Automotive

Style to me is still polarizing.  For the road, give me the Mercedes or BMW every day.  

On the track, in my very limited experience with manufacture-sponsored autocross marketing and consumer testing the Panamera is noticeably better than the E63 and M5 (yes, I do dare say BETTER than these cars), but it isn't better than the C63 nor M3.  

The biggest problem with the Panamera is the steering, the steering lacks precision and feel in very high performance application.  Don't get me wrong, it's great on the road, it's great on windy mountain roads, but it's not great on the autocross.  I also noticed this when driving the second generation Cayenne SUV after arriving in a first generation Cayenne SUV.  I made an inquiry and I was told that the second generation Cayenne SUV has a completely different steering system than the first one.  And that it was understandable that I felt less communicated because the new system supposedly was less communicative.  The Porsche employee said that the system was being changed to a new "electric based power steering" and that the "[Porsche 911] GT cars would soon have it too."  

The current E63 is one of the best AMGs Mercedes-Benz has ever made.  I even think the current C63 is one of the best cars Mercedes-Benz has ever made period.  This 63 engine they have in common is the end of an era, it is the end of large Naturally Aspirated engines as new emission laws force these things into obscurity.  Like The Concorde, we're facing the end...  

That being said, the E63 and C63 being some of the best production cars ever made by Mercedes-Benz.  I cannot say the same about the Porsche, it is definitely not the best production car Porsche has ever made.  True, the Porsche may better the E63 in some ways, it might have a faster lap time, but in real world applications, when aesthetics are involved, the E63 seems to be my favorite from the current E63/M5/Panamera line-up.  

Everything below regurgitated from August 2009...  

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