Porsche's luxurious hatchback sedan continues to hold to the company's traditional traits of fantastic driving performance, all-around civility and usability, and supreme materials quality and build integrity. It just does so in a fairly large, very accommodating package.
What's New for 2016
The Edition models are Porsche's take on a value package for the Panamera. A meaningful list of equipment that is optional on the base Panamera or Panamera 4 -- including PASM adjustable suspension, the Dynamic Light System, Park Assist, a lovely two-tone black and tan interior, 14-way power seats and seat heaters front and rear -- is made standard. Other Panamera models carry over unchanged.
Choosing Your Porsche Panamera
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There are currently fourteen varieties of the Panamera available on Porsche's menu. One of these, the Panamera S E-Hybrid, is different enough from the others to warrant separate consideration and its own post. One other, the Panamera Exclusive Series, was limited to a run of 100 individual cars which sold out 48 hours after being made available. No, we don't know why it's still listed either.
This leaves us with twelve distinct cars that answer to the Panamera name. They vary by engine type, number of driven wheels, and even body length; the Executive cars are stretched by 5.9 inches to open up even more room for the already-spacious rear seats, which are also now power-adjusted. In order from least to most powerful and by price (not including the $995 destination fee) within those groups:
- Panamera: 310-horsepower 3.6-liter, rear-wheel drive, $78,100.
- Panamera Edition: 310-horsepower 3.6-liter V6, rear-wheel drive, upgraded standard equipment, $80,000.
- Panamera 4: 310-horsepower 3.6-liter V6, all-wheel drive, $82,800.
- Panamera 4 Edition: 310-horsepower 3.6-liter V6, all-wheel drive, upgraded standard equipment, $84,300.
- Panamera S: 420-horsepower turbocharged 3-liter V6, all-wheel drive, PASM standard, $93,200.
- Panamera 4S: 420-horsepower turbocharged 3-liter V6, all-wheel drive, PASM standard, $98,300.
- Panamera 4S Executive: 420-horsepower turbocharged 3-liter V6, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, increased length, 4-zone climate control, $125,600.
- Panamera GTS: 440-horsepower 4.8-liter V8, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, 18-way seats, $113,400.
- Panamera Turbo: 520-horsepower turbocharged 4.8-liter V8, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, keyless ignition, $141,300.
- Panamera Turbo Executive: 520-horsepower turbocharged 4.8-liter V8, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, increased length, 4-zone climate control, $161,100.
- Panamera Turbo S: 570-horsepower turbocharged 4.8-liter V8, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, PCCB ceramic brakes standard, upgraded interior, $180,300.
- Panamera Turbo S Executive: 570-horsepower turbocharged 4.8-liter V8, all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, PCCB ceramic brakes standard, increased length, upgraded interior, 4-zone climate control, $200,500.
(There will be a quiz in ten minutes.)
Various other equipment upgrades and trim changes are naturally included within this progression. Regardless of powerplant or driveline, all Panameras use Porsche's excellent 7-speed PDK semi-automatic transmission and contain an extensive amount of high-quality standard equipment including navigation and satellite radio.
After settling on a particular model the buyer must then face off against Porsche's overwhelming option list, which includes features ranging from PDCC active suspension ($5,000) to a monumentally powerful 16-speaker Burmester sound system ($5,890) to leather-trimmed climate control vents ($2,505). We strongly recommend spending serious time with Porsche's online configurator, which is among the best in the business and is invaluable in helping to sort through the dizzying array of choices.
Underlying this exercise in contemplative purchasing is one of the finest cars in the world, an individualistic and luxurious and extremely capable machine with an intriguing sense of character. Porsches have never totally conformed to mainstream guidelines even as they've become mainstream status symbols, and the Panamera's unique shape and endurance-racer genetic structure set it apart in the best way.
It may not pack the absolute thrust of the Turbo models and may be both slightly more expensive and slightly less efficient than the S, but get the GTS -- and its ripping, glorious naturally aspirated V8 -- while you can.