While Porsche claiming a lap record is hardly likely to be groundbreaking news these days, you might just remember the Panamera Turbo S at Road Atlanta a few years back. Yes, very niche, and it can be hard to recall last month at the moment, but the image of an orange Panamera oversteering to an exit kerb, heat haze surrounding it and Cup 2s on the ragged edge was pretty memorable.
As was a 1:31.51 lap, a couple of seconds ahead of even the Taycan equivalent at the time. But as the EV has evolved - the Turbo GT recently clocked a 1:27.15 - so the Panamera must get faster also. That’s the Porsche way. Now it has returned to Georgia and the awesome Road Atlanta, with the new third-gen Panamera in Turbo S E-Hybrid trim - all 782hp of it, against 630hp before - plus a set of Michelin Cup 2s once more. They even ensured a funky spec again, with Oak Green Metallic Neo over Espresso Club Leather.
The result? 1:30.98, or just over half a second faster than the old car. So the Panamera resets the record at Road Atlanta for this sort of vehicle (not that many others have attempted it). But nothing goes to show how hard it is to move another 285kg - the old Turbo S kerbweight was 2,080kg; this one is 2,365kg - like a laptime. Even the help of another 150hp can only do so much. Active Ride will likely have helped out as well - 2.5 tonnes of Porsche looks pretty damn composed on the race track, even if the tyres are howling for mercy throughout. But half a second is just half a second.
Patrick Long was on driving duty for the lap. He said: “The new generation Panamera is so much more seamless in the regen and boost transition, it makes it very easy to get right up to the edge… When you think about how much braking is part of high-performance driving, the fact you can make energy for acceleration while improving stopping power is such a positive attribute, and one that you can use both on and off the track.” Every half second counts, after all. We have some time, albeit just on road, behind the wheel of a Turbo S E-Hybrid in the UK next month. It’ll have to be something very special indeed to prove more alluring than the old car. But then you know Porsche…
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