THIS ISN’T Your dad’s station wagon
VICTORIA, BC: Outside of North America the station wagon is still a big deal, especially in Europe.
Their narrow roads and low overheads make a SUV/CUV less desirable due to higher stance and limited parking, while the wagon usually offers comparable cargo volume.
While there are swarms of small wagons, few are at the prestige level. One of those is the Mercedes-Benz E Class wagon. There are also one or two “shooting brakes” (two-door station wagons) such as the Ferrari FF and the Jaguar version, based on the XF sedan.
Porsche does it differently with the Sport Turismo that has four doors and a rear power liftgate. It also has what is called 4-1 seating with two outboard, power adjust seats at the back with a vestigial centre seat for occasional use.
The Panamera Sport Turismo arriving in the fourth quarter will be available with four engines that are already used in the Panamera Sedan.
Prices start at $109,700 for the Panamera 4 Sport Turismo (330 hp), $118,600 for the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo (462 hp combined system power), $124,500 for the Panamera 4S Sport Turismo (440 hp), and $175,600 for the Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo (550 hp).
All versions are equipped with Porsche’s permanent all-wheel-drive and eight-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) dual clutch transmission.
As usual, Porsche adds a “wow” factor, and in this case, it’s an adaptive, extendable upper roof spoiler with three positions that can generate up to 110 lb of downforce on the rear axle. Called the Porsche Active Aerodynamics (PAA) system, at speeds of up to 170 km/h the spoiler is not deployed.
Above 170 km/h it moves to the plus one-degree position and exerts downforce. When in Sport and Sport Plus ride modes above 90 km/h, the spoiler is automatically deployed. Interestingly, with the panoramic sunroof open at speeds of about 90 km/h, the spoiler moves to the plus 26-degrees position to cut down on wind noise and buffeting.
Of course, one of main reasons for buying the Sport Turismo is cargo volume, which is 520 litres behind the second row seats (425 litres in the E-Hybrid). With the second 40:20:40 split/ fold seats down, volume increases to 1,390 litres second row folded (E-Hybrid, 1,295 litres).
In the cargo area there is a variable loading system featuring side rails, partition net and four tie downs.
Earlier this year I put about 1,000 km on a Panamera Turbo Sedan and enjoyed every minute and the Sport Turismo was more of the same.
During a loop of the lower western portion of Vancouver Island, my co-driver and I had a chance to try some of the standard and optional driver assistance systems.
A standout is the 4D Chassis Control that monitors driving conditions in longitudinal, lateral and vertical acceleration dimensions. The data is then fed into all the chassis and ride systems thus creating a fourth dimension for the best feed back to the driver to increase his/her level of comfort or performance.
In typical Porsche fashion, the cabin is all high luxury leather in fancy trim, but it’s primarily set up for the driver. There’s a big analog tachometre in the centre of the main instrument cluster, now flanked by twin seven-inch LCD displays aided by a bigger 12.3inch touchscreen at the top of centre stack.
Gone are the two rows of toggle switches running down each side of the centre console, and replaced by a blacked-out touchscreen with all the controls as before. Nice, but I liked the toggles because they added
so much to the sense of the driver being in control.
That aside, Porsche was pretty flexible on the route, with just a request to be in Victoria no later than 4:30 p.m.
So we just took off and pushed the V8 Turbo we were issued and it soaked it up like nothing was there.
With many undulations and a number of one-lane bridges, squirting through was essential as the bridges were on an active logging road and those big rigs don’t stop for things like single-lane creek spans.
On Highway 14 heading down to scenic Sooke, the V8 Turbo was a delight to drive. At the end of a full day of driving, the V8 Turbo and the EHybrid and I emerged in Victoria fully relaxed – a testament to the Sport Turismo’s ability to gobble up ground so effortlessly.
You want to get there in style and comfort along with a load of luggage? The 2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo has a station wagon for you.