2015 Porsche Panamera GTS: Following No Leader
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If you were to line up the range of luxury sedans offered at the 2015 Porsche Panamera GTS' $129,400 price point side-by-side, you would quickly discover that one of these things was not like the others. Like the queen bee of a foreign colony that has somehow tricked the hive into nourishing her into dominance over their own genetically-appointed royal family, the Panamera GTS sits bulging and thick, a stark contrast to the one sausage / three lengths rule that now governs executive cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi.
This disconnect with the rest of the high end luxury market is underscored when you take a seat inside the Porsche's cabin, which is bisected by a full-length console that enhances the snug, pod-like seating quadrants that offer none of the expansive opulence of its competition but rather focuses the car's sense of purpose. Deep in the pocket, you are hemmed in by leather and buttons, and peer out at the world through wide glass over a broad hood that hints at the car's Stuttgart lineage.
The Porsche Panamera GTS is not your typical full-size Autobahn cruiser - it's something else entirely. Whether you want one or not will be largely determined by how willing you are to step outside the carefully constructed luxury market narrative and embrace the car's unique character and individual quirks.
The Brawler
Even amongst its own, the Panamera stands out. Massively proportioned from front to rear and presenting a sloping hatchback that avoids the grace of rivals like the Audi S7 and instead serves to further muscle up the vehicle's rear haunches, it seems appropriate that the Panamera GTS' closest Porsche relative is the Cayenne SUV. This is a car with presence, not beauty: it polarized my passengers as to