PORSCHE NEWS
Sub three seconds to 60 in a large limo
All the latest Porsche news...
Hard to believe the Porsche Panamera is a decade old. But perhaps even harder to compute that the second generation model is already being facelifted. We give you the new, but not quite all-new, Panamera.
Heading up the revised range for now is the new Panamera Turbo S. Porsche has upped the ante of the Panamera’s top combustion model by 80 metric ponies for a grand total of 630hp from the revised 4.0-litre V8 twinturbocharged engine. That’s enough to dispatch the sprint to 62mph in 3.1 seconds. Given Porsche’s usually conservative performance metrics, you’re therefore likely looking at a limo that can hit 60mph in under three seconds.
Porsche says the Turbo S is also now good for 196mph. For further proof of performance cred, around the Nürburgring Nordschleife the Turbo S clocked 7:29.81 and a new record for an “executive” class car. What a time to be alive. Combined WLTP fuel consumption for the Panamera Turbo S models, if you’re bothered, is 21.2 to 22.1 mpg, equivalent to 302 to 289g/km CO2.
Next up is the new GTS. That’s also V8 twin-turbocharged, but up 20hp over the outgoing GTS to 480hp. Porsche says the added power comes at the top of the rev range with the power delivery tuned to increase with revs in the style of a naturally aspirated motor. The GTS’S traditional V8 sound characteristics are said to be even more prominent than before thanks to the new standard
sports exhaust system, now featuring asymmetrically positioned rear silencers. At the bottom of the new purecombustion range are the Panamera 4 models with unchanged performance from the 2.9-litre 330hp V6 engine.
Meanwhile, on the plug-in hybrid side of the equation there’s the new Panamera 4S E-hybrid. The intelligent combination of a 136hp electric motor integrated into the eight-speed dualclutch PDK transmission with the 2.9-litre V6 twin-turbocharged 440hp combustion engine generates a combined system output of 560hp. The net result? A sprint to 62mph in just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 185mph. Just as important, the Panamera 4S E-hybrid’s 17.9 kwh battery delivers an electric range of up to 34 miles, plus combined WLTP fuel consumption of between 94.2 and 128.4 mpg, depending on specification. CO2 output is pegged at 67 to 51g/km, again spec dependent.
Styling wise, the previously optional Sport Design nose, distinguished by its distinctive air intake grilles, large side cooling openings and a single-bar front light module, is now standard on all models. Bar the Turbo S, that is. That model gains a completely new nose differentiated by larger side air intakes and newly-designed elements in body colour. The light modules of the dual Turbo front lights are now also set much further apart.
Prices start at £72,890 for the Panamera 4 and scale all the way to £137,760 for the Turbo S Sport Turismo. On that note, all Panamera models are available in both standard body and Sport Turismo formats.