Porsche Panamera Diesel- it's official

Porsche Panamera Diesel - a frugal Panamera offering

Porsche has officially revealed the Porsche Panamera Diesel, with 247bhp, o-62mph in 6.8 seconds and costing from £62,134

The headline sounds as if there might have been doubts that we would get a Porsche Panamera Diesel before too long.

But, despite the general perception that ‘Diesel Porsche’ should be an oxymoron, a Panamera diesel was always going to happen, as Porsche confirmed in November.

It was always going to happen because – in the real world – it probably makes more sense than any of its petrol powered siblings for most potential buyers.

With everyday driving meaning huge periods stuck in traffic and much of the rest at modest speeds on arterial roads, a diesel car is now almost the only sane option for anything but a toy (am I really saying this?). And that’s before you start to get in to the murky waters of company car taxation.

Which means the diesel Panamera will probably be the biggest seller, so it’d better be good. And it looks better than decent, although perhaps not exactly class leading.

The engine is the same V6 diesel as the Cayenne gets, but with a remap to suit the Panamera better. That means 247bhp and 406lb/ft of torque, which translates in to a 0-60mph of 6.8 seconds. Given a gentle right foot you could average 43.5mpg, which would give you a range of 745 miles.

Standard specification is pretty decent too – as it is across the Panamera range – and includes stuff like PASM, leather, ParkAssist, TPM, PCM and Cruise, with an 8-speed auto and RWD. Which is far from shoddy. And the price is not awful either at £62,134.

All of which makes the Panamera Diesel an appealing option in this sector. But is it appealing enough?

Teutonic competition comes from the BMW 740d, Mercedes S350 BlueTEC and Audi A8 3.0D, all of which – at least on paper – offer as much as the Panamera, if not more. Most offer better performance too, which is a bit of a shock, with only the Mercedes S350 BlueTEC trailing the Panamera Diesel, and even then by only 0.3 seconds to 60mph.

And we mustn’t forget the only other car in this sector that offers a real alternative to the three-box German offerings – the Jaguar XJ. In base trim form it costs just £55k and does 0-60mph in 6.0 seconds. And it’s the best drive in its sector by a mile.

On sale in the UK in August, the Panamera Diesel is an Interesting addition. It’ll be even more interesting to see how it fares against such heavyweight competition.