Sporty Yet Sensible

Yes, It’s a Porsche, but Jez Spinks Finds the Famously Sporty Brand’s Panamera Turbo Is Also a Grown-up Luxury Sedan for Grown-ups.
 

Porsche was among the supercar brands plastering ‘turbo’ decals across the flanks of its cars in the 1980s – a literal approach to pointing out the speed at the owner’s disposal.

Such conspicuous stickers would fit into today’s environmentally conscious era about as well as Spandex pants or a perm.

They would also be a contradiction for the relatively sensible Porsche Panamera Turbo which, while it may have oodles of power, also features four doors, an engine positioned ahead of the driver rather than slung behind the rear axle, and aims to lure high-end executives away from high-performance limousines.

The original Panamera released in 2009 also allowed the brand’s more religious followers – desperate for a more practical alternative to the 911 – to avoid the sin of the Cayenne SUV, though the sedan’s awkward, ungainly styling made it similarly controversial.

Porsche’s designers clearly learned their lesson, as the new-generation model is a sleeker, more cohesive shape that also cleverly disguises an increase to what were already substantial dimensions.

The near-two-metre rear end has an especially dramatic, squat profile – and bears the relatively discreet ‘turbo’ badge. Porsche’s Turbo models are no longer exclusively turbocharged in the manufacturer’s showroom, of course, yet the five letters still represent mighty performance.