 through Peaceful Valley to Ward, then headed back via Lefthand Canyon Drive. The winding, twisting descent from Ward, which looks much the same as in its heydays of the ’60s and ’70s, to the Greenbriar Inn on U.S. 36, brought the best of the Panamera’s damper settings for flat cornering and minimal body roll. It rides on a set of $3,375 20-inch sport wheels with Michelin 255/40ZR20 tires, displaying huge disc brakes, 15.4-inch vented rotors in front and 13.8 for the rear wheels. The largest brake rotors of anything I’ve driven were the 16.5-inchers on the 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports.Though base price on the Panamera GTS is $109,900, the total tally shot up to $135,060 with options such as platinum silver metallic exterior, heated front and rear seats, lane-change assist and blind-spot detection, park assist with reverse camera, Bose sound, satellite radio, dynamic chassis control and torque vectoring, sport design steering wheel, soundproofing and heat-resistant glass, retractive roll cover for luggage compartment, air intake grilles, LED interior lighting, 20-inch sport wheels. Trunk space in the GTS is 15.7 cubic feet. The four-seat Panamera was introduced in 2009. A look back Thirty-one years ago this summer, I reviewed in The Denver Post a 1981 Ford Bronco. Excerpts: Those unusually high gas-mileage figures being associated with the 1981 Ford Bronco may just be true. A 6-cylinder-powered Bronco with 4-speed overdrive transmission averaged 18.8 miles per gallon in a highway test recently. At 55 miles per hour in 4th gear, it runs at only 1,650 rpm. The engine is Ford’s 300-cubic-inch (4.9-liter) inline-6. The ’81 model continues a smooth, soft ride with a Twin-I-Beam front axle and coil springs. A new feature is an automatic locking hub device in which the driver can shift the front hubs from free-wheeling to four-wheel drive and back again at the transfer case without leaving the cab. The sticker price of $13,394 includes air conditioner, AM/FM eight-track stereo, tinted glass, electric rear defroster, skid plates, tilt wheel, sliding side windows, captain’s chairs, sports instrumentation and boat hitch. 2013 Porsche Panamera GTS $135,060 (price as tested) MPG City 16 Highway 23 Vehicle type: Premium luxury AWD four-door Wheelbase: 114.9 inches Length/Width/Height: 195.7/76/55.4 Weight: 4,232 pounds Engine: 4.8-liter V-8 Transmission: 7-speed automatic Fuel mileage: 19.6 mpg Fuel tank: 26.4 gallons Warranty: 4 years/50,000 miles basic Competitors: Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, Audi S7, BMW M5, Jaguar XJ Supersport Built at: Leipzig, Germany Parts content: Germany 76 percent, U.S./Canadian 4 percent THE STICKER $109,900 base $5,000 Dynamic chassis control with torque vectoring $3,450 GTS interior package $3,375 20-inch sport wheels $1,440 Bose surround sound $1,255 Park assist, reverse camera $1,240 Soundproofing, heat-resistant glass $975 Destination PLUSES Performance Great handling for AWD sedan Sound system MINUSES High-cost options Fuel mileage
