[DJ]

Teamspeed First Drive: Porsche Panamera GTS
Porsche transforms the Carrera 4S into an unlikely track day weapon.
Text by Peter Burgess- Teamspeed European Editor

What is it? A driver focused version of Porsche’s four-door supercar, arguably topping even the Panamera Turbo

Why do I care? If you want to get the most from your Panamera on the curves as well as the highways, and fancy a little track action, this is the model for you.

How fast is it? 4,806cc V8, 430ps@6,700rpm, 384lb ft@3,500rpm, 0-62mph 4.5sec, 180mph vmax

How much is it? From $109,900

It’s 12 hours before my appointment at the Ascari Race Resort in Spain, that surreal racetrack built by Dutchman Klaas Zwart for his own and friends’ amusement. Porsche has hired the facility for us to drive its new baby.

It’s a bouncing, bonny baby. 4,300 pounds of Panamera, upgraded to make it a more finely balanced machine than the Turbo in circumstances where there are more curves than straightaways.

Sitting next to me in the restaurant some miles away in Malaga is Andreas Jaksch, the Panamera project manager since its inception. He’s a 33-year Porsche man, cutting his teeth in engine development for the 944 2.5 and rising though the ranks to become big cheese on the big saloon.

He’s excited about his new car, which takes the best bits of the naturally aspirated Panamera Carrera 4S and adds a new inlet camshaft and other trickery to gain 30hp and a little more torque. The air suspension sits 10mm (0.4 inch) lower as well, which sounds too little to get excited about, but hey, I guess Andreas knows best.



There’s PASM which adjusts the damping electrically, and the Sport Chrono Pack which as well as the vital (and I am being facetious here) stop watch in the center of the dashboard, gets you the Sports Plus programme that lowers and stiffens the car further still, and adjust the rear spoiler to a more aggressive angle of attack.

That spoiler is the one from the Turbo, four parts with the flip-out ailerons. You can even see it doing its trick in the rear view mirror. There are plenty of other Panamera Turbo hints to the GTS, especially around the front end where bigger scoops help drive the air to the plenum chambers.

Look too for the black exterior detailing, including to the inner bezels of the headlamps plus the new, GTS-only, Carmine Red paintwork. The price is a bargain $109,900. In the UK it’s almost a third more.

We take the road out of the suburban seaside sprawl that is the unpleasant side of the Spanish Costas. The Panamera drives as easily as a limo, as it’s been bred to, slotting into January traffic that feels almost as busy as in July. It takes an age to get to a clear road, but before you know it we are in Ronda and then it’s just a few miles to Ascari.



Porsche is grown up about letting journos drive its cars on the track. We’ve got history together, and sure enough the worst that happens is a bashed cone from (someone else’s) over-exuberance.

Heading out of the pit lane, the V8 is eager beyond expectation, taking off with a guttural roar and freely revving to over 7,000rpm. Peak power is now a heady 6,700rpm, so you have to gun it hard to truly maximise the performance.

Which means a swift grab for the paddle gearshifts before the rev-limiter is reached. In manual transmission mode that’s quite a challenge. Keen as you maybe to drive this car as a manual shifter, the default option is, inevitably, auto. Sport Plus simply packs in the shifts, at exactly the right engine speed, far better than you could ever hope to do.

It’s fast, this Panamera GTS, despite its obvious bulk. And the sound system that forms part of the GTS package makes it seem even faster. The sports exhaust has valves controlled by the driver. Open them – and you really have to – and the GTS sounds simply awesome.



There’s also a ‘Sound Symposer’, seen first in the latest 911, which channels noise from the engine air intake to the car interior for even more involvement. That can be switched off too, and anyway tends to be overwhelmed by the exhaust. People will hear you coming, and no mistake.

It’s undoubtedly easier to make a big car go fast than it is to make it handle well, let alone in a sporting manner befitting something with the Porsche badge. Yet the GTS provides relaxed comfort on the bumpiest of roads but will stiffen sufficiently to make it a highly satisfying track weapon.

That’s the really improbable part of the equation. Sitting in this big sedan, pointing it into corners at 100mph with pin-sharp accuracy and never flinching from the fine line you aim to take. Even transmission changes mid-bend don’t unsettle this Panamera. It’s quite uncanny.

This dynamic prowess is, of course, at least as much the result of the sophisticated electronics as it is of basic design. My test car had the optional active anti-roll bars, which really was the icing on the cake.



Interior
Inside nothing of substance has changed. There is still space and real comfort for four adults and there's a fair though not generous luggage space beneath that big tailgate.

Porsche uses a mix of leather and Alcantara for interiors in the more focussed sports models, to which you can add an Alcantara wheel should you chose. Standard is the simple sports steering wheel with paddle shifters behind. If you want a wheel covered in knobs and switches, you’ll have to accept the old-style button gearchange. Don’t.



The front sports seats have 18 degrees of adjustment – yes 18! – so as well as the usual stuff you can choose how much they grip you around the ribs and thighs. You’ll get really comfortable, but possibly not before you suffer from repetitive strain injury in your fingers.

It’s hard not to like this Panamera, no matter what your feelings are about the style or the engine being at the wrong end. There will be always those for whom the Panamera Turbo is the only model to have, but to my mind Andreas Jaksch is on the right track. The sheer agility of the GTS makes it the surprising winner.

Larger Images:

[asg612]

So good looking - Wish they'd do this to the Cayenne already! If it sounds as good as you say - post up a sound file, pretty please.

Nice work!

asg

[strebo]

Looks great! (and nice move by not showing any from behind pics )

[DJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strebo »

Looks great! (and nice move by not showing any from behind pics )

Strategic! Peter did a great job here with having pics on the track! We love our contributing editors!

[strebo]

We sure do! I'm a big fan of the Panamera so It's all good

[Sweetwater]

Nice review! I want Peter's job!

[20C4S]

anyone think the unpainted side skirts look out of place? kinda a step backward imo.

[umwolverine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 20C4S »

anyone think the unpainted side skirts look out of place? kinda a step backward imo.

I like the 'blacked out' look - consistent with the rest of the car, and makes it look slimmer - not so slab-sided.

[NAPO]

Great review and pictures!

One question though: Why is the GTS over 250lbs heavier than the S?

[NAPO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 20C4S »

anyone think the unpainted side skirts look out of place? kinda a step backward imo.

I completely agree.

I think that the car looks amazing, especially because it's in Guards Red, but the unpainted side skirts make the side of the car look unfinished in some shots.