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The Porsche Panamera’s engine line-up consists of V6s and V8s. They are all petrol-powered, although some have plug-in hybrid (PHEV) electrical assistance.

The cheapest of the non-PHEVs is the 2.9-litre V6 in the rear-wheel-drive Panamera and the four-wheel-drive Panamera 4 models. With 348bhp, these are officially good for 0-62mph in 5.1 and 4.8 seconds respectively. Meanwhile, the pricier 494bhp V8-engined GTS (also four-wheel drive) needs just 3.8 seconds.

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As for the PHEVs, they use the standard engines as a starting point, before adding an electric motor to deliver even more power and stronger performance.

The entry-level Panamera 4 E-Hybrid – which features the V6 engine – produces a hefty 464bhp, which is enough for a 0-62mph sprint time of 4.1 seconds. As a bonus, it’s officially capable of covering up to 57 miles purely on electric power.

The 4S E-Hybrid increases power to 537bhp and cuts the 0-62mph time to 3.7 seconds, yet still has an official electric-only range of up to 55 miles. Then there’s the 671bhp Turbo E-Hybrid and the 771bhp Turbo S E-Hybrid, which use the V8 and are fast enough to embarrass some supercars (0-62mph takes them 3.2 and 2.9 seconds respectively). What’s more, they can still officially cover more than 50 miles purely on electric power.

We’ve tried the Panamera GTS and the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, both of which – unsurprisingly – feel more than quick enough, even though the GTS doesn’t pin you back in your seat when accelerating out of corners in the way the Turbo S E-Hybrid can.

On the other hand, it’s the GTS that sounds better, with a lovely woofing exhaust note, whereas the Turbo S E-Hybrid is more subdued, and what you do hear sounds a little artificial.

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Air suspension is now standard across the Panamera range, but the GTS rides 10mm lower than lesser variants and features torque vectoring at the rear to help it turn into bends more eagerly.

Sure enough, its handling is poised and precise, with minimal body lean and an excellent feeling of balance. You never completely forget that this is a heavy car in the way that you do in the fully electric Porsche Tayca. However, the Panamera GTS does feel a degree or two lighter than the Turbo S E-Hybrid – which it is, according to Porsche’s figures – and far more focused than a BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé.

Don’t think that this has been achieved by giving the GTS an uncompromising ride, though. It’s firm but very well controlled across heavily undulating roads, and calmer than you might expect at motorway speeds.

So what of the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid? Well, that also comes with lots of kit that’s designed to improve agility, including four-wheel steering, but what really makes this version special is its Porsche Active Ride active suspension.

Available as an option on other hybrid variants but standard here, it leans the car into bends and pitches it fore and aft almost imperceptibly to counteract the forces that would otherwise act on you as you slow, corner and accelerate again. Plus, when you switch out of Sport mode, it turns the Panamera into a superbly comfortable cruiser.

An eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox is standard on all models, with no manual gearbox option available. It can be jerky when making low-speed manoeuvres, but is otherwise smooth under normal use, in addition to being capable of ultra-rapid shifts in the right circumstances.

Wind noise is well contained, but the Panamera’s giant tyres do generate quite a bit of road roar on coarse surfaces.

You seem eager to talk about this funky suspension…

While the car’s weight is supported on air springs, all the actual springing is done by a set of oil actuators, one for each wheel, that also replace the shock absorbers and anti-roll bars.

Get out of the car for a minute and imagine you’re standing on a platform that’s randomly bouncing, tilting and pitching. You keep your head and body steady by using your muscles and balance system, flexing your knees and ankles. You relax your muscles as the platform pushes either of your feet up, and you tense them to extend your foot as it goes down. All the time you’re using your balance sensors (in your ear) to keep track of the horizon and the accelerations, and your sense of touch to know where your feet are and what dynamic weight they bear at any moment.

The Porsche has a balance system, accelerometers, position sensors and actuators to do the same job. And so like you it can actively stabilise its upper body while making the wheels follow the road. Not as well as you can, but for a car it’s spectacularly good.

It has two main behaviours, depending on the drive mode you selected. In Sport and Sport Plus, it tries to keep the car level, killing roll, pitch and dive. That keeps the tyres dead upright on the road and the body stable, for maximum agility and grip. It also lowers the ride height.

Rather more spectacularly, in the more comfortable hybrid mode, once you’re above 30mph it banks into the bend – the opposite of roll. It’s like an aircraft, high-speed train, or bike. It means everyone is held more comfortably in their seat.

Because the system can quickly lift a wheel up into the body or push it down, it copes amazingly well with big bumps and dips. There are other tricks too, most notably that when you unlock and open a door, the whole car instantly lifts to make it easier to get in. So don’t put a cup of hot coffee on the roof when you open the door, or it’ll likely get thrown off and tipped down your clothes.

The motors that drive the four hydraulic pumps are 400V jobs, each of them capable of drawing 5kW at peak. That’s why you can have the system only on the E-Hybrids. It’s usually a circa £7,000 option too, although in the UK it’s standard on the range-topping Turbo S E-Hybrid.

To be honest, a car as low as the Panamera can manage without this system, but it’ll surely be transformative when Porsche starts putting it onto the taller SUVs, where it’s otherwise much harder to reconcile body body control with ride comfort.

The interior layout, fit and finish

Strengths

  • +Brilliant seating position for the driver
  • +Top-notch infotainment system
  • +Excellent interior quality

Weaknesses

  • -Lumbar support costs extra on some versions
  • -Restricted rear visibility
  • -Some fiddly touch-sensitive controls

The driver’s seating position in the Porsche Panamera is fabulous. The pedals and steering wheel line up well and the low-slung seat gives it a sports car feel. Once you’ve set the electrically adjustable steering wheel and seat to your liking, it’s wonderfully comfortable.

That said, we’ve only tried the 14-way adjustable sports seats. On models without these, you’ll need to add them at extra cost if you want adjustable lumbar support.

Visibility out of the rear isn’t great, due to the sloping roofline and large rear pillars, but front and rear parking sensors are included on all Panameras to help you judge the car’s extremities. Powerful LED headlights are standard too, for confident night driving.

Instead of providing physical buttons, Porsche has placed many of the Panamera’s controls in a touch-sensitive panel on the central console. It looks good at first glance but proves problematic to use while driving: you have to look down often to see which function you’re prodding.

The infotainment system itself is more impressive. Its 12.3in touchscreen is mounted high enough up on the dashboard that you can see it easily, and most icons are large enough to operate at a glance. Only when you dive deeper into the menus will you find smaller icons that are trickier to find while on the move.

There’s also a 12.6in digital driver’s display. It’s not as configurable as the equivalent in the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé but looks sharp, and a large head-up display is available.

A third (10.9in screen) is positioned ahead of your front passenger so they can change the radio station, for example, while you keep an eye on the sat-nav map. It also offers Netflix streaming, among other features, and is tinted so it can’t be seen from the driver’s seat.

Quality is very impressive throughout the Panamera. Everything feels beautifully put together and, depending on how much you want to spend, it’s possible to get virtually every surface covered in leather, Alcantara or a veneer of some sort.

PERFORMANCE

Model: Porsche Panamera
Price: £82,500
Powertrain: 2.9-litre V6 turbo petrol
Power/torque: 348bhp/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
0-62mph: 5.1 seconds
Top speed: 169mph
Economy/CO2: 24.8mpg/251g/km
Size (L/W/H): 5,052/1,937/1,423mm
On sale: Now

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