Panamera suits the circuit
technology, which can cover 50km on a charge.
In all models, the previous automatic gearbox has given way to a quicker-shifting dual-clutch PDK unit with eight gears.
Detecting a bit of an edge in this new model? You’re not wrong.
The new Panamera isn’t intended to be any less of a luxury car. But the spread between luxury and sports has been stretched: hence the threechamber air suspension and electronic damper control.
You can take your Panamera as far down the performance route as you want. For $10,800 you can add the new Porsche Dynamic Damper Control (PDDC) system and Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) Plus.
You can even have rear-axle steering (a $4700 option on all models) like a 911 Turbo or 918 Spyder.
When you’re done ticking the options list, there’s a new system called 4D Chassis Control that ties all of the driver aids together.
Panamera does look the part more than before. The firstgeneration model was a bit of a pastiche of 911 styling cues: entertaining but not everybody could take it seriously.
If the new Panamera is supposed to act like more of a Porsche sports car, it may as well look more like one. The wheelbase is 30mm longer, the overhangs shorter and the roof 20mm lower in a fastback design, mimicking the 911 ‘flyline’.
The rear also borrows heavily from the 911, with broader shoulders and narrow tail-lights.
Given that the Panamera is still a front-engined limo rather than an iconic sports car, you could still be offended by its visual style. But it does look pretty sharp.
I can’t speak to the luxury side of the Panamera equation. At least not yet. Our drive time was track-only, which might seem an absurd thing to do in full-size premium-brand luxury-sedans. But then, these are also Porsches.
The surprise package of the day was the 4S.
You certainly can’t ignore the Turbo’s enormous performance, and especially not its awesome rear wing, which not only raises but also splits and spreads at high speed. It looks like it’s preparing to take off.
But the 4S sounds the part, with a crisp exhaust note, and it certainly goes hard when you ask the question. It didn’t hurt that our 4S was fitted with the Sport Chrono Package, including an extra ‘Sport+’ mode and the rotary drive-mode controller as per the latest 718 and 911 sports cars.
Panamera is a big thing for sure. But the rapid-fire PDK gearbox and all-wheel drive system mean it’s far from overwhelmed by track driving. It gave chase to a ‘proper’ Porsche sports car in front (a 718 S) quite capably, and what it lost in the tighter corners or to weight transfer/tyre squeal, it quickly made up at warp speed on the straights.
Does anybody really need a super-luxury limo that can do track days? You could argue the sportier Panamera is one of those ‘because we can’ cars from Porsche. But boy, they really can.
Panamera is still a niche concern in NZ, of course. Annual sales are just 10-15 units. But this model does also give us a clear indication of what’s in store with the next-generation Cayenne, which will share its Modular Standard Drivetrain platform, powertrain technology and that hi-tech Advanced Cockpit.