Porsche Panamera: In-depth tech briefing and first ride

The new Panamera is without doubt one of the two most controversial vehicles ever to come from Porsche, the other, of course, being the Cayenne. While traditional Porsche fans howled at the idea of an SUV coming from the "sportscar maker," this time around, the problem is not so much the premise of a four-door, four-passenger Porsche, but rather the car's styling.

Porsche is no stranger to controversy surrounding its new models. In fact, the German automaker seems to thrive on the divisiveness. Some of the cars that purists have complained about most bitterly have been among its best sellers. Much of the same whining heard about the Cayenne and Panamera accompanied the introduction of the front-engine, water-cooled 924 and 928 in the '70s, and to a lesser extent, even the transition of the 911 from air to water cooling.

The Panamera won't be shown publicly until the Shanghai Motor Show next month, but Porsche invited several dozen international media to its Weissach R&D center this week for a workshop on the technical details of the Panamera, and we were along for the ride. Read on to learn more about what makes the Panamera tick.

We've been seeing spy photos of the Panamera in camouflage for several years and Porsche released official photos in production form last November. When the production photos appeared, everyone's worst fears about the design seen in spy photos appeared to be true. Instead of the sleek, sloping roofline of competitors like the Mercedes CLS and upcoming Aston Martin Rapide, the Panamera had what looked like an ungainly hunchback.