Porsche Panamera Turbo 2017 Review - International

Porsche Panamera Turbo
International Launch
Munich, Germany

Once Porsche’s oversized ugly duckling, its second generation Panamera has gone all glam and at last now has the show to match its go. The new car is bigger, wider, taller and rides on a longer wheelbase but it now also looks like a proper Porsche. Not yet drop-dead gorgeous but it’s a looker. Underneath there’s a new platform, three new engines -- all twin-turbo -- and to go along with the new mechanicals, a whole swag of updated safety and convenience electronics. It can’t match the S-Class in comfort, but add a curve to any road, and the Benz won't see which way it went…

Porsche’s first-generation Panamera was a car you begrudgingly admired. You didn’t love it or in some cases even like it, but you couldn’t argue with the way it turned, stopped and was possessed of proper, prodigious pace.

It was hugely competent. Fast and fleet of foot. But it was just plain ugly. To quote the vaudevillians: when it was born, it was so ugly the doctor slapped its mother!

That original Panamera surfaced in 2009. And while you and I might not have liked the way it looked, it didn’t stop buyers (many of them new to Porsche) making it an international success, with more than 150,000 customers in seven years.

Porsche set relatively modest targets for the first generation, yet there’s little doubt the constant remarks about its styling rankled Porsche’s hierarchy. Thus in designing and building the new generation, the marque has not only sought to improve performance, accommodation, technology and efficiency but it wanted also to banish the ugly duckling taunts.

Porsche rarely makes the same mistake twice. And it hasn’t this time; until the Mission E  emerges from the German sportscar marque’s e-bunker, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better looking, big four-door. In the metal, the new Panamera is now a serious looker.

It’s also serious in terms of providing a luxury experience. At 5049mm, the new car is 34mm longer but doesn’t look it. Its wheelbase has been increased by 30mm to 2950 and the front wheels moved forward to shorten the front overhang and increase the A-pillar to front axle dimension to add more ‘power’ to the look.

It’s actually 5mm taller than the car it replaces but the roof slopes more consistently to the rear to yield a more sportscar-like silhouette.

The new car looks w-a-y wider thanks to the muscular rear haunches, now-trademark full-width rear badge and LED treatment and front grille/air intake elements. Yet I bet you’ll be surprised to read the extra width is actually a scant 6mm.

Seating is for four only – each of its occupants enjoying individual buckets. Porsche claims “the rear seating area offers sufficient space for use as a chauffeured saloon”. And it’s definitely bigger than the first-gen. Don’t let that sportier profile trick you into thinking rear headroom’s been compromised. Porsche’s numbers have it at least the match of the old car.

The front seats are up to 18-way adjustable (14 standard). Rear passengers get eight-way adjustable buckets with more backrest range than the first-gen car.

The Panamera’s rear seat experience is very different from that of the S-Class or its equivalents. Seats themselves are more like sports buckets than La-z-Boy recliners and the profile of the cushions are probably aimed more at performance posteriors than the ample bums that are sometimes seen ensconced behind chauffeurs. That’s not to suggest they’re uncomfortable – in keeping with the car, not the class.

Headroom is generous as is knee and toe space. A 150mm stretch expected for the Chinese market will be embarrassingly generous in this regard.

In some aspects, the hard shell rear of the front seats in our test car detract a little from the overall ambience. In contrast the rear HVAC and seat control console featuring the same Direct Touch black panel technology is pure class. There are also B-pillar (almost) face-level vents and a low-profile console separates the seats with some incidental storage.

Once again a lift-back rather than a true saloon, the new Panamera even offers the ability to fold those rear buckets or use a load-through (ski-port). You’d be forgiven for thinking Porsche’s engineers consulted their Simple Clever counterparts at Skoda when it came to this part of the design brief. The caboose is deeper than the previous example and easily swallows a proper sized suitcase. The official luggage capacities are 495-1304 litres. Superb…

Underpinning the new Panamera is a platform dubbed MSB. Closely related to Audi’s MLB platform, this set of components is Porsche’s own – the Bavarian brand is responsible for its design and development. Sure it has been (or will) be leveraged by Bentley, Lamborghini, VW and perhaps even Bugatti in the fullness of time, but the Zuffenhausen engineers are intensely proud and protective of their work.

There’s new double-wishbone front suspension and the multi-link rear set-up incorporates a version of the same active rear-wheel steering as introduced in the 911 Turbo. Springing is via an innovative new three-chamber air-shock set-up which provides spring rate changes and adaptive damping.

