OK, guys...here are some further thoughts about the car I got and the Panamera Turbo generally:
I almost forgot how great the Panamera is.
Yes, the car looks huge (honestly...huge) but once you sit inside behind the steering wheel and the car is moving, you actually have the feeling of driving a much smaller car. I imagined driving a 911 with a Panamera body and while this may sound weird to you, this is the feeling I had while I was driving the Panamera Turbo.
The steering is pretty light but direct, maybe a little bit too light and direct. Let me explain: At a speed of around 300 kph on the speedo, even a tiny bit of steering correction can end in a catastrophe. I was driving on the Autobahn and the curve was pretty wide but there were these separating stone blocks in the middle of the Autobahn on my very left and at some point, the asphalt was slightly uneven, so I got a very subtle "kick" into the steering, causing a very very small moving of the steering wheel to the left but I almost hit the stone blocks in the middle. I am used to this kind of fast driving, so I'm alert all the time, so I corrected by instinct but for an inexperienced driver, this could have been the end of it. I wonder why the steering moves that light at such high speeds too, it wouldn't be necessary. This reminds me of real race cars but I'm not sure it is a proper setup for such a huge car.
Overall, the handling is just spectacular. The car doesn't understeer at all and I easily took a 100° curve at around 100 kph with a slight sliding of the rear. The car was in Sport Plus mode and while Sport Plus in the 997 seems to be pretty close to turning PSM off completely, I never got the feeling in the Panamera Turbo that Sport Plus can be a challenge. The car was easily controllable, even at the limit but of course the AWD may have had something to do with it. Speaking of AWD: I can now say with certainty that any non-professional driver wouldn't stand a chance in a RWD car of a similar size, like the M5 for example, against this beast. The AWD setup is very very dynamic, it allows a RWD car-like behavior at the limit...without actually really sliding too much. I really threw the car into curves and it felt like my C63 AMG Coupe, at times even better since I never encountered any traction problems. Nothing.
So I'm looking forward to any possible RWD vs. AWD encounter in the future but I get the feeling that some people don't really know what they are getting into. Before choosing the new M5, I would definitely have a test drive in a Panamera Turbo at least. My loaner has all the handling goodies installed and the car is just amazing. For the first time since my 997 Turbo has gone, I have been reminded again of my former fun car.
To make it short: Handling is unbelievable for such a huge car and I highly recommend to anyone doubting the Panamera, to take a ride in the Turbo for a day or so. Your world will change upside down.
Second thing I noticed was the lack of a decent engine or exhaust sound. The car is quiet, even with the sport exhaust turned on. On the other hand, the exhaust sound is quite noticeable...outside of the car. I suddenly realized that this car has the noise insulating glass. So if you love to listen to the engine/exhaust sound while driving, do not get the noise insulating glass. My daughter claims that she loves the car because it is so quiet in the rear but the lack of sound also takes away some of the fun. Of course I am a little bit spoiled by the C63 AMG Coupe fantastic sounding V8 engine. So the noise insulating glass is certainly an option you don't want, unless you want a quiet car.
Also a little bit disappointing: The BOSE system. Yes, it sounds OK but no, it doesn't sound like a system should sound on such an expensive car. My loaner is worth almost 200k EUR. So Burmester is a must in the Panamera, I heard it on my first Panamera Turbo and I still can remember the fantastic sound.
Third thing I noticed were...the fantastic PCCB brakes. I know that the Turbo brake is already good enough but especially on such a heavy car, PCCB is a must in my opinion. I can pinpoint my braking point very precisely and the only moment you can actually feel the weight of the car is when you fully accelerate and immediately brake afterwards. This is when the PCCB really is better than the standard brake, unless of course you are Arnold Schwarzenegger and love to train your leg muscles. I did some pretty hard braking yesterday but the PCCB doesn't really seem to care, no fading, nothing. I drove the same private road in my C63 AMG Coupe a couple of times and the brake was really almost gone and I'm not kidding. A lot of fading and a much longer pedal way or to describe it with my son's words: The brake doesn't work anymore. 
(don't worry, it still worked but even he felt that the brake was rubbing strongly...). This road isn't too long, about 1 km but it has lots of curves. Thanks to the lack of any trees or bushes, I can easily overlook this road. Unfortunately there are sometimes pedestrians with their dogs but apparently they don't understand the word private (road follows to the production facility of a factory). It is my favorite "test ground" but I can't go too fast, the curves are tricky, it is almost 30 km away from my home and when it rains, there is mud all over it (and it takes forever until the road cleans up, which makes it even trickier in curves).
Is there something I don't like? Well...yes:
Fuel consumption is beyond good and evil, especially when driving at speeds over 300 kph.
The PDK shifting program in Chrono Sport Plus mode isn't really my thing, upshifts just happen too late.
There is also a turbo lag present, not so much in Sport Plus mode but even in Sport mode and especially in "normal" mode. I wish the throttle response would be slightly better in Sport mode and I wish the turbo lag would be less obvious but this isn't something I can't deal with. The huge power and torque are highly manageable by the AWD system, so there is a plus side to that.
I also wish the steering wheel would be a little bit thicker. I couldn't order the Carbon with the thicker steering wheel option, which is kind of lame.
Overall, I am very happy that I have ordered a Panamera Turbo S, especially since I doubted my decision a couple of times in the past.
--
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S (at Porsche right now), BMW X5M, Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe PP/DP, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4
Great tactic.
