Quite some years ago, I was visiting the AutoRAI with my father.
I just got my driving license, and my father showed me the very first Porsche Cayenne.
A Porsche SUV.
The naive me screamed it was blasphemy, because it was ridiculous Porsche turned their attention to SUV's.
It was a sports car manufacturer after all.
Of course, I had as much leverage as every other human being...
which today complain about the BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, calling it the downfall of BMW.
In reality, it's one of the best selling models in the Netherlands.
Nope, it doesn't work like that. Porsche introduced the Cayenne which was a huge success,
they introduced the Panamera which was a huge success, and since they've introduced the Macan,
they aren't a sports car manufacturer anymore. Nowadays Porsche is a car manufacturer which also produces sports cars.
Because of the Macan, they sell more non-sports cars than sports cars.
And this is the next step. Porsche calls it the Panamera Sport Turismo.
When you look at it, you might be able to call it shooting brake,
because it's quite low, but actually it's a Porsche station wagon.
So, the differences then. Of course, the rear had to be changed quite a bit.
The aerodynamics had to be changed, the cool retractable spoiler has been moved to the roof,
that still adapts itself according to the speed.
In the rear you no longer have two seats, instead you can now seat three people.
I'll have to admit, the third person might have to adjust a little,
because the big centre console has remained, so he'll have to rearrange his legs.
Still, it's got seat belts, so you can seat three.
If you still want the limousine, you can also choose for two separate seats.
It'll inevitably cost you.
Also, what stands out: the roofline isn't as sloped anymore.
So no matter how low the car is, I've got enough headroom.
Legroom is also very good, look at my knees. My feet also have enough space.
I expected worse in a car like this, so I'm impressed.
Because of the new rear, the luggage space increased by 50 litres.
That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you put down the seats,
which is also possible, you get 1350 litres.
And that's a lot. Even for a car like this.
That makes it just as practical as a Porsche Cayenne.
We're driving, so let's tackle the most important question immediately.
Does the Sport Turismo drive really different than the limousine? The answer is no.
I'd have to drive them both next to each other, racing them through corners at 180 km/h to find out if the extra weight has any impact.
If I'm driving it like this, I don't really notice any difference.
The active air suspension in this car is so good. It really evens out everything.
You can tackle corners at high speeds, it remains stable.
Even when you're in the back, I've been in the back seat for quite some kilometres just to test that.
Long roads, bumps... You might think the sporty Panamera is going to bounce around,
but it's nothing like that in the rear. Porsche has really done a good job of combining refinement on the long run,
with fantastic dynamic qualities.
In the limousine-segment there is nothing, and I mean nothing at all,
which comes even close to what this car can do.
It really is a sports car. You can go onto a circuit.
It can corner at such high speeds. The handling at 250+ km/h...
It's almost unimaginable.
And with this, Porsche is tapping into a market.
A car which offers you so much family quality, in combination with this amount of dynamics.
What would be a suitable rival for this car? An Audi RS6?
I can get into that. Power, station wagon.
Or an E63 Estate? Same story.
Those cars are quick as hell and look pretty good, but they're way too heavy.
Those cars aren't real fun to drive or anything, because of their weight.
They're pretty good if you consider their weight, but if you were to visit circuits with them...
Let me put it this way; Doing more than one lap with those tires and brakes is going to be problematic.
But a Panamera... The cliché of a car which shrinks around you...
It's a pretty big car, but when you're here in front...
You don't notice anything.
I'm not going to say it's like a 911, because that's a lot better,
but take a BMW 3-Series for example. Or rather a 4-Series.
A 335i, or 340i. Cornering in those cars is similar.
But consider this car is way bigger...
Yeah... The drive really is sublime.
Let's talk positioning then, because what does Porsche want to do with this car?
It's quite simple actually. Just like with the Cayenne, they want people to choose Porsche's as their first cars.
It's nice that people buy 911's as extra cars, they do 10.000 kilometres a year if you're lucky.
Maybe a service.
But if people buy a car as their primary car, they do about 30.000 to 70.000 kilometres a year.
That means people visit the dealer more often, they change the tyres more often, more services...
Cars which are more useful. You want people to drive those cars a lot.
The Cayenne first tapped into that market, the Panamera and Macan followed.
But if you review the model range of Porsche, what do the customers need/miss?
Well, a limousine or a low car which carries a lot of people. And that's what they meant to create with this Sport Turismo.
It fits a lot of luggage, you can carry the kids very decently,
even if you've got three of them. The one in the middle shouldn't get to big though.
So there's more chance that people are going to pass on the 'usual' BMW 5-Series, or even the 7-Series.
People are going to say; "I've already got a 911, which I'm happy about. My wife already has a Macan, which she's happy about.
I'm going to buy a Sport Turismo as a daily driver." That way Porsche reaches a lot of new customers,
they can grow even further in the number of sold cars, and people who are satisfied with their cars.
That's when you're in.
Sure, I can share some details about the Panamera, but it's really sublime.
Multimedia is almost fully controlled by a touchscreen, which needs some getting used to.
I mean the fan is controlled electronically, and I don't like that.
It's like you having a fan at home which you control by phone, you should be able to that by hand.
Other than that? Everything is right, it all works.
The gearbox then. PDK reacts very good.
The suspension settings go from Sport to Sport Plus. Nothing complicated, just a simple button on the steering wheel like in the 918.
It all works flawlessly.
The only drawback is that if you want the car like you want the car, with leather and multimedia and the suspension techniques...
Porsche Stability Management and such... It's going to cost you.
Extra options will cost you about €50.000 before it gets fun.
People who are able to buy this car, probably won't care a lot about the extra pricing.
My tip however, just go for the base version.
It sounds stupid, it it'll still produce 330 horsepower.
That's easily sufficient in the Netherlands. If you want the "S"-version,
you get a biturbo V6 instead of a single turbo V6. It's also found in the new RS5.
That'll produce more than 400 horsepower. Also nice.
Right now I'm driving the Panamera Turbo, producing 550 horsepower.
It's great, don't get me wrong. 0-100 in 3,7 and a top speed of over 300 km/h.
There are days in which I don't need that speed. Believe me,
if you've got 330 horsepower, please save your money for the options.
With that, you've got a great total package.
For the people who say 'I want more', they're probably able to pay for more as well.
Just get the fully loaded version, would be my advice.