Porsche hasn't given up on saloons just yet...
Mike DuffPorsche is good at keeping the faith. A less determined carmaker - or a less rich one - might well have chosen to axe a slow-selling saloon given the world’s love for SUVs shows no signs of abating. But despite the fact the Panamera is only spared the wooden spoon in the company’s sales figures by the aged 718 Boxster/ Cayman, Porsche has opted to give it another chance. .
There is plenty of legroom and headroom up front, but the sheer width of the centre console makes the Panamera feel more cosy than spacious. That’s doubly true in the back where there is a distinct lack of limo-like legroom and two individual seats rather than a bench The high glassline also cuts into visibility; the Panamera isn’t one of those upper-class saloons that was designed for its rear seat passengers first.
The smart suspension means that even the cheapest Panamera doesn’t feel like a base car dynamically. Body control stayed excellent over rougher surfaces and at higher speeds. Sitting closer to the floor does indeed bring a closer sense of physical connection; the Cayenne is a hell of a piece of engineering, but the Panamera is always going to feel more responsive when pushed hard.
Before getting to experience the Turbo E-Hybrid on the Monteblanco track itself, Porsche laid on a technical demonstration laid out in the circuit’s car park. The highlight of this was a track consisting of a carefully constructed series of undulations, one with 90mm of height difference between peaks and troughs positioned 1.5 metres apart. So not far off a set of hump-type speed bumps laid back to back.
But the basic laws of physics still apply when asking so much mass to change direction, and despite the additional presence of active rear steering, on the circuit’s tighter turns throttle discipline was necessary not to send the front pushing wide. Porsche’s engineers say that there are still two grippier tyre options to come - one of which will be a track-spec Cup on which the Turbo S will undoubtedly set some kind of Nurburgring lap record. And which almost no actual buyers will ever specify.
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