2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo Executive

Porsche is not above making itself look slightly ridiculous. The brand that sealed its reputation with miniature speedsters and beetle-shaped sports cars—you know, the marque that won Le Mans 19 times—now makes this super-juiced 17-foot-long airport barge for rich swells striding off their Citation X airplanes after quick nips to tech confabs in Aspen. In case any bystanders are wondering who is aboard, it’s written right on the C-pillar in cursive chrome script: executive. All lowercase. Best to whisper it slow and in a husky voice: “exxx-ecuuutivvvve!”

A chauffeur-driven Porsche being, by definition, an absurdity, the specs for the Panamera Turbo Executive push beyond that and into the surreal. There are 122 inches in the wheelbase—10 feet and change between axles—of this stretched Panamera, as well as 550 horsepower from its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and a sticker price, before options, of $161,050. And no, that does not make this the most expensive base price at Porsche; that honor goes to the new 911 GT2 RS, with its starting price of $294,250.

Indeed, you may be able to live without our test car’s carbon-ceramic brakes ($8960), Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control with Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus ($5000), massaging and ventilated front seats ($4060), the rumbly Sport exhaust system with silver-finished tailpipes ($3490), the somewhat incongruous Sport Chrono package ($2530), or the variety of other options that together totaled more than $30,000 on this car, resulting in a final price of $191,480. You can even get the long-wheelbase Executive treatment with the turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 for a price containing only five digits, before options: $97,350. That’s for the Panamera 4 Executive; add an S to that name to get the 4S with its twin-turbo 2.9-liter V-6, which starts at $114,950. Additionally, the long wheelbase is available on both plug-in-hybrid Panameras: the 462-hp 4 E-Hybrid ($105,150) and the 680-hp Turbo S E-Hybrid ($195,850).

It’s Whack in Back

What we have is the Turbo Executive, though, and you want to know what it’s like to drive this V-8 model. Who’s asking? Obviously not someone who plans to use the TurboExec for its seeming intended purpose. The back seats are where it’s at, and a variety of electric controls will motor your seat into a supine position if the acres of legroom alone aren’t cosseting enough. Rear-seat riders get their own color touchscreen that echoes the 12.0-inch unit up front and allows the back-seaters to mess with the temperature and the ride settings. Yes, the ride settings. Because the people in back are in charge and the person at the wheel is doing a job that everyone can see soon will be done by robots.

Best of all, as in the previous-gen Panamera, the rear seats fold, even in this, the most up-luxe version of the car, for when it’s time to toss in a mountain bike. The trunk hidden by the power hatchback thus expands from 18 to 49 cubic feet, which should make this car (after it’s been through five or six owners) an attractive choice for all those #vanlife nomads.

Take the captain’s chair and you have that new Panamera interior to savor, with its upward sloping center console and, in this car, scads of Saddle Brown French-stitched leather. In their eagerness to infuse this tip-top Panamera with all the sumptuousness of exquisite dash jewelry and multicolor screens, the designers went to town and burned it down. However, they forgot to create a suitable parking space for your all-important smartphone. This sounds like rank car-magazine pettifoggery, but after the fourth or fifth time your iPhone slides down that long, highly polished ski jump of a center console and into the back seat, you will see why this is annoying. The best alternative is one of the cupholders, followed by the shallow door pockets.

Stout, Grippy, and Massive

The V-8, here barking through the optional Sport exhaust, starts with a head-turning hrumph! and is stout enough to deliver 60 mph in 3.2 seconds using the electronic launch control. We’ve become accustomed to Panameras turning in gobsmacking acceleration times, and at 11.6 seconds in the quarter at 121 mph, this one is no exception, even if it does weigh 4795 pounds. It’ll hold 0.94 g on the skidpad, which means on a twisty road the car definitely will hold your attention.

Of all the airport limos on the market, this is the one you want to drive yourself, with highly honed steering, meticulous body control, and pummeling brakes via those gigantic 10-piston (10!) calipers up front. It seems unlikely that all that capability will ever be used much, given the outside wrapper, but since when has excessive capability been a bad thing? This biggest of all Panameras is still more of a joy to hustle than any of the large sedans from the competitors.

Well, actually, if perfect driving harmony is desired, perhaps consider the lesser nonhybrid engine choices available in this model, a 330-hp turbo V-6 and a 440-hp twin-turbo V-6. The V-8 in the Turbo loiters at slow speeds happily enough, and it’s murderously fast with your foot down, but the throttle and shift maps are such that it’s hard to get anything else from it. The gas pedal is weighted heavily, meaning you spend a lot of time at 25 percent throttle or less. And the tip-over point to full acceleration is sudden and disruptive, the transmission herking and jerking for half a second while it decides which gear would be best to warp time and space.

Yes/No

Of course there’s some turbo lag—what did you expect with a 4.0-liter engine making 550 horsepower—and when it all comes on, it does so with a crashing abruptness that is likely to elicit yelps from the back seat. Ditto the carbon brakes, which are just a little digital at slow speeds (or, as the Germans like to say, a bit “yes/no”).

We’re betting that either of the turbo V-6 models with iron brakes actually will make better Panamera Executives. An engine that works harder for speed is less likely to feel so caged—and to be as unruly when it’s suddenly released from the cage. After all, good driving is about balance, and good limo service is about not upsetting the freight. They are, after all, executives.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $191,480 (base price: $161,050)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 245 cu in, 3996 cc
Power: 550 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 567 lb-ft @ 1960 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 122.0 in
Length: 204.7 in
Width: 76.3 in Height: 56.4 in
Cargo volume: 17 cu ft
Curb weight: 4795 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 8.0 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 13.8 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 19.6 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 4.4 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.2 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 2.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.6 sec @ 121 mph
Top speed (drag limited, mfr's claim): 190 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 151 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 21/18/25 mpg
C/D observed: 20 mpg