Porsche Panamera Turbo S

Text: Jack Rix / Photos: Max Earey

June 2011

• Rating:
• Latest deal price: from £59,156 to £101,712

If there’s one thing the Panamera Turbo doesn’t need, it’s more power – but that hasn’t stopped Porsche. The firm has unleashed the new flagship Turbo S, which benefits from a 49bhp increase to 542bhp and has virtually every option on the list as standard.

The extra muscle comes from lighter vanes in the turbos and a tweak of the V8’s ECU, yet the car still returns identical economy to the standard Turbo. And it’s the engine that dominates the experience, with its huge 800Nm of torque peaking at a mere 2,500rpm. What really sets the Panamera apart, though, is that it feels just as refined and stable at 130mph on the autobahn as a Ford Focus does at 70mph.

Every electrical stability system in Porsche’s arsenal has been deployed to ensure the Turbo S sticks to the tarmac and is as rewarding on back roads as it is on the motorway. PASM active suspension automatically adjusts the dampers, although you can choose manually between three baseline settings: Normal, Sport and Sport Plus.

Dynamic Chassis Control and Torque Vectoring Plus work in tandem to prevent body roll and, by splitting torque between the rear wheels, maximise traction out of corners. The only other decision is whether to open or close the sports exhaust – we kept it open to make the most of the muted V8 rumble.
With drive to all four wheels, grip levels are astonishing in all conditions, while the steering’s speed-sensitive ratio delivers surprising amounts of feedback for such a large car. Our only gripe is that the PDK box tends to hold on to low gears for too long in full auto mode.

If you want to take control yourself, we’d recommend the wheel-mounted paddleshift as a no-cost option over the infuriating push buttons. However, that does mean sacrificing the steering wheel’s multifunction switches and heating controls.

The Turbo S is effortlessly quick on sweeping roads, but can’t hide its bulk on country lanes. This means tiptoeing around corners in anticipation of oncoming traffic, rather than exploiting its huge performance. Fortunately, our car was fitted with carbon-ceramic brake discs, which provided unrivalled stopping power.  
Even with the bigger wheels, deeper side skirts and the dramatic four-piece extendable spoiler, there’s no escaping the fact that the Panamera is still an ungainly design from some angles. Luckily, this is partly rectified by the fantastic interior, which cocoons driver and front passenger and is swathed in soft leather and the highest-quality switchgear.

There’s also acres of room in the rear and the boot, especially compared to the more svelte Aston Martin Rapide. So aside from looks which divide opinion, the Turbo S is difficult to fault as a refined and obscenely quick driving machine.