Why the 771HP Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is Still King of the Super Sedans - TheSmokingTire

Hi everyone, welcome to a beautiful autumn morning here, with a Panamera Turbo S, this beautifully colored hybrid in Provence. Provence, yes, they launched this color with the electric Macan. It's a free color and it will be very rare because very few people will take it. Yes, I agree. Yes, the new Panamera Turbo S. I went to Spain to drive the standard Panamera Turbo at the beginning of the year. It was really incredible. And the S adds to that. It has more power. You have standard ceramic brakes, central locking wheels, a standard rear steering, the standard Porsche torque vectoring plus the standard assisted steering. They made the Panamera Turbo more sporty. No, the S means more sporty. You know, it has the differential now instead of the simple braking vector. No, the torque vector. Because you have to have 771 hp and 731 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. It revs from 10,000 rpm to 400 m, which is crazy. Yes, even if this thing is quite big, quite heavy, yes. 2,460 kg, 325 kmh and 7 minutes and 24 seconds in the hands of Lars Karna on the Nürburgring. Wow. Which, in case you're wondering, makes the difference between the Nissan GT-R and the 997 GT of Rupi. And if you remember 2009, it was the beginning of the Nürburgring war on YouTube. The GT-R really launched everything. Yeah, then there was the GT of Rupi, then the Corvette Z06, and it revved all around 720 kmh. And that's it. The big luxury sedans do that. It's crazy, it's a crazy time, completely crazy. The base price of the Panamera Turbo S is $226,000. And this one, a little more? $250,000. Yes, very expert specifications. Among the essential options, we find the Sport Design pack, which includes all black finishes. It costs $6,500. It's pretty expensive, especially with the gray TurboWritte trims around the standard windows. But you also have to pay an extra for the black headlights that are added to the Sport Design finish. It has $25,000 of options, but it costs almost as little as $1,000. Just the volume. It has a huge volume of options. The most expensive option is the night vision at $2,400, which is pretty nice, you have to admit. And the best value for money? The Papita seat inserts. Zero. The rear seat, on the other hand, has improved rear seats. It has the $1,000 improved. Yes, the cushions cost a few hundred dollars. Yes, there are the Chinese head cushions. Yes. So, it's extremely powerful and very hybrid. Suddenly, the driving is silent in electric mode. We have a bigger battery that claims an autonomy of 80 km, which I think according to what I tested yesterday before coming here. And an impressive top speed of 140 km per hour in electric mode. It's damn high. No. The electric motor is interspersed between the V8 and the PDK gearbox, which ensures several functions. First, the electric motor being at the front of the box, it passes the gears like a classic engine. So, no need to run the engine at full speed, which would make the program on the highway very inefficient. No. And then, no need to compromise to have a very large, let's say, gear. No. And then, we don't have all the acceleration at low speed. So, when we were driving this car, by pressing the accelerator, the shock, as soon as we press there. Accelerator, the shock behind you is so powerful because it uses all its ratios and we keep the full transmission. It's not as if the engines only powered two of its wheels, even in electric mode. And the star-stop function, in particular the freewheel mode, where the engine turns off on the highway to drive in freewheel, then turns on, as we learned earlier, is so soft. No seam is an euphemism. We don't feel it. We don't hear it. And we tested it in different modes, at different speeds, all constant. It was really incredible. So, but that's not why we come here. It's more sport. So, we're going to switch to manual mode. We change the speeds ourselves. This concludes the scientific part of your education. And we're going to release the top, and it reaches the red line in manual mode. The engine was so soft, I didn't realize I was 500 TR, a mile below the red line. And then I pressed there. It allowed us to notice several things. First, you need a sport exhaust because you don't hear the exhaust. Even with the windows down, we said to ourselves, wow, the exhaust is well lit. Secondly, there is no additional exhaust noise in the speakers. Thirdly, there is no warning light approaching the red line. Thirdly, there are only the control panel lights that light up in a certain way. But if you don't look at it, you look at the road. We both reached the red line, and it's a hard wall. It's true, but damn, this car is fast. Really fast. Same engine as the Bentley GT Speed that I just drove for the title of