PORSCHE PANAMERA TURBO S E-HYBRID
It’s faster and more frugal than a Turbo Sport Turismo but is it worth the extra?
Remember that one kid at school? Precociously talented, sportingly adept, stylish, interesting, conscientious and yet easy to get along with, he or she was seemingly all things to all people. On the face of it, that’s what the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-hybrid Sport Turismo represents to cars. Bear with…
Taking the Panamera Turbo as its base, then adding both additional performance and a gloss of environmental respectability through a hybrid system that includes a 14kwh battery, the E-hybrid boasts numbers so absurd that they’re almost comedic. Remember the old twin-turbo V10 Audi RS6? Powerful car. This has another 100bhp. Seen the new Porsche 911 GT2 RS recently? This has another 74lb ft of torque. The top speed of this five-seat estate – all right, ‘4+1’ in Porsche speak – is within walking pace of a Nissan GT-R’S. This is not a Clark Kent exterior with Superman underneath so much as having The Hulk, Thor and Ironman lurking there, too.
On the road, the performance is immense, the hybrid system filling in any troughs in the V8’s delivery. As such, peak torque of 627lb ft is available from 1400rpm to 5500rpm, which should tell you about the nature of the Panamera’s speed: it’s just sort of everywhere. An unladen weight of 2310kg means the powertrain must be working hard, but you’d never know.
And it drives like a much, much lighter car, too. Active anti-roll, torque vectoring, all-wheel drive, air suspension, adaptive damping, ceramic brakes and rear-wheel steer deliver a level of dynamic aptitude that beggars belief. No entry speed is too optimistic, no throttle application too greedy. The Turbo S simply grips, goes and thunders on to the next challenge, which it will insouciantly dismiss.
A Panamera Turbo can perform a similar party trick, but it can’t shut down its eight cylinders and run solely on battery power. That the E-hybrid can do this for a reasonable distance (a maximum of 31 miles) and to a decent speed (87mph) is praiseworthy, as is the way it feels no more taxing for the car than turning an interior light on or off. Although hybrid technology does still incur a substantial weight penalty, the way this car can so seamlessly alter its power supplies – including keeping a level of charge if you need it for later in your journey – is incredibly impressive. Those with a mind for such things won’t fail to have noticed its official 69g/km and 97mpg, either. See what was meant about all things to all people?
This is still a large, stylish, opulent, family estate car, too, able to whisk four (plus one) people and their luggage away in imperious refinement. It’s just that it complete the journey faster than any other (where conditions allow) while also offering a few miles of emissions-free motoring. However, perhaps the more pertinent question is whether anybody actually needs the range of abilities. It seems unthinkable to suggest that someone would want more speed from a Panamera Turbo, or more environmental credibility than a regular E-hybrid.
Indeed, there’s an argument to say anybody with a true eco conscience wouldn’t be looking near any kind of two-tonne Porsche.
Porsche evidently believes such people do exist, though, and those who can justify the £140,000 will find a car of unmatched technical nous and stupendous dynamic ability. The rest of us will be best served by a more humble model and the not-inconsiderable saving.