Really clever engineering can defy the laws of physics. If you want proof, here it is in the metal. Thanks to fantastic steering and an astonishing lack of body roll on fast, flowing roads, this two-tonne, five-seat Luxury estate segment contender feels almost as agile as a Porsche 911. Or at least it does when specified with all of the brand's expensive dynamic drive technology. There's a lot of it - adaptive anti-roll bars, 'PTV' torque vectoring and a rear-axle steering system are amongst the highlights. 'PASM' adaptive damping is standard, but most Panamera customers embellish it with the optional air suspension set-up.
You're going to want to know about the changes made to this revised model, as before only offered with AWD. Well, the previous top 'Turbo' model has been replaced by an even faster one, the 'Turbo S', which gets a re-tuned version of the car's 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 producing 630PS and capable of the 62mph sprint in just 3.1s. There's a new electrified PHEV variant too, the Panamera 4S E-Hybrid, which mates a 2.9-litre twin turbocharged V6 with a 136PS electric motor creating a combined system output of 560PS - enough to get you to 62mph in just 3.7s. Yet thanks to a larger 17.9kWh lithium-ion battery, this plug-in hybrid Porsche can now manage 33.5 miles of all-electric driving. If you can't quite stretch to that, there's a lesser Panamera 4 E-Hybrid variant available with a similar but slightly de-tuned version of the same powertrain and a system output of 462PS. Or if you want more, there's the V8 Turbo S E-Hybrid, with 700PS. Otherwise, the range is familiar from before; no diesels of course. And a starting point of a 2.9-litre V6 developing 330PS in the Panamera 4 variant - and 440PS in the Panamera 4S. Bridging the gap to that top Turbo S variant is the V8 GTS variant, which offers 480PS.
