Driven: Porsche Panamera GTS
Can Porsche really turn the Panamera into a pukka track car? Does it really matter if they can't?
But to prove the track-capable point, Porsche has chosen to launch the new Panamera GTS to the world's press (and yes that includes us) at Ascari Race Resort in southern Spain. So what exactly has Porsche done to the Panamera to make it into a track fiend?
A Panamera for the track? Apparently so...
The PDK gearbox (standard on the GTS) also gets a massage, with the gearbox working in concert with cylinder deactivation technology to create faster upshift times.
Alcantara seats among the upgrades
The chassis hasn't been ignored either, with PASM active air suspension as standard, and a ride height lowered by 10mm over the 4S on which the GTS is based. A 5mm spacer inside each rear wheel also increases the track by (wait for the complicated maths) 10mm, while 19-inch wheels from the Panamera Turbo hide the 390mm (front) and 350mm (rear) brakes also from the Turbo (carbon-ceramic items are optional). Porsche's Sport Chrono package is also standard, while Porsche's clever active chassis control system (PDCC) and torque vectoring are optional. Oh, and the production models get proper paddleshifts as a no-cost option as opposed to the irritating push-me-pull-me Tiptronic-style toggles that for some reason most of the launch cars were fitted with.
Cosmetic tweakery includes various GTS badges (inside and out), a smattering of black Turbo-sourced trim bits (exhaust tips, various air intakes) and seats that are a pleasant leather-Alcantara mix.
Rear seat passengers looked after too
Out on the track all this translates to a pretty convincing package, especially for a car lugging around 1,920kg. The snowstorm of Porsche acronyms (PTM, PASM, PDCC, PTV-plus, even PDK) all contrive to enhance rather than detract from your experience, coming together with an inherently well-balanced chassis to get the big Porsche around the challenging Ascari track with more verve than a car this big has any right to.
Sure, you'll kill the brakes (even the ceramic ones) pretty quickly with sustained lapping, but you'll have plenty of fun until then. You'll also be accompanied by a lovely growling, gargling soundtrack, which is augmented on the GTS by a 'sound symposer' that channels extra intake noise into the engine via, of all things, the A-pillar. Yes, it is an artificial augmentation, but it doesn't sound like it - it sounds good.
Panamera GT3 it isn't but it's not out of sorts
The extra 30hp and 16lb ft give it just enough shove for it to never feel lacking in sufficient straight-line pace, while on-road driving reveals a delicious pop and crackle on the over-run in sport-plus mode that, although evidently artificially engineered, does sound deliciously naughty.
Best of the bunch?
That 10mm increase in rear track width, meanwhile, gives just a sniff more stability, an ounce or two more eagerness on turn-in. It's enough to be noticeable even without back-to back comparison with a 4S, and also to counter the helm-dulling weight of the front half of the four-wheel drivetrain. It is, in short, a hoot on the road for something so large. Heck, put it in a soft suspension setting and it even rides pretty well (weight and a long wheelbase no doubt playing its part there).
Possibly the best Panamera? Er, possibly
Being the best Panamera doesn't mean being the best super-luxury saloon-type thing: when there are cars like the new BMW M5 around, with 560hp available for £73K, the Porsche suddenly looks a little less tempting. Or what about the new Mercedes CLS63 AMG? That's 525hp for £83K. Both of these are deeply talented - and seriously rapid - cars. If that Porsche badge is not a must on your fast saloon, you'd have to say there are better places to take your money.
PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS
Engine: 4806cc V8
Power (hp): 430@6,700rpm
Torque (lb ft): 384@ ,500rpm
0-62mph: 4.5 sec
Top speed: 179mph
Weight: 1,920kg
MPG: 26.4 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 256g/km
Price: £90,409
Epilogue
Porsche very kindly laid on some clever in-car video footage for our time on the track. They also laid on a 'here's one we prepared earlier' video - with one Walter Rohrl doing the same thing. So for your amusement we've decided to show you the two laps side by side. Rohrl versus Riggers. Clash of the titans this was not...
To me, it's like having a perfectly insulated and sound proof room next to Le Mans and then having the hotel radio play nothing but noises of cars coming past. The mind boggles....
Take away my PH badge and call me every name under the sun, but that actually appeals to me.
The idea of a track inspired Panamera is like Caterham doing a Luxo-barge!, just wrong !
I've no doubt they will sell a few, to people who cant afford the Top spec car, and who have no intention of doing track days.
Surely a VXR8 would do the job just as well, if not better, and for a fraction of the cost?
To me, it's like having a perfectly insulated and sound proof room next to Le Mans and then having the hotel radio play nothing but noises of cars coming past. The mind boggles....
I suspect a well equipped M5 would get within 10K of the Panamera GTS.
I'd take the Porsche every time.
edit - just had a quick look. if you're to spec them to a similar level the porsche is about £20k more, maybe a tiny bit more.
25-30% difference in price....not even comparable, is it? and that's for a car which is considerably down on power over the M5
Silly of me really to imagine for one moment that they would deny people the sybaratic pleasure of delving into the options for even a pair of mats probably and add another 10% on to the price.
This practice irks me greatly. Essentially, it is sheer profiteering masquerading under the dodgy disguise of " bespoke customer choice" .
It is a load of tosh. Come on Porsche, surprise the market. Offer a car with the options list thrown onto the car within a fixed price. It would be cool to read about a new Porsche that we hailed as being " fully loaded as standard and excellent value"..
Instead, I always feel we are being smiled at and pleasantly robbed.
Brilliant. I wouldn't even have been able to see him by the end of the lap!
The idea of a track inspired Panamera is like Caterham doing a Luxo-barge!, just wrong !
I've no doubt they will sell a few, to people who cant afford the Top spec car, and who have no intention of doing track days.
Surely a VXR8 would do the job just as well, if not better, and for a fraction of the cost?
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