4 year review 2018 Porsche Panamera St Turbo
Discussion
Hard to believe four years has passed since this car was delivered.
It had a troubled gestation - this was at the time of Dieselgate and the spillover effect was that logistics on various Porsches were delayed even if not involved.
As a result, my European delivery was cancelled, there were huge port delays which meant that the car only showed up at the dealer at the end of January 2018 despited being in port and storage in Eastern Canada since November 2017.
In any case , the car was exactly as ordered, all chrome deleted, Turbo badge deleted, PCCM, CF/leather interior, a fairly heavy spec including 21” body-coloured wheels which had to be replaced with winter rims immediately being in the middle of Canadian winter
.
The first short period of its life was troubled. There was a persistent electrical fault that caused the car to go flat after about 48 hours despite being in a heated garage. It had four trips to the dealer and increasing number of components replaced without luck. Eventually the culprit was found. The battery despite having been tested and showing as good had a freak fault.
Once sorted the car was exceptionally good to drive, though of course difficult to run in hard in a snowy Canadian winter with the additional problem of speed limits.
I decided I would being it back to Europe for a while, but due to other commitments it would be over a year before that was possible.
The Porsche V8 is a wonderful engine and the basic design shows up in other places in VAG. I had extra sound and UV protection factory installed , and the engine is muffled but has an unmistakable V8 rumble even at cruising speeds.
In winter it was possible to see how well the car would handle in deep snow. It is incredibly sure-footed, precise steering and stops well in snow ( obviously with full snow tires.).
The ST Turbo is not a common car- I think it was to expensive for the market and of course the Taycan has taken a lot of its market since. I have driven all models of Taycan but cannot warm to it despite its many virtues.
Spring came and there was a first chance to whack it around on country roads. It is very,very quick and handles superbly for a car of its size.
However it is not suitable for hauling my Great Dane. It is not a proper Estate car as the roof is too low, being more of a hatchback. I was aware of this when I bought it and have alternative transportation.
The positive far outweigh the negatives overall. My big beef is the same as with all Porsches, and unnecessarily dense layer of non-intuitive interfaces which could have been vastly simplified if they had hired a few designers from Apple.
I also have the complaint that affects most cars these days..the black plastic covering the haptic buttons that require constant cleaning.
However, after the initial teething problems, the car has been utterly reliable and one of my favourite cars when I want to do a long drive. The Porsche 18-way seats are some of the best in the business, giving excellent support which reduces fatigue- some of my drives are very long.
It had a troubled gestation - this was at the time of Dieselgate and the spillover effect was that logistics on various Porsches were delayed even if not involved.
As a result, my European delivery was cancelled, there were huge port delays which meant that the car only showed up at the dealer at the end of January 2018 despited being in port and storage in Eastern Canada since November 2017.
In any case , the car was exactly as ordered, all chrome deleted, Turbo badge deleted, PCCM, CF/leather interior, a fairly heavy spec including 21” body-coloured wheels which had to be replaced with winter rims immediately being in the middle of Canadian winter
.
The first short period of its life was troubled. There was a persistent electrical fault that caused the car to go flat after about 48 hours despite being in a heated garage. It had four trips to the dealer and increasing number of components replaced without luck. Eventually the culprit was found. The battery despite having been tested and showing as good had a freak fault.
Once sorted the car was exceptionally good to drive, though of course difficult to run in hard in a snowy Canadian winter with the additional problem of speed limits.
I decided I would being it back to Europe for a while, but due to other commitments it would be over a year before that was possible.
The Porsche V8 is a wonderful engine and the basic design shows up in other places in VAG. I had extra sound and UV protection factory installed , and the engine is muffled but has an unmistakable V8 rumble even at cruising speeds.
In winter it was possible to see how well the car would handle in deep snow. It is incredibly sure-footed, precise steering and stops well in snow ( obviously with full snow tires.).
The ST Turbo is not a common car- I think it was to expensive for the market and of course the Taycan has taken a lot of its market since. I have driven all models of Taycan but cannot warm to it despite its many virtues.
Spring came and there was a first chance to whack it around on country roads. It is very,very quick and handles superbly for a car of its size.
However it is not suitable for hauling my Great Dane. It is not a proper Estate car as the roof is too low, being more of a hatchback. I was aware of this when I bought it and have alternative transportation.
The positive far outweigh the negatives overall. My big beef is the same as with all Porsches, and unnecessarily dense layer of non-intuitive interfaces which could have been vastly simplified if they had hired a few designers from Apple.
I also have the complaint that affects most cars these days..the black plastic covering the haptic buttons that require constant cleaning.