car performance of the year. It develops 8Nm more torque. You can really feel it. You have to pack all these bags by hand because it's so much heavier. But it's also a little softer than that, isn't it? This car gives off a little more sporty feeling, even with its incredible hydraulic suspension. The suspension is incredible. Each corner has its own hydraulic pump. No safety bump, and each pump receives a signal to accelerate or slow down. That's why it has this incredible function of tilting in the corners or staying perfectly flat. I'm so impressed by the computer's reaction time, almost like with the stop and start system. The pump is so fast that you don't feel it. There's no delay, unlike... A GT, a Cayman or a 911, this car is not only focused on commitment and sensations. Even if, compared to other cars in its category, it is certainly at the forefront of technology. It goes through any road at an incredible speed. Several times during the last 24 hours, I underestimated my speed by several tens of kilometers per hour. I think I'm driving at 90 or 110 km per hour, and finally I'm driving at 140, 160 km per hour, or more. I think I'm driving at 55 or 60 km per hour on a canyon road, and I'm driving at 110 km per hour. It is simply incredible the speed at which this car can go through the terrain without any effort. It is a concentrate of technology, but it also offers a more insulating windscreen. So, once again, this car is so quiet that it masks the noise of the engine and the speed of the wind, and the driving is really pleasant. Even with its relatively large wheels and its small tires, you don't feel the bumps a lot. You may hear a few of them, but all of this allows you to go very, very quickly without really noticing. The hydraulic suspension is incredible, and Zach Klappmann will show you. But when you go out to change drivers, what will happen when I open the door, is that the vehicle will rise 10 cm to its access height, which makes it closer to a crossover to enter and exit, then return to the driving height when I close the door. Matt opens the door again. It's really crazy. And open. And in fact, the problem is that when you open the door from the outside, you have to, we know what happened several times during the first turbo start. I opened it and it almost hit my chin. You know, I'm gone. If you want to see a good demonstration, a visual demonstration of the hydraulic suspension, watch my video on the Panamera Turbo from a few months ago. Porsche has installed really nice obstacles to show how different it is. And also the range of motion. If you look at the car get up and get down, the wheels are bouncing 12 or 15 cm. On this obstacle, it was incredible to see the whole system dance. Yes, the articulation was important. I would have liked there to be a little more buttons. There is a little too much touch screen, a little less buttons. We are getting closer to the problem of too many screens, not enough buttons. They claim they are the last ones. Bastion, no. And then, at least, the steering wheel is there. Air conditioning and the volume button is the only button. I mean, on the steering wheel, please, if you have to put buttons on the steering wheel, it has to be real buttons. No haptic sensation on the steering wheel. I think this era has changed. It's the worst. So this car, as you explained, does two things, doesn't it? In comfort mode, it leans like a fighter plane in the corner. Well, switch to comfort mode very quickly. It will be flat in all safety. I don't want to stop you from driving in sport mode, but in this corner, here's a good example. It's a tight corner and you'll really feel it. Wow, and that too. So, I had the indicator that went up and then when you braked, the wind got up. And in fact, the brake somehow pressed against my foot more interestingly because it made this helicopter which is a really weird and cool feeling. Let's see. The helicopter is really more for the passengers than for the driver to minimize the undesirable G forces of someone who drives fast on a winding road. Yeah, it's just about keeping your seat, I guess, as optimal and flat as possible. Yeah. Uh, let's see what it looks like in these corners. However, it's comfort mode. Yes, it feels like the front of the corner is sinking a little. Yeah. In comfort mode. We could still slide. For example, if we were driving at 84 on this road. It would still be crazy. So dangerous. But we would stay calm and serene. So now, I put the sport mode back on. The car goes down a little and it's just great, it's so fast. I'm trying to find new words, but it's a little early in the morning, but the power is delivered with an immediacy that is honestly rare, even in our time. It's almost the top of the hybrid motorizations I've driven. Many people realize that hybridization has many advantages. Of course, weight and