Yahoo Autos The 2022 Porsche Panamera GTS is Like a V8-Powered, Four-Door 911
A four-door liftback sport sedan is the ultimate type of vehicle; it doesn’t get any better than having something that’s fast, roomy, and sleek. The Porsche Panamera is the best example of this type of car, and the GTS is arguably the sweet spot of the lineup.
(Full disclosure: Porsche lent me a Panamera so I could take my family on a road trip to San Diego.)
Read more
What Is It?
The Panamera lineup is expansive, consisting of a whopping 23 variants split between 15 sedans and seven Sport Turismo wagons. Pricing is equally expansive. Including a $1,350 destination charge, the range starts at $92,400 for the base model and runs all the way up to $200,400 for the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo. The Panamera GTS is just above the midway point in the hierarchy, and importantly, it’s the least expensive way to get a V8 this car. Of course, I’m still talking 1-percenter pricing; the GTS starts at $135,200. And with Porsche’s a-la-carte options structure, the price of my test car rises to $160,330.
Specs That Matter
This V8 is a hell of a powerplant. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine puts out 473 hp and 457 lb-ft of torque. That gets routed through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. It all adds up to some serious performance: The Panamera GTS sedan can hit 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and go on to a top speed of 187 mph.
The best part? It’s a performance car you can actually use. That liftback is a beautiful thing for functionality. There’s 17.6 cubic feet of space in the back with the seats up, but fold them down and that grows to a small-crossover-rivaling 47.3 cubic feet.
How It Drives
The Panamera seriously drives like a long 911. You can take corners at speeds you wouldn’t expect, with super-flat overall composure thanks to Porsche’s Active Suspension Management (PASM) tech. Combined with steering that is dead-on precise, the Panamera GTS is a Porsche through and through.
Despite how good the GTS handles, the ride doesn’t suffer. Even with the adaptive dampers in full-on Sport Plus mode and riding on large, 21-inch gold (“Satin Aurum” according to Porsche) wheels with low-profile summer tires, bumps and road imperfections are totally soaked up. A lot of that can be attributed to the PASM adaptive dampers since they mitigate road imperfections when you’re driving over rough pavement.
When it comes to bringing all the fun down to city speeds, that’s not a problem. This Panamera GTS is equipped with 15.3-inch front and 14.3-inch rear carbon ceramic brakes, a $9,860 option.
