Soon, It’ll Be Time to Say Goodbye to Our Panamera

We’ve been talking about the new Panamera nonstop lately, but our current one hasn’t started acting up out of jealousy. It’s still running beautifully—which somehow makes us love it even more. W

We’ll take good care of you right to the very end, Panamera. Let’s enjoy as many drives together as we can before it’s time to part ways.

Our New Panamera Turbo Is Due in October

Now, let’s take a look at the spec of the new Panamera Turbo scheduled to arrive at our home in October. This is its first appearance on the blog. Here’s what it looks like.

And the price is…

■Base price　　¥23,770,000
■Options　¥3,257,000
■Total price　¥27,027,000

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…

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Th-that’s expensive! (；ﾟДﾟ))

The options alone would buy you a pretty nice new car. Here’s the full spec.

Our Panamera Turbo Spec

■Exterior color
・Night Blue Metallic　¥0
(We went back and forth between this and Sapphire Blue Metallic, but decided against the latter because it would stand out too much.)

■Interior color
・Black　¥0

(My husband and I had agreed from the start that we wanted a black interior. Our current car has a lovely beige interior, but denim dye and everyday dirt really show up. This photo is of a left-hand-drive car; ours will be right-hand drive.)

■Exterior
・LED Matrix Headlights　¥193,000
(These make the headlight housings look black, giving the front end a much sharper appearance.)
・Privacy glass　¥100,000
・Soft-close doors　¥128,000
(Our current Panamera has these, too, and they’re incredibly convenient. I insisted that we include them.Even if you only pull the door almost shut, it closes itself. Handy when you’re carrying a child or juggling bags.)

■Transmission/Chassis
・PDK　¥0
・Rear-Axle Steering　¥325,000
(The rear wheels turn as well as the front ones, improving stability through corners and helping the car turn with real precision. My husband was adamant that we get this option.)
・Sport Chrono Package　¥382,000
(Apparently, the Sport Chrono Package is only available on cars equipped with PDK. I wonder if it’s a popular choice for people who enjoy a more hands-on driving experience?)
・Sport Exhaust System　¥560,000
(This changes the exhaust note. When you start the engine, it gives a more pronounced “vroom!” But it’s not obnoxiously loud—instead, it has a deep, powerful, layered sound that I love.)

■Wheels
・21-inch 911 Turbo Design Wheels　¥597,000
(Porsche wheels are expensive, aren’t they? But the 21-inch wheels look even better than the standard ones, making the car look lower and sleeker.)

■Wheel accessories
・Porsche Crest Wheel Center Caps　¥30,000
(All this does is replace the silver Porsche crest in the center of each wheel with a colored one. ¥30,000 for that seems steep—but by this point, your sense of what things should cost has gone out the window, and it’s all too easy to think, “Well, it’s only ¥30,000—let’s add it.” That’s the scary part.)

■Interior
・Standard seats　¥0
・Seat ventilation　¥193,000
(The seats blow cool air in summer. My husband deeply regretted not adding this when he bought his Boxster GTS, so we opted for it this time. I could do without it, though.)
・Lane Change Assist　¥150,000
(Especially useful on the highway: radar checks your blind spot for vehicles you can’t see when changing lanes and alerts you if one is there. Sounds handy.)
・Adaptive Cruise Control　¥433,000
(Is this basically a kind of self-driving system? I never imagined a Porsche would come with equipment like this. It should make long highway drives much easier—really looking forward to trying it.)
・Storage Package　¥0
・Cupholder cover　¥0
・Smoker’s Package　¥10,000

■Carbon interior
・Carbon Interior Package　¥156,000

Total price　¥27,027,000
*We had also selected a TV tuner, but it became unavailable with the new model and was automatically removed.

And that’s the spec.

When delivery day comes, I hope there won’t be some last-minute surprise like, “We’re so sorry—we got the color wrong and painted it bright red!”