For far too long, the Porsche Panamera was a phenomenal performance machine with a face only a mother could love. With the revised 2017 Porsche Panamera, Stuttgart finally got it right, and the 2018 Panamera Sport Turismo variant seen here pushes that boundary into dead sexy.
If you don’t believe us, listen to our car designer extraordinaire, Robert Cumberford, “This is more like it. In one simple profile revision, from whalelike fastback four-door to tough-looking aerodynamic sport wagon, Porsche’s Panamera has been transformed from a car I wouldn’t want to be seen driving into something I actually could covet.”
The Panamera Sport Turismo will be sold as a 2018 model and hit dealerships later this year. When it comes to the U.S., it will be available with four different engines; a 330-hp turbo V-6, a 462-hp twin-turbo V-6 hybrid, a 440-hp twin turbo V-6, and a 550-hp twin-turbo V-8, all of which will be coupled to Porsche’s all-wheel-drive system.
The base model will be the standard Panamera 4 Sport Turismo, starting at $97,250 and featuring the 330-horsepower single-turbo V-6 engine. Moving up, the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo comes in at $105,050 and features a 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 coupled to an electric motor that develops in total, 462 horsepower. The next rung nets the customer the Panamera 4S Sport Turismo and starts at $110,250 and features a 440 horsepower 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-6. Lastly is the Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo. Starting at $155,050, the car features a 550-horsepower 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8.
However, the storage space and rear jump seats are what people will notice first. Thanks to that longer roofline, the Panamera Sport Turismo now has 18.3 cubic feet of rear compartment space with the seats up. With the seats folded, that space increases to 49 cubic feet. Additionally, as mentioned above, the Panamera Sport Turismo is the first Panamera to include an optional single rear jump seat.
The tailgate itself also has a lower loading edge, coming in at only 24.7 inches.
And, just like the standard Panamera, the Panamera Sport Turismo has one of the coolest active rear-wing designs on the market, Porsche’s Active Aerodynamics (PAA). Under acceleration, the back of the roof extends and is able to angle itself in three distinct stages and generate an additional 110 lbs of downforce on the rear axle.
Up to 105 mph, the spoiler’s “guide element” stays retracted “with an angle of minus 7 degrees,” thus reducing drag and optimizing the car’s efficiency. Putting your foot into it a little more and going above 105 mph, the spoiler “moves into performance position with an angle of plus 1 degree, increasing driving stability and lateral dynamics.” Finally, when in Sport or Sport Plus modes, the spoiler automatically changes to the performance position after only 56 mph and continues working as speeds increase.
Not only does the new active spoiler help the Panamera Sport Turismo’s performance, but PAA can use the spoiler to help “minimize wind noise” when the panoramic roof is open by modulating the wing’s inclination.
The all-new 2018 Panamera Sport Turismo will make its official debut March 7 at the Geneva Motor Show.
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