Porsche Panamera Turbo S
In what is becoming common practice, especially among German automakers, Porsche introduced its Panamera Turbo S four-door luxury sedan on the Web on Wednesday, three weeks ahead of its formal debut scheduled for April 20 at the New York auto show. The new Turbo S is the most powerful version and, of course, the most expensive one as well. On the US market sales will begin later this spring with an MSRP of $173,200.
Taking the standard Turbo as its base, Porsche has uprated the 4.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with improved turbos with titanium-aluminium turbine wheels and modified engine management software. The result is 550bhp, up from 500bhp in the regular Turbo. Torque also jumps 50Nm to 750Nm in normal running, but this is increased to 800Nm when the Sport and Sport Plus modes of the standard Sport Chrono Package are selected. Porsche says that the Panamera Turbo S is capable of reaching 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds as well as a top speed of 190 mph, all while returning an estimated 15/23 mpg.
The Panamera Turbo S comes standard with several other performance packages that are optional on other trim levels, including Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDDC), which reduces body roll when cornering, Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus), which can vary the amount of torque sent to each rear wheel, Sport Chrono Package Turbo, which alters engine and suspension response, Servotronic speed-sensitive steering and a sport exhaust system.
Exterior clues to the car’s sporting intentions include new 20-inch wheels, side skirts and an adaptive four-way extending rear spoiler.
The spacious Porsche hatchback remains the second-fastest sedan in the VW Group. The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed has a top speed of 200 mph, and that’s not likely to change for a while, at least until the Bugatti Galibier comes to market.
