Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid 2017 Review

As statements of intent go, the Porsche Turbo S E-Hybrid is pretty hard to miss or mistake.

That Porsche has chosen to make the flagship of its luxurious saloon range a petrol-electric hybrid says a lot about the future of the brand. The fact it’s the most powerful Panamera ever built says just as much.

Porsche has already admitted publicly it’s thinking about ditching diesels, there is speculation the Macan SUV range will be electrified and we’re on the countdown clock to the Mission E pure-electric sedan.

So think of the Turbo S E-hybrid as a window into the German fast-car manufacturer’s future. Mind you, with a price before on-road costs in Australia of $460,100, almost all of us will be looking through the window of a Porsche dealer at this car, rather than sitting inside looking out over that long, broad bonnet.

All-new powertrain
The second new-generation Panamera hybrid effectively replaces the biturbo 2.9-litre V6 of the 4 E-Hybrid we drove in South Africa in February with the 4.0-litre ‘hot vee’ twin-turbo V8 from the Panamera Turbo.

The combined output of the 404kW/770Nm engine and 100kW/400Nm electric motor is 500kW and 850Nm, topping any other Panamera for power output and equalling the V8 Diesel 4S for torque.

Driving all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch PDK gearbox and with maximum torque available from 1400rpm, the Turbo S E-Hybrid accelerates to 100km/h in 3.4 sec and has a top speed of 310km/h (0.2 sec and 4km/h better than the Panamera Turbo).

And there’s no need to put any riders on that about Sport Chrono and launch control, because that’s standard with this car.

Porsche says the S E-Hybrid can travel for 50km on electric charge alone and can take as little as 2.4 hours to fully recharge its 14.1kWh Li-ion battery pack if you option the onboard charger and 230-volt, 32-amp connection.

Official fuel consumption is rated at 2.9L/100km on 98 RON fuel, but that is a highly problematic guesstimate wholly dependent on how much time you spend running on electricity.

Speaking of which… as well as Sport and Sport Plus, there are four hybrid-specific modes in which this car can operate; E-Power, E-Hold, E-Charge and Hybrid Auto.

The latter changes and combines the drive sources automatically, pure electric E-Power is the start-up mode, E-Hold makes the car run on petrol power alone, while in E-Charge the battery is charged by the petrol engine, which does this by generating more power – and fuel consumption – than is required for driving.

In Sport and Sport Plus the V8 always operates. In Sport a minimum charge level is maintained, while Sport Plus allows top speed to be achieved and provides the quickest full battery recharging.

Beyond the engine bay
The Turbo S E-Hybrid’s chassis includes double-wishbone front- and multi-link rear-end complemented by three-mode air springs. Porsche’s PDCC Sport electronic roll-control system is standard, as is the PTV Plus electronically controlled locking rear diff and Porsche’s new integrated 4D chassis control system – which constantly analyses pitch, roll and yaw.

Braking is via 10-piston (yep 10) aluminium monobloc callipers up-front working on 420mm carbon-fibre reinforced ceramic discs. At the rear stopping power comes via four-piston monobloc calipers and 410mm carbon-ceramic discs.

The only Panamera to be fitted with 21-inch wheels as standard, the S E-Hybrid rolls on staggered Michelin Pilot Sport rubber (the rears are massive 325/30s) with unique compounding and construction designed to cope with both low resistance electric running and extreme performance driving.

Turbo S E-Hybrid standard equipment highlights includes Lane Change and Lane Keep Assist, which are both options on all other Panamera saloons.

Safety equipment includes 10 airbags, an active bonnet, front and rear park assist, surround view and tyre pressure monitoring. Autonomous emergency braking is standard.

The interior is highlighted by the trick new ‘Porsche Advanced Cockpit’ digitally-driven instrument panel and dashboard highlighted by a 12.3-inch infotainment touch-screen. Also new is a far clearer centre console design. As per all Panameras, the button forest has been pruned.

There’s also Apple CarPlay connection but no Android Auto, plus a wifi hotspot, a smartphone app that allows you to charge the car remotely, Bose surround sound, a digital radio, LED headlights, four-zone climate-control, panoramic roof glass, 14-way power adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, adaptive cruise control, part-leather seat trim, an electric park brake and auto rear hatch.

All this tech and gear adds up to a massively heavy 2310kg kerb weight. That’s about 300kg more than the Turbo.

What its like to drive
About 130kg of that extra weight is the battery pack alone and as it’s rear-positioned it actually helps deliver a weight balance closer to 50:50 than any orthodox Panamera.

And that along with those specifically developed Michelins, the 10-pot brakes, active roll bars, optional rear axle steering fitted to our test cars and Panamera’s fundamental chassis excellence produces a car that was surprisingly agile to drive despite its mass.

The most revealing part of our time with the car was a few laps of a very tight and undulating racetrack. With lots of hard braking entries and hard-on-the-gas exits it seemed the very last place you’d want to test out a vehicle so heavy and so big.

But the S E-Hybrid not only coped, it got stuck right in and devoured the place. OK, we were following a lead car driven by a racing driver who wasn’t going super-hard by his standards. But he was going hard enough to have exposed any obvious weaknesses in the car.

Instead, those laps highlighted just how well tuned it is, including the traction control system, which never felt like it was interfering (but surely was!) and just how much electrically-assisted grunt this thing has from down low in the rev range.

Away from the racetrack, the draconian speed limits and obvious police presence of Vancouver Island made this an unsatisfying place to try and test out the highest performance Panamera.

Instead, we cruised and enjoyed the car’s ability to be a relaxed GT as well as an extreme sports sedan. We ran for a while in E-Power, wind rustle and tyre roar the main noises entering the cabin.

All the while, you can watch the energy course its way around the car’s powertrain via the diagram on the massive haptic screen.

The wooden brake application we noted driving the V6 hybrid in February was thankfully gone, but the V8 version still feels massive in size and weight on the open road and, perhaps because of the latter, not as fluent in its steering.

There’s some fiddling to do with the steering wheel mounted mode switch to find the right combination of behaviours. On the track it’s Sport Plus of course, but cruising on the road we found the throttle response of Sport aligned well with the softest suspension setting.

Otherwise, this was the Panamera as we have come to know it in its second generation; enjoyable to drive, luxurious to sit in and incredibly expensive to buy. Indeed, the handful of Aussie customers will probably spend more than $500,000 by the time this car is on the road.

There’s a lot of other great cars you could purchase for less money than this and some of them are better drives.

But this car is symbolic of the way Porsche has decided to change its game and that makes it important and for now at least, unique.

It’s a hybrid folks, but not as we know it.

Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid pricing and specifications:
On sale: September
Price: $460,100 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 turbo-petrol/electric
Outputs: 500kW/850Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 2.9L/100km (NEDC)
CO2: 66g/km (NEDC)
Safety rating: N/A