Porsche Panamera 4S

According to Porsche, the Panamera provides sports car technology for four – and it’s hard to disagree. It encompasses all of the dynamic excellence the brand is famous for, yet offers the comfort, atmosphere and quality of a luxury saloon. We’ve already tested therear-wheel-drive S and mighty Turbo flagship, and the all-wheel drive 4S sits between them – and competes with the Jaguar on price.

Visually, though, the pair are worlds apart. Both are instantly recognisable and stand out from the crowd, but Porsche opted to stay true to its tried and tested design language, and the translation into four-door form hasn’t been entirely successful.

The Panamera’s large dimensions and unmistakable lines provide massive road presence, though. It’s the interior that really blows you away. The new XJ has a gorgeous cabin, but the Porsche matches it for quality and wow factor, if not style.

The simple dash features the firm’s familiar five-pod instrument cluster, while the high transmission tunnel houses buttons on both sides of the gear selector. All the controls are wrapped around you and, with an identical seat height to a 911, the Panamera feels like a Porsche from the moment you sit in it.

Crucially, this unmistakable character is retained when you’re on the move. The precision of the steering and the accuracy on turn-in are a step ahead of the XJ.

Body control is tighter, too, and our Panamera was further boosted by the firm’s optional active roll bars. Switch the 4S to Sport Plus mode, and the throttle response sharpens, the gearshift becomes faster and the active dampers stiffen the suspension.

Not only that, but the optional air-suspension lowers the ride height by 25mm. The Panamera hunches down visibly, with the 20-inch wheels filling the arches. In this mode it becomes an incredibly focused sports car that seems to defy the laws of physics with its 4WD traction and cornering ability.

Select the Comfort setting, and the smooth PDK gearbox shifts up early to help fuel consumption, while the ride has a softer edge. However, there are some niggles – at low speed the stop-start system works well, firing the engine back into life as you come off the brake pedal, but there’s a hesitation before drive re-engages, which can be annoying at junctions. The four-wheel-drive transmission also feels clunky when manoeuvring, and the dual-clutch PDK gearbox kicks down too readily, meaning you have to apply softer throttle pressure to avoid an unwanted downshift.

This was one of the reasons why the Porsche recorded slower in-gear times than the Jaguar, although the fact the 4S is 108bhp and 125Nm down on the XJ clearly accounts for a larger proportion of the performance gap.

Despite this, the technology-laden Panamera is still incredibly fast, and a very accomplished sports car. It provides luxury, comfort and dynamic excellence in a distinctive package. The question is, does it do it any better than the latest XJ?

Details

Chart position: 2
WHY: Sporty four-seater Panamera has the DNA of the German giant’s supercars running through its veins.