complexity are disadvantages, but once we found how to hide the weight thanks to a performing chassis, we instantly get a lot of power. Yes, the steering is not terrible, I must say. It's not an RS or even a sports car, but for me, it's too light. We almost have the impression that there is no bodywork or pinching, we have the impression that it is disconnected. Yes. Well, according to Porsche standards, it's probably one of the least sporty cars we're going to drive at 100%. It weighs 2,260 kg. But what's incredible is that with the rear steering, it has the same steering angle as an M2, and its wheelbase is 20 cm longer. It's a 500 cm long car. Yes. Well, between the weight, the hydraulic suspension, the rear steering, the hybrid transmission, there are so many factors that interfere between the driver and the road. Yes. You know, it would be so difficult to get a feeling of natural direction with all this. Yes. With the magic suspension that changes the height, which constantly changes the alignment. Yes. You know, I'm sure Porsche engineers wonder, how hot do you want it to be? Yes. But damn, on the highway or on the road, I mean, on the real open road like in rural Montana, it would be just perfect. Oh yes. You could sit with this thing at 240 km per hour, very, very comfortably, relaxed and attentive, and it would just be the most efficient machine. Absolutely. And now, Clapman, imagine this motor group in a Bentley GT suit and imagine how pleasant it is. Absolutely, yo, absolutely. It's a rather perfect luxury motor group, given our time. The marriage of Porsche engineering with the style and the Bentley interior is a real treat. The new Bentley GT looks a lot like what many people dream of a Porsche 928. That's basically it. And it's expensive, but it's... quite impressive. Listen, this brand clearly masters driving, dynamics and all that, and you took racing technologies, but you perfectly integrated them into luxury. I mean, I don't want a more flexible driving than that. For example, when we drove here, we drove on a highway with a lot of cracks and others, and I may have heard through the tires, but I didn't really feel them. They didn't disturb the car. And if it was flexible, much more flexible than that, like a Rolls Royce or something like that, it wouldn't even be fun on this road. It would be way too soft. I asked Porsche, in Spain, for the classic turbo launch. I said, you know, this obstacle where the wheels turn like that, I said that I always felt the car do that and that I expected not to feel anything. They said they had the technology to make sure you don't feel anything, but it wouldn't be Porsche. So it's possible that the new Bentley Flying Spur does that or something like that, and in a way, they implied that it was possible, but with a Porsche, you have to feel the road a little bit, even if most of the time, we adjust it. I agree. So, the competition is interesting. There is only one car in fact. I think it's the Mercedes S638. And I didn't drive it and you drove it. I drove it. Dynamically, it's so much better. The rear steering is excellent. It's almost fluid. As I said in this video, I complained that the Mercedes setting was just bad. We recently drove this AMG GT, the new one. It was good. So, if they could update the S class with this software, it would be great. But the S class also has electric motors at the rear, it takes volume in the trunk and it has a 2-speed gearbox. The acceleration is not as immediate as in this car. Yeah, so, dynamically, it's a little better. I would say that I find that the interior of the Mercedes, apart from the giant tablet, has a little more style, but it's really their stylistic language compared to that of Porsche. Yeah. And the only thing that really repels me in this car, apart from its exorbitant price, are the central locking rims. Yeah. It's really cool on a GT. Well, I understand. But on an everyday car, it could become annoying compared to the advantages that we take away from it. And, well, it's a big drawback. Because it's a good car for traveling, but if you're traveling and you break a tire, and you're not nearby, I guess it's delivered with a central airlock, but most garages don't have one. So, you can't change a tire anywhere, can you? You need a ski carrier to carry the long key. Okay. It's a small car, but you know, it's an everyday car. It's not a weekend toy with which you never go far from home. Yeah. We only have it for one day, so we didn't live with it. It's limited. I hope they'll give us another one with which we can play for a week for maybe a more in-depth evaluation. Thank you for watching and listening to our podcast. We won't talk about it in detail there. See you next time. And don't forget, always contest your contraventions on the Off The Record app, available on Android and iOS, or go to offtherecord.com.t