The article was originally produced on 30 July 2019, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo GTS

With the Panamera Sport Turismo GTS, Porsche continues to beat the competition on who can build the world's best sports cars.

From the start, many strongly disliked the Panamera when it was presented in 2009. Not as much as its sibling the Cayenne, but the model was considered large and clumsy compared to the pretty 911. But just like with the Cayenne, the negative voices were silenced by the sales results that for both the models created Porsche's greatness today.

In 2017 came the new and second generation of the Panamera where the shapes landed and the clumsy feeling disappeared. In the same year, the so-called shooting-break version Sport Turismo was also presented. Simply explained, a combi version of the standard model. The term shooting brake originates from 19th-century England and was then a horse-drawn carriage (brake) that was used to ferry a hunting team out hunting. As cars became more common in the early 20th century, some of them were fitted with these special bodies.

From the beginning, many people strongly disliked the Panamera when it was presented in 2009

The name shooting-brake then fell into oblivion and people talked instead about station wagons or mansion cars, but now the original name is back. When it comes to the model designation GTS, it stands for Gran Turismo Sport and when it is used for Porsche models, it is usually the last to be released before a new generation of the model is underway. If this is the case with the Panamera Sport Turismo GTS, I will leave it unsaid because the automotive industry does not always live up to its traditions.

If we are to talk about the shapes again, they feel completely perfect with the Sport Turismo body. The Panamera really excels in this version. Add to that the big black rims shod with fat Michelin rubber. There is a combination of sober sportiness over looks and it is most likely no coincidence. It continues exactly in this way when you open the door and step into the car. Firstly, the doors are stepless and stay where you choose them to stay in the open position. A feature that Aston Martin was the first to apply to production cars. When you then close the door, it is of course with the so-called "soft close" function. The car sucks the door shut for you.

The interior of the Panamera Sport Turismo GTS is dominated by alcantara. The seats, the center console between them, the roof and the steering wheel are covered in this fantastic and luxurious material. As if sitting in the alcantara-covered seats wasn't enveloping enough, you have a multitude of adjustment options that make you literally sit in an alcantara-covered vise.

Even if you don't have that many settings for the rear seats, the space in the back is also in the absolute best class. It is possible to seat three, but then the person in the middle has to sit with one leg on either side of the large center console that runs through the car. Two people, on the other hand, sit almost as well as those in front.

In classic Porsche fashion, you start the car from the left side of the steering wheel. Now with a fixed rotary control instead of a key, as the car naturally has a "key-less" function. When you turn the knob, the eight-cylinder heart of the Panamera Sport Turismo GTS starts up. A four-liter V8 engine with twin turbochargers that generates 460 horsepower. This power is transmitted to all four wheels via the lightning-fast double clutch box.