I spent far too short an amount of time today in the Porsche Panamera 4S.

Initial impressions: This thing is even larger and more ungainly in person than it is in pictures. Seriously, for the amount of money the Panamera costs, it has no right being this awkward.

Second impressions: Okay, this isn’t just a leather interior, it’s a leather interior. It’s pushing ostentatiousness to a new level with even more syllables.

It seems that everything in this car is electric – even the steering wheel adjustment. That’s probably why it’s so heavy. You can’t disguise sheer mass, no matter how good your engineering, and the Panamera tops two tons once you add a driver, passenger and a full tank of fuel.

So, it’s a large, ugly, heavy sports saloon that costs $300k, in a country that treats speed as a crime only slightly above puppy molestation. I really struggle to understand who would buy the thing. No quibbles with the engineering, the interior quality or the power – this is a very well-put-together vehicle. In fact, the only real concern I had from behind the wheel was the crazy amount of tan dash I could see reflected in the windscreen.

I hope to get some more time with the car to try to nail down my thoughts on it. The divine Miss M has suggested a back-to-back comparison with the Mercedes CLS63 this week, so I may be able to follow up on this soon.