Driving Impressions: Panamera turbo vs, A8 W12 (S8)
Finally did test drive the Panamera turbo now (I know that I am a bit late...).
As the A8 W12 (short wheel base, i.e. same suspension setup as in the S8) used to be my personal benchmark for performance oriented but still luxurious limousines I drove the Panamera back-to-back with the A8 W12.
In summary, I would argue that Porsche has managed to establish a new benchmark for performance oriented luxury cars. The Panamera excels in terms of steering feel and precision, stability (heavy braking etc.) and - very significantly - handling. I am impressed. The car has clearly some of the genes of the 997. Driving it fast through tighter bends gives you a little bit of 997 feeling. Not comparable to the rather heavy and clumsy feel of the A8 at all.
In summary, here are some observations:
- Seats are very low, nice feel, the rear is a bit difficult to enter though
- Engine sound is nearly inaudible, the W12 has the much smoother engine and also a nicer sound; the S8 (i.e. the V10 engine) is very (!) much more audible than the Panamera
- Great throttle response (in particular in Sports mode)
- The Burmester Sound System is the new benchmark; the B&O is not as good as the Burmester in terms of neutrality; low frequences are even more convincing in case of the Burmester, mids and highs are on a similar level. The Burmester is probably even better in terms of locating single sounds ("Ortbarkeit") which surprised me most
- PDK works just perfectly - not comparable to BMW's DKG in any regard. PDK in this car has no major flaws
- Engine power is OK, you can feel that the acceleration is better than in the W12. Still, above 200kph the car cannot do miracles either
- The steering feels synthetic if compared to the steering of a GT2 or GT3 - however, compared to the Audi the Panamera is in another world: Excellent directness, nice feed-back
- The suspension is great, comfortable enough in comfort or sport mode, quite stiff in Sport Plus
- The setup is clearly in another world as the Audi's: the car has such a nice balance (rear feels much heavier than in case of the A8), very limited understeer (for a car of that size and weight!), a nice "play" between neutral and oversteer in tight bends, clear tendency for oversteer under throttle, agile, quick - perfect The best limousine setup I know. Even the M3 on cup tires (!) feels less precise
- The car is absolutely stable if the brakes are applied strongly, compared to the Audi the difference could not be larger - vertical body movements are very limited in case of the Panamera, which clearly brings stability
- The overall drive feel of this car is clearly a major step from the Audi A8/S8 towards a Porsche 997. The Panamera turbo is quite fun to drive