Porsche Panamera unwrinkled and powered-up

With just over four years having passed since its debut, Porsche has given the second generation Panamera a mid-life refresh with not only a new look and tech, but also upgraded powerunits.

As before, the Panamera will once again be available in sedan and Sport Turismo shooting brake bodystyles, but for the first time as a long wheelbase derivative called the Executive which measures 150 mm longer than the former.

Aesthetically, the entire range now comes as standard with the previously optional Sport Design package, the full width LED taillights from the 911, three new 20 or 21-inch alloy wheel designs that takes the overall wheel choices to ten, and two new colours; Truffle Brown Metallic and Cherry Red Metallic.

The flagship Turbo S meanwhile benefits from larger air intakes on the flanks of the front bumper, a new GT steering wheel and gear paddles, the so-called Turbo headlight modules in order to distinguish it from the rest of the range, a 14-speaker, 710-watt Bose surround sound system and from the options list, a 1 455-watt Burmester 3D audio consisting of 21-speakers and a 400-watt subwoofer.

Starring on the GTS is a blacked-out Sport Design facia, Satin Black 20-inch alloy wheels, sports exhaust system, a darkened Exclusive Design option with black accents, dynamic indicators and on the inside, standard 18-way electrically adjustable sport front seats that are optional on other models.

Inside, the interior changes are minor and limited to an upgraded Porsche Communication Management infotainment system which, amongst others, now comes with wireless Apple CarPlay. On the safety side, all models feature Lane Keep Assist, Traffic Sign Recognition and Night Vision Assist as standard, together with Adaptive Cruise Control, Matrix LED headlights, Park Assist with surround view camera, Heads-Up Display and Lane Change Assist.

Several revisions have also taken placed underneath in the form of a recalibrated chassis and Porsche Active Suspension Management system, as well as improved steering. On the Turbo S, Porsche’s Dynamic Chassis Control system is standard, along with Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus, rear axle steering and the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes which consists of a yellow or black painted ten-piston caliper setup at the front and four at the rear with the discs measuring 420 mm and 410 mm respectively.

Model-wise, the range consists of the unbadged Panamera with or without four-wheel-drive, the S with the same option, the 4S E-Hybrid, GTS and Turbo S with the ‘conventional’ Turbo and Turbo S E-Hybrid no longer offered.

On the base model, the previous 3.0-litre turbo V6 has been dropped in favour of the bi-turbo 2.9-litre V6, whose outputs are unchanged at 243kW/700Nm. The same engine powers the S and 4S, but revised to produce 324kW/550Nm, while in the E-Hybrid, it is mated to a 100 kW electric motor for a combined output of 412kW/750Nm with an all-electric range of 54 km.

A shot in the arm has also been given to the GTS whose 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 now punches out 353 kW instead of 338 kW, although torque is kept at 620 Nm.  The V8 also continues in the Turbo S where it now pumps out 463kW/820Nm as opposed to the Turbo’s 405kW/770Nm. Regardless of the engine or drive wheels, all of the powerunits are mated to the new eight-speed PDK gearbox.

Likely to arrive in South Africa towards the end of this year with final pricing to be announced, the Panamera range, in Germany, kicks-off at €91 345 (R1 826 169) for the base model and tops-out at €179 737 (R3 593 301) for the Turbo S with sales commencing next month.

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