Turbo. Turbo Everywhere.
PORSCHE PANAMERA TURBO
TURBO. TURBO EVERYWHERE.
Words by Alessandro Marrone
Photos by Alessandro Marrone – Alex Galli and Natalia Antonova (dynamic shots)
God bless the winter, snow, ice and slippery asphalt, so the Porsche guys will not hate me for bringing to the end the tires of their Turbo. Yes – but the big question is “Which turbo?”. Another hairpin, another glimpse of visibility on the road ahead, and so I throw the gas pedal to the floor and it breaks down as soon as I ask it, like lightning, approaching the summit of the mountain – as a 911 would do, but without caring about bringing along nearly two tons of weight. The new Panamera Turbo is something disconcerting, not for sheer power, but for the reactivity of a chassis that knows how to be hard and sharp when you use it in ways you never thought possible, convenient and relaxing if you decide to pretend that under the hood there are half of the cylinders and a third of the horses. Porsche invited us to the exclusive Winter Experience held in Madonna di Campiglio (TN), just before the exquisite classic race Winter Marathon and among beautiful landscapes and some improvised drift, we learned a bit more about the second generation of the most controversial car coming out from Stuttgart.
Temperature is not polar, the roads are relatively clean and the cockpit is well-heated, ready to accommodate selected couples of journalists that will test the German sedan that has already become the fastest in the world. Fate gave me and my today’s partner a good news, deleting our names next to that of the new 4S, which now leaves room for the most powerful of the lot, the Turbo. Yep Turbo, a name that until a few years ago was exclusive to a particular 911 model, the most powerful and glorious one, but now is 360° part of entire Porsche line-up and the Panamera is no exception, presenting all of its new models accompanied by new engines and a more than a refreshed look. The 4S, in fact, features a 2.894cc6-cylinder and 400hp, the 4S Diesel (something to watch for) a twin turbo 8-cylinder with 422hp and 850Nm of torque available almost immediately, and the Turbo has a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 with 550hp 770Nm of torque. Obviously they’re all all-wheel drive and have been fitted with an updated 8-speed PDK g’box, able to offer faster and even more precise shifting, but also an extreme ride comfort. Climbing aboard you’re immediately welcome by that new center tunnel, where the previous one full of buttons gives way to a smooth panel with touch buttons through which managing the car’s main parameters, such as suspension, climate and access to the new 12-inch central display, complete and even more full of devilry that will delight the most technological of customers. Behind the new sports steering wheel, inspired by that of the 918 Spyder, there are the classic five instruments, with two of those (look at the sides) that thanks to 7 inches screens are useful to control some info on the car and the navigation system. It’s great as a car can be a living room, a computer and a luxurious means of transport, but having 550 horses under the hood, all that interests to me is to vent them on the ground and embrace the deeper soul of each car that wears the Stuttgart’s horse, performance.
After wearing the role of co-pilot of my colleague Andrea, a quick break in Andalo and it’s time to follow the photographers for some dynamic shots, beginning to taste the first feedbacks of the 2017 Panamera. The driving position is excellent, I can sit down (as I like) without sacrificing the visibility of what is around me – with heated seats and climate that breaks the cold temperature of the wonderful location we’re working in today – I move the selector in Sport Plus and I partially turn off traction control. Once “free” from the camera lenses, it’s time to attack some curves, playing with the weight balance and the mass of the approximately 1900kg of the German sedan. What happen? It happens that it favors me as a 911 would do, shocking me not for the power that it’s able to offer and use thanks to an incredible grip on an anything but generous asphalt, but for the reactivity of a chassis that allows you to change direction as if you were on a pair of skis. The front goes exactly where you want and the steering gains weight and sensitivity when you select the sportiest modes, while the roar of the V8 is spat out of the tailpipes placed at the tail end. Just the B side is the one that has gained more sinuous shapes, with the new model update that results longer, wider, more powerful and damn faster. Do you see why I do not care anything about parking sensors, Bluetooth connectivity and night vision (all things that are here and that work very well) – I’m a bit busy enough as I hold myself to the steering wheel, pressing “Sport Response” every 20 seconds (it is not a kers, it does not need to recharge!) and popping the pupils when I enter flat-out in a right-left took far too cheerful. It widens the rear (with traction control completely switched off), but it warns you and you have all the time to fight back, set everything right and slingshot your right foot on the throttle, one more time, so long as there is fuel in the tank.
We really eat kilometers pampered with soft leather seats and a crazy expensive Burmester audio system left off in favor of a V8 worthy of Mozart and Beethoven combined. The Sport Chrono Package delights us with a 0-100 in just 3.6 seconds, which we can’t time, but it is widely promoted by the smile that has been painted on my face and that of Andrea. Having had enough space and the opportunity, I am sure that we would have reached its top speed of 306 kph, without a single effort. But if mountain roads are stingy for top speed, they know how to let you have fun, because we like to ski but we prefer to do it at the wheel of a 770Nm of torque twin turbo carnivore. On fresh snow I discover that you can drive the Panamera with your fingertips – everything becomes lighter and while the rear makes it slide, the front pulls away at the precise moment you planned that. Intuitive and friendly like a bloodhound, sinks with extreme security, with the snow covering the fenders at each change of direction – it looks like a dance, but it is much better. It’s a Porsche.
Please go on criticizing it, saying that the Panamera is not a real Porsche, but you know very well that is not true and if you have the occasion of properly driving one, you’ll agree with me, if you will ever have time to get off. Addictive as the worst drugs, it entertains you as the best of the Turbos. It is also fast as “THE Turbo” – in the end it’s a next-generation engineering result able to bring together two natures so seemingly far apart as comfort and everyday usability, with the performance and the involvement you feel while driving an air-cooled 911. And sorry if I didn’t mentioned the thousands of meters of electronics that are stowed under it, but the V8 is what matters, especially when it makes an elegant 4-seater sedan, a genuine 300 kph supercar.