However, after the initial teething problems, the car has been utterly reliable and one of my favourite cars when I want to do a long drive. The Porsche 18-way seats are some of the best in the business, giving excellent support which reduces fatigue- some of my drives are very long.
Spring came, and I got a call from a friend who was involved in the Concours of America ,one of the premier classic car shows in the US.
Obviously the car was not remotely classic or important, but they wanted to show a variety of interesting Porsches showing the history of the brand as an exhibit at the Concours. There were very few Panamera STs in the US at the time.If I wanted to come and exhibit I would be invited. I have never been in the exhibitor side of a Concours in my life so of course I sad yes.
Since I would be showing that car it made sense to have something else to drive when I was there so we took my old RS also rather than be stuck at the Concours all the time.
The show was just sensational with some of the most wonderful cars I have ever seen. My humble Panamera was just an exhibit, but right next to it was a very strange 911. It was not a 911, but a prototype 901. It is slightly different to production cars so that the glass does no interchange and it was a 356 dash.
My favourite car of the show was this glorious Delage, had been the personal car of André Delage.
I went to a fascinating talk with Vic Elford, Brian Redmond and Hurley Haywood all of who had had very successful Porsche careers including driving the 917s. After the meeting asked a couple of them I they could sign my old 997 RS and they kindly agreed. I had talked to Vic before and it was clear that he was not well, though his sense of humour was unimpaired.
Obviously the car was not remotely classic or important, but they wanted to show a variety of interesting Porsches showing the history of the brand as an exhibit at the Concours. There were very few Panamera STs in the US at the time.If I wanted to come and exhibit I would be invited. I have never been in the exhibitor side of a Concours in my life so of course I sad yes.
Since I would be showing that car it made sense to have something else to drive when I was there so we took my old RS also rather than be stuck at the Concours all the time.
The show was just sensational with some of the most wonderful cars I have ever seen. My humble Panamera was just an exhibit, but right next to it was a very strange 911. It was not a 911, but a prototype 901. It is slightly different to production cars so that the glass does no interchange and it was a 356 dash.
My favourite car of the show was this glorious Delage, had been the personal car of André Delage.
I went to a fascinating talk with Vic Elford, Brian Redmond and Hurley Haywood all of who had had very successful Porsche careers including driving the 917s. After the meeting asked a couple of them I they could sign my old 997 RS and they kindly agreed. I had talked to Vic before and it was clear that he was not well, though his sense of humour was unimpaired.
Edited by RDMcG on Sunday 29th January 16:47
I was busy that year and by Autumn I was getting restless about the car. It needed an adventure. I started to plan a trip to Europe to replace the lost Euro delivery.
It was too late to do something in 2018 so I thought May 2019 might do it.
This takes little organizing with shipping, transit insurance, European insurance,customs brokerage and allowing some flex as ships are not always on time. I settled for a company called C.A.R.S in Rotterdam
I spent a bit of the winter in the Southwest doing Jeep things - Death Valley is magnificent.
However soon enough it was time to plan the Europe trip. The decision was to drive up from Frankfurt to drive around the Harz area in Germany, into Berlin and then to drive up to Copenhagen. The nav system was not programmed for Europe to I brought a fully set upTomTom to do the job.
In the interim period the autobahn gave me a chance to try the car at higher speeds, and it was rock solid at 300 km/h.
After the touring it was time to go the tracks.
It was too late to do something in 2018 so I thought May 2019 might do it.
This takes little organizing with shipping, transit insurance, European insurance,customs brokerage and allowing some flex as ships are not always on time. I settled for a company called C.A.R.S in Rotterdam
I spent a bit of the winter in the Southwest doing Jeep things - Death Valley is magnificent.
However soon enough it was time to plan the Europe trip. The decision was to drive up from Frankfurt to drive around the Harz area in Germany, into Berlin and then to drive up to Copenhagen. The nav system was not programmed for Europe to I brought a fully set upTomTom to do the job.
In the interim period the autobahn gave me a chance to try the car at higher speeds, and it was rock solid at 300 km/h.
After the touring it was time to go the tracks.
The trip would start a few days at the Nordschleife.
Even in a Panamera, by far the least tricky car I could imagine.
So, I arrived back to Nürburg. I had a bit of sadness when I arrived, as I always stayed the the hotel owned by the family of Sabine Schmitz. I had been aware for a very long time that she was very ill. Before things went down for her she had driven one of my cars there. Tragic that she had died.
The car handled very well for a big road car, though the big issue was brakes. Had to stop now and then to let things cool. Very different from the sports cars I have driven here. Midweek it was fairly uncrowded.
I was getting a shoulder wear on the tires but had an oil and filter change at Manthey and they thought they would stand up to a Spa track day, so we ran with them.
Even in a Panamera, by far the least tricky car I could imagine.