Porsche’s own electromechanical roll stabilisation system Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport (PDCC Sport) is also featured. Along with Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus), the whole system is administered and settings optimised via what the company terms 4D Chassis Control.

Despite the proliferation of tech, the Panamera is lighter than the car it replaces, although still no lightweight at circa-2000kg.

The chassis structure itself is a composite of both steel and aluminium. The first-gen Panamera used aluminium for the outer door skins, bonnet, tailgate and the front guards. In the new cars, there’s even more light-weighting -- the entire one-piece body side and the roof are now also aluminium.

Indeed, the new platform offers benefits in myriad forms, not least of which the ability to incorporate a new generation of occupant amenities, driver information and infotainment systems, human machine interfaces and both passive and active safety technologies.

Panamera debuts a welter of these for Porsche. The new Porsche Advanced Cockpit uses three large flat screens (two 7.0-inch and one 12.3-inch) and an analogue tacho to create an instrument panel and infotainment system that is cutting-edge in terms of its display clarity and flexibility.

Users can configure much of the cockpit to their own preferences and interact with Apple and Android smartphones and operating systems. There’s Wi-Fi hotspot and other functionalities, even the potential of video conferencing using the option rear-seat entertainment package screens.

The result in terms of design is impressive. Forget the ‘waterfall’ of switches that plagued the last Panamera’s console and cabin. These are replaced with high-gloss flat surfaces with touch sensitive switches. It’s very, very classy.

In terms of active safety technology and driver aids, the Panamera also debuts the next generation of smart active assistance systems. Porsche InnoDrive uses three-dimensional, high-resolution navigation data, to compute and activate “optimal acceleration and deceleration rates for the next three kilometres – as well as gear selections and coasting phases”.

Says Porsche: “In doing so, this electronic co-pilot automatically takes bends, inclines and speed limits into account. Other vehicles and current speed limits are detected by the radar and video sensors and incorporated into the control algorithms”.

Unsurprisingly this system won’t be available in Australia from launch. No timeline for implementation at this time either.

Notably absent, however, is the level of autonomous drive hardware you find in, say, the new E-Class. There’s a lane-keeping function but none of the hands-off driving the E delivers. Nor does the Panamera offer any automated parking systems. There’s a sense this is more a philosophical decision rather than any lack of technical prowess. Porsche engineers simple say their customers don’t want such systems. In this bracket I’m not so sure.

In the Porsche world, however, Aussie buyers will get a higher spec in their Panamera than European or North American markets.

Boxes automatically ticked Down Under include a larger 90-litre fuel tank, active adaptive air suspension (PASM) on all models, panoramic sunroof (for the first time), metallic paint, privacy glass, seat heating and cooling (front), keyless access and start, soft-close doors and BOSE audio.

LED DRLs, tail and headlights and Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) are also standard on Aussie Panameras.

A Sports Chrono package (from $4390), massage seats, rear steering ($4990) and an extended shopping list of optional items from mild to wild will no doubt tempt many buyers.

Night vision is now also offered -- it uses a thermal imaging camera to detect people and large animals and displays a colour-highlighted warning indicator in the cockpit. A fair swag of Panamera punters will potentially opt for the services of Porsche Exclusive offered including a near-infinite paint palette and other personalisation.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, in Oz three models will be offered initially; two petrols and a single diesel.

Prices start at $304,200 (up from $300,700) for the V6 petrol Panamera 4S. The new V8 Panamera 4S Diesel is $312,100 and the range-topping (for now) V8 petrol Panamera Turbo is $376,900 (down from $383,000).

All are twin-turbo and all feature new powertrains including updated permanent, fully variable Porsche Traction Management (PTM) all-wheel drive system and a new eight-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox.

The Panamera 4S boasts a 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 rated at 324 kW and 550Nm, while the flagship Panamera Turbo’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol pumps out 404 kW and 770Nm.

Claimed performance for both is impressive. The ‘cooking model’ 4S launches to 100km/h in 4.2sec with optional Sports Plus and gets to 200km/h from a standing start in 15.9sec. Its top speed is a claimed 289. The Turbo does the same standing start intervals in 3.6 and 13sec and tops 300km/h.

The V8 Turbo is also the first production Porsche to get cylinder deactivation. Using variable cam profiles and timing it’s able to deactivate four cylinders in low rev, low load conditions to deliver what’s claimed to be a 30 per cent fuel saving.

