Porsche's most controversial car is spectacular to drive

The Porsche Panamera is one of the most polarizing cars on the road today.

While many people don't like the sedan's fastback rear end, others swear by the car's prowess on the road.

When the Panamera entered production in 2009, it became the first sedan in Porsche's illustrious history to reach showrooms.

In June, Porsche unveiled the second generation Panamera in Berlin to universal acclaim.

The automotive world immediately became enthralled by the car. Mostly because Porsche had fixed the only thing that kept people from falling in love with the first generation Panamera — the tail.

Although I've driven several Porsche models, I never had a chance to spend any time behind the wheel of a Panamera. With the second generation Panamera still months away from reaching our shores, Porsche was gracious enough to lend me one of their final first-generation cars for a few days.

Even though the base Panamera starts at a fairly reasonable $78,000, our medium grade GTS test car carries a base price of $113,400. With options such as special metallic paint ($3,100), upgraded Bose surround sound system ($1,590), black high gloss sport wheels ($3,375), and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control ($5,000), our test car came in at $140,525. Then again, no one ever said Porsche magic comes cheap.