So, I arrived back to Nürburg. I had a bit of sadness when I arrived, as I always stayed the the hotel owned by the family of Sabine Schmitz. I had been aware for a very long time that she was very ill. Before things went down for her she had driven one of my cars there. Tragic that she had died.
The car handled very well for a big road car, though the big issue was brakes. Had to stop now and then to let things cool. Very different from the sports cars I have driven here. Midweek it was fairly uncrowded.
I was getting a shoulder wear on the tires but had an oil and filter change at Manthey and they thought they would stand up to a Spa track day, so we ran with them.
Spa is an amazing place with much higher speeds, but there are F1 safety standards. Still, there were several accidents including a couple of write-offs during the day. I had an instructor as it had been ten years since my last visit. We had t come in several times due to hot brakes and also had to adjust pressures.
The registration plate caused some amusement with the locals.
The registration plate caused some amusement with the locals.
When it got back to Canada it needed a routine service and new tires. Despite the very tough trip the car was completely OK.
A couple of trips down to NY and Philadelphia before winter and I began to think about 2020.
When the wheels came completely off.
In February 2020 I was on a business trip to Vancouver which has a major Asian business. All the Asian airlines were gone...shut down.
By March Toronto looked like this:
All plans for car adventures went down the drain and I did a lot of dog walking.
It was going to be along time before life would get back to normal, with most automotive events and track days gone and 2021 being a long and slow recovery. Got to do some home maintenance while the cars did very little. In December I fell off a ledge and smashed my hip to bits. Full hip replacement, so winter was quieter than usual. However, full recovery so was able to drive fairly quickly.
A couple of trips down to NY and Philadelphia before winter and I began to think about 2020.
When the wheels came completely off.
In February 2020 I was on a business trip to Vancouver which has a major Asian business. All the Asian airlines were gone...shut down.
By March Toronto looked like this:
All plans for car adventures went down the drain and I did a lot of dog walking.
It was going to be along time before life would get back to normal, with most automotive events and track days gone and 2021 being a long and slow recovery. Got to do some home maintenance while the cars did very little. In December I fell off a ledge and smashed my hip to bits. Full hip replacement, so winter was quieter than usual. However, full recovery so was able to drive fairly quickly.
Edited by RDMcG on Sunday 29th January 16:37
Since then I have done things with other cars to some degree and the Panamera has become a long-distance workhorse. Absolutely rock solid reliable.
I took it to the Porsche Parade which is the major event of the Porsche Club of America. It was in the Poconos, a rural area of Pennsylvania. I got a nail through a tire on my way down and kept the slow leak at bay , called a rural Porsche dealer. Io my delight he said he could get a tire next day ( theese are Pirelli high speed tires and not available at chain tire stores.
When I got there he had the whole thing done in an hour.
Wandering around the dealership I was amazed to see a super-rare 997 Sport Classic
I took it to the Porsche Parade which is the major event of the Porsche Club of America. It was in the Poconos, a rural area of Pennsylvania. I got a nail through a tire on my way down and kept the slow leak at bay , called a rural Porsche dealer. Io my delight he said he could get a tire next day ( theese are Pirelli high speed tires and not available at chain tire stores.
When I got there he had the whole thing done in an hour.
Wandering around the dealership I was amazed to see a super-rare 997 Sport Classic
Conclusion, if you want a very good reliable long hauler with lots of luggage room this is an ideal car for the Grand Tour; Fairly uncommon sight on the road and will of course be supplanted by the EVs in the next while as will everything else. I am old enough not to worry about it and will continue to enjoy the rumble of the V8
.........
.........Thanks for that - really enjoyed the extensive review. These have recently popped onto my radar as a potential replacement for our L322 Range Rover. Despite having terrible reps for reliability, ours has been deeply reliable and may never give out! But always good to have a plan B in mind…
Any insight into leg room in the rear, and also how much stuff can you pile into the rear with the back seats folded down?
Any insight into leg room in the rear, and also how much stuff can you pile into the rear with the back seats folded down?
BlackWidow13 said:
Thanks for that - really enjoyed the extensive review. These have recently popped onto my radar as a potential replacement for our L322 Range Rover. Despite having terrible reps for reliability, ours has been deeply reliable and may never give out! But always good to have a plan B in mind…
Any insight into leg room in the rear, and also how much stuff can you pile into the rear with the back seats folded down?
With the back seats folded down there is a ton of room, and there is a 1/3-2/3 split. the limiter is really the height of the item . Leg room is not bad and I have often transported two adults in the back but I would say six-footers might be challenged. Still, there is plenty of front seat adjustment. Zero problem for kids.Any insight into leg room in the rear, and also how much stuff can you pile into the rear with the back seats folded down?
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