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The interior of the car could best be described as, well, redundant. Many of the readings can be repeated between the gauges and the dash display unit, and there may actually be 4 different ways to answer a phone call. The dashboard itself features a large center tachometer with digital speedo, an analog speedo to the immediate left, and a Hybrid gauge and oil temp to the far left. The gauge to the right of center is a multi function, digital display that can be cycled through numerous features including: Hybrid mode, Map, navigation, Tire pressure, fluid temps and oil pressure and Audio info. To the far right of that are analog water temp and fuel level. Most of the info on the RH gauge can also be displayed on the Dash display unit. It offers the standard Navi, Map, Audio, phone etc. But it also has a 5 screen Car display that will cycle through the Hybrid activity, trip computer functions and the engine down time graph. All this is very intuitive until you get to the map. This is where it gets bizarre. Neither I nor my 17 year old son could figure out how to make it show the map of where we were and follow us as we traveled! It would display fine on the gauge one, but not at all on the dash display. Navigation worked, but it would only show directions and not where you are and where you were going. Very strange indeed.
The climate control is a true dual zone, with controls all around the shifter. Each front seat occupant can select temperature and where they want the air to come from. The seats are fantastic buckets, with heating and COOLING! And if you weren’t sure, you can even select both at once. But the cooled seats are killer. Nothing like putting 5 hours behind the wheel and keeping a nicely chilled, comforted bum. The back seats are very nice and comfortable and larger people can ride in the back as long as someone smaller is driving. Four big guys, maybe not so much. There are armrests and plenty of cooling vents in the rear, and even their own 12v ports. The trunk is large enough for maybe 1 large suitcase under the cover, but if the cover is removed and you stacked to the glass, maybe more. Not that stacking to the glass would hinder rear visibility much, as it’s almost non-existent standard. Fortunately there is a very good rear view camera displayed when reversing.
All in all I found the car to be pretty pimp and I wouldn’t mind having one – if I didn’t have to pay for it that is. The PSH starts at $95,000 and the test model at $106,900 is definitely a chunk of change. It is only about $4,000 over the standard Panamera S model, so if you were shopping this car, the Hybrid is definitely something worth considering. But then again, if you wanted to hug a tree you could also buy a Prius, Volt and probably a Leaf for the same money, and you and your 2 friends could hug a larger tree together.