The change of modes is imperceptible. If you’re looking for drama, operate the two-stage folding rear spoiler. It’s pure automotive theatre… I love it!

For the record the claimed ECE Combined fuel ratings for the V6 4S and V8 Turbo are 8.1L/100k and 9.3 respectively.

Destined to follow the petrol models’ February 2017 local launch by at least a month or so, the Panamera 4S Diesel is a torque monster and is claimed to be the fastest diesel four-door on the planet. Its 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo diesel engine pumps 310 kW and no less than 850Nm. That’s from just 1000rpm, by the way…

While the petrol engines use their two turbos in parallel, the turbo-diesel’s twin variable-geometry turbo set-up is sequential. It effectively operates as a three-valve-per-cylinder single-turbo engine up to around 2200rpm, at which point the engine’s variable valve timing opens each cylinder’s second exhaust valve to provide gases to spin up the second turbo.

Standing-start performance figures are again impressive: 0-100km/h in 4.3sec (Sport Plus) and 0-200km/h in 16.8sec. Yet Porsche can claim economy in the sixes (6.7L/100km) for a potential range of more than 1200km.

Porsche labels the Panamera a “four-door sports car” but also states the concept “combines the performance of a high-performance sports car with the comfort of a luxury saloon”.

We drove the Turbo and 4S Diesel on a selection of roads to the south of Munich. And while with some qualifications we can vouch for the former, in terms of ride at least, the Panamera misses the luxury benchmark set by cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

The performance isn’t in doubt. The V8 twin-turbo petrol Turbo model is silly quick. On congested autobahns any available piece of real estate could be filled with a twist of the right ankle. Indeed, the way this car gathers pace from 120km/h to mid-200s might well make it a license loser at home.

It’s stability and continued acceleration at well over 250km/h means I have little doubt that 306km/h top speed is, if anything, conservative. The carbon-ceramic brakes fitted to the Turbo I drove were neck-stretchingly strong and absolutely confidence inspiring – great initial bite and real power. Porsche never gets brakes wrong so I’d be confident the standard steel set-up is just as competent.

The 4S Diesel, meantime, is incredibly refined for an oiler. The only sound you get is the V8 rumble you want. Some other brands' petrol engines are less aurally impressive.

Frankly, the acceleration of the car belies its stated 850Nm output. It’s more than fast enough, but I expected more visceral urge.

But what of the luxury part of the Panamera equation?

The ride even on the standard (softest) setting in both the Turbo and 4S Diesel was a far cry from the pillowy performance of the current S-Class. Indeed, even the new E-Class rides better. Select Sport or Sport+ settings and there’s a noticeable increase in the amount of road shock and ripples that make it through to the cabin.

Road noise on the 21-inch Pirelli P Zeros of our Turbo test car was not in the league of the Benz, BMW 7 Series or Maserati Quattroportes that Porsche claims are the Panamera’s competitors either. And there’s plenty of wind noise around the mirrors – and I’m not just talking at 250km/h!

You sit low in the new car -- 10mm lower than in first-gen Panamera and up to 50mm lower than its competitive set, claims Porsche. That lower H-point and seats that err on the sporty side in terms of profile and padding, combine to give you a better feel for the car, which it must be said appears to shrink around you.

It needed to on the narrow toll road from Wallgau to Vorderriss along the River Isar. Barely wider than a single lane for much of its length and replete with mountain bikes, panniered adventure touring motorcycles and half of Germany’s population of wildly understeering, aging Golf Cabrios, the road reinforced the fact that you quickly appreciate exactly where the corners of this (let’s face it w-i-d-e) four-door start and finish.

And perhaps that’s the real strength of the Panamera -- albeit expected given its heritage. The steering for such a large car is unerringly precise and gives you the impression you can place it accurately even when the pace increases.

I’m not sure you can say the same of any current big Benz or BMW.

Porsche claims the new Panamera has set a new record for four-door cars at the legendary Nu¨rburgring-Nordschleife… Seven minutes and 38 seconds is impressive. But there in lies the rub…

This is a luxury car… Given the opposition’s balance of performance and comfort, Porsche could have afforded to hand back 20sec and signed off a proper luxury ride setting…

2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo pricing and specifications:
Price: $376,900 plus on-road costs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8
Output: 404kW/770Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel: 9.3/100km (ECE Combined)
CO2: 212g/km (ECE Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

Also consider:
>> BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe (from $184,900)
>> Maserati Quattroporte (from $210,000)
>> Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class ($115,400)