Thanks to PON and Porsche Centrum Gelderland I had a new Porsche Panamera 4S for 24 hours. The adrenaline rush is just starting to fade a little. Here’s the lowdown.

First off: I’ve made a grown man fall asleep, a woman nearly pee her pants and another grown man cry out like a girl. The Porsche Panamera is a limo and a rollercoaster rolled into one. So am I hurting now it’s gone? The annoying answer is ‘yes and no’. A car like this, with a €185k pricetag, a roaring V8 growl and a young face at the wheel makes the world a different place for the driver. Visiting a petrol station one of my passengers got chatted up by the attendant asking where she lives and what kind of car we had. Minutes later a woman walked by the car, turned her head and gave me a smile never reserved for me when driving my Subaru stationwagon. All good so far. Behind the wheel there’s no negatives either. You can cruise along with a subdued V8 rumble and barely making more than 1000 rpm, ever. But at the flick of a switch and a stab at the pedal your limo has transformed itself into a rocketship. First skidding to find solid ground under each tire and then leaping forward with a violent growl. Not a single passenger I had came away unimpressed.

And there’s where it starts going in the wrong direction. The car’s genius, it just turned me into a very unappealing version of myself. Driving by Audi Q7 drivers I couldn’t stop myself pointing and laughing. The beat-up-Golf drivers that were staring at the car were met with a confident smile. And every chance I got to take over 5 or 6 cars in a row, I jumped at.

So where does this leave me and the Panamera. The relationship wouldn’t last and I could literally tell the car: ‘It’s not you… it’s me’. In recent years I’ve discovered it’s the wanting itself that you should enjoy, because as soon as you get something the fun is mostly over. A bit of ascetism wouldn’t hurt anyone, me included. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need my fix of speed every now and then. So access to the Panamera, yes, please! But ownership? Not for me. Reassuringly there’s a €185000 price tag helping me stay a little less annoying.