RE: Porsche Panamera Turbo S Revealed
Wednesday 30th March 2011
Porsche has unveiled a new range-topping Panamera Turbo S, the addition of that last letter taking the super-saloon's power up to 542bhp - and its price up to a wallet-emptying £122,263.
According to Porsche, this extra poke comes courtesy of tweaked engine management, and titanium-aluminium turbine wheels for the turbochargers. This reduces the weight of the turbine and compressor wheel, which results in a lower moment of inertia
Attention has been paid to the visuals, too, with 20-inch Turbo II alloy wheels with increased rear axle track width, side skirts from the Porsche Exclusive range and an adaptive extending four-way rear spoiler fitted as standard. Inside, there is two-colour leather upholstery as standard, with two new optional combinations of (black/cream and agate grey/cream) exclusively for the new Panamera Turbo S available from the autumn.
Porsche Panamera Turbo S Revealed
Flagship 542bhp super-saloon hits the streets this June
That's almost £20k more than the 'regular' Panamera Turbo, but for your money you do get an extra 49bhp and 553lb ft of torque (up 37lb ft), stretching to a deeply chunky 590lb ft on over-boost, should you choose to specify the Sport Chrono package.
That results in a 0-62mph sprint for the all-wheel-drive machine of a mere 3.8secs (an improvement of 0.4secs over the standard Turbo) and a top speed of 191mph (up 3mph). What might be a little galling for Turbo owners, however, is that this extra pace doesn't come at the expense of fuel economy; the Turbo S records exactly the same 24.6mpg on the official combined cycle as the regular Turbo.
But what else do you get for your extra £20k? Well, there's Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), which is an active anti-roll system, as standard.
Accompanying PDCC in the Panamera Turbo S's acronym land is PTV Plus. This, although it sounds like something you can get on Sky, is actually Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus and applies a variable torque split to the rear wheels. Porsche says that this, "in combination with an electronically controlled rear limited slip differential, ensures superior traction and therefore greater agility in every driving situation". So there you go.
The Panamera Turbo S itself goes on sale in June.
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Discussion
Good grief, the standard turbo is already an absolute rocket ship. I was stunned at how fast it is when I tried one a little while ago and amazed at its composure and crushing speed when on a long journey. It is one of those cars that puts your driving license at risk.
A turbo S is overkill. Completely unnecessary on UK roads. And for that reason alone it is a wonderful thing.
I even admit to going against the fashionable mood and confessing that I like the way it looks, too.
A turbo S is overkill. Completely unnecessary on UK roads. And for that reason alone it is a wonderful thing.
I even admit to going against the fashionable mood and confessing that I like the way it looks, too.
myhandle said:
Here comes the abuse ... waiting for the flood of criticism ... it's coming just as sure as the dawn!
Indeed, no doubt a crowd of sheep will be along here any moment.I cannot comprehend how or why the Panamera attracts such criticism for its styling when EVERY SINGLE DAY we have to endure the sight of fish-mouthed ugly Peugeots all over the place, without hardly a mention of how utterly ugly they are.
It is baffling and irrational to single out the Panamera when there are so many, such a vast majority of cars on our roads, that are both considerably uglier and many, many times more common.
toppstuff said:
I cannot comprehend how or why the Panamera attracts such criticism for its styling when EVERY SINGLE DAY we have to endure the sight of fish-mouthed ugly Peugeots all over the place, without hardly a mention of how utterly ugly they are.
It is baffling and irrational to single out the Panamera when there are so many, such a vast majority of cars on our roads, that are both considerably uglier and many, many times more common.
Firstly, the Panamera is far uglier than most of Peugeot's range, although obviously I'll concede that they're ugly too. Secondly it costs rather more money so people expect more from it. When people are spending 120k on a car, they typically don't want something that "looks better than the worst Peugeots". It is baffling and irrational to single out the Panamera when there are so many, such a vast majority of cars on our roads, that are both considerably uglier and many, many times more common.
I struggle to get to more than five currently available cars which look worse than the Porsche.
I'd happily buy one if I was after that kind of car, looks have never been high on my list of priorities. It is still, however, extraordinarily ugly.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 30th March 11:30
A Turbo S with Sport Design package will look alright, i think.
I've driven a Turbo, and it was internal organ curshingly quick, and capable in the bends.
Plus there's actual room in the back, something which can't be said of the Aston Rapide.
4 up to Le Mans, there is no finer car than this.
I've driven a Turbo, and it was internal organ curshingly quick, and capable in the bends.
Plus there's actual room in the back, something which can't be said of the Aston Rapide.
4 up to Le Mans, there is no finer car than this.
kambites said:
Firstly, the Panamera is far uglier than most of Peugeot's range, although obviously I'll concede that they're ugly too. Secondly it costs rather more money so people expect more from it. When people are spending 120k on a car, they typically don't want something that "looks better than the worst Peugeots".
I struggle to get to more than five currently available cars which look worse than the Porsche.
I'd happily buy one if I was after that kind of car, looks have never been high on my list of priorities. It is still, however, extraordinarily ugly.
I could not disagree more, sir !I struggle to get to more than five currently available cars which look worse than the Porsche.
I'd happily buy one if I was after that kind of car, looks have never been high on my list of priorities. It is still, however, extraordinarily ugly.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 30th March 11:30
I would say that the vast majority of modern cars on the road are either uglier than the Porsche or so bland that they contribute nothing and are instantly forgotten, as they all look the same.
The Porsche looks the way it does because it is designed for a purpose. Comparisons to the Aston Rapide are pointless and stupid - the Aston is simply not capable of transporting grown-up people in the back. The Porsche is. Take an Aston Rapide ( held up as a thing of beauty by many ) and extend the roofline so that there is some proper headroom in the back and you would end up with a car that looks not unlike the Panamera...
Porsche could have shortened the roofline and compromised the rear room, but they did not. The Panamera is in a class of one , really. It is no effective competitor, other than perhaps an AMG Mercedes.
toppstuff said:
I would say that the vast majority of modern cars on the road are either uglier than the Porsche or so bland that they contribute nothing and are instantly forgotten, as they all look the same.
I guess that's why they say Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. toppstuff said:
The Porsche looks the way it does because it is designed for a purpose. Comparisons to the Aston Rapide are pointless and stupid - the Aston is simply not capable of transporting grown-up people in the back. The Porsche is. Take an Aston Rapide ( held up as a thing of beauty by many ) and extend the roofline so that there is some proper headroom in the back and you would end up with a car that looks not unlike the Panamera...
Porsche could have shortened the roofline and compromised the rear room, but they did not. The Panamera is in a class of one , really. It is no effective competitor, other than perhaps an AMG Mercedes.
I agree entirely, but that has absolutely nothing to do with whether the car is ugly or not. I fully understand why the car is ugly, but it's still ugly. Porsche could have shortened the roofline and compromised the rear room, but they did not. The Panamera is in a class of one , really. It is no effective competitor, other than perhaps an AMG Mercedes.
In many ways I admire the Panamera in the same way I admire the Fiat Multipla. A car that's very good at what it was designed to do, where the manufacturer wasn't afraid to produce a visually awful car in order to create a functionally good one. Although for what it's worth, I actually think the Multipla is a better looking car than the Panamera. Both of those two cars would be at the top of my shopping list if I was in the market for a car in their sector, but that doesn't change the fact that they're both ugly.
kambites said:
Certainly an impressive piece of engineering, but it's still one of the ugliest cars on sale. I can definitely see the appeal if you want a properly fast four-seater, and don't care about the looks, though.
And why do people insist on calling it a "saloon", it's a hatchback!
Because calling it a fastback sounds silly - as does calling a £122k 550bhp car a 'hatchback'!And why do people insist on calling it a "saloon", it's a hatchback!
I know it has a hatch, but it just sounds wrong to describe it as such. If you can think of a better compromise than 'super-saloon' i'll gladly pop it in
(Would super-fastback do? Or how about super-exec? Maybe not...)
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