Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

When Porsche introduced us the second-generation Panamera, it remains a disdain among Porsche traditionalists because this is more of a saloon than what a Porsche should be and behind the ugly looking exterior design comes the beating heart of the Porsche DNA that makes it a four-door supercar that promises everyone to ditch their chauffeurs and drive anywhere they like in this Porsche saloon beyond the limit. With the success of the second-generation Panamera, Porsche wants to do more with the Panamera with the introduction of the first ever Sport Turismo variant.

2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

The Sport Turismo is the shooting brake variant of the second-generation Panamera that was heavily coined from the concept car five years ago and while it features the same exterior design as its saloon derivative, the Sport Turismo is hands down one of the sexiest luxury cars on the market and because it's as sexy as a high school swim meet, you can't help but noticing the alluring silhouette that puts the deceased Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake or the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso into shambles.

2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo interior

The interior boasts the same creature comfort as well as the very complicating dashboard from the saloon but the Sport Turismo is the first Panamera to be offered with three seats, making it essentially a five-seater for the playboys who want a little night at Monaco. While not essentially spacious at the back, the Sport Turismo's boot space is surprisingly 20 litres more than the saloon, meaning there's still more room with some essentials you need for your next visit to the posh hotel or if you're heading to a posh event like an outdoor gala where you'll make everyone seeing stars with all the lights out. It can be a luxury car or can be a family car but because being a Porsche, you don't need to have a chauffeur to experience luxury in a whole new meaning.

2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

At the start, the Panamera Sport Turismo offers the same choice of engines as the saloon version with the queen of the pack goes to the Turbo variant with the 4.0L V8 Twin Turbo engine and with the optional Sport Chrono package, it does 0-100kph in 3.6 seconds and onwards to 304kph. Like the saloon, all models are mated with an 8-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (Double Clutch Gearbox). Of course, because this is a Sport Turismo, many are wandering if this new model still comes with the awesome pop-up retractable wing as seen on the saloon. Well, you can rest easy folks because the Sport Turismo features the first adaptively extendible roof spoiler in the segment which works well if you're driving at the Autobahn.

Like the saloon, the Sport Turismo can get a bit mild and tangy on the handling because of its four-wheel drive drivetrain which is standard on all Sport Turismo models but with the PDCC Sport and the Porsche Traction Management on it, it almost really feels like driving a Subaru WRX on a hot lap at the Nurburgring while escorting a VIP to a posh gala. So it's sporty and luxurious at the same time, not bad for a Porsche. Speaking of escort, it still comes with a wide array of safety tech that will get the escort duty done, including the NVG feature that detects objects after dark.

The Sport Turismo starts at 97,557 euros including VAT and while it's more expensive than the saloon variant, the added boot space and the sexy exterior design that balances the right with the wrong really shows that this shooting brake really means business for Porsche and whether if its taking it on the hot lap around your favorite racetrack or an escort job with a VIP at the back, the Panamera Sport Turismo does it all. It really is the jack of all trades or tirades if you may because with this car, it mixes business and pleasure at a steady pace.

Photo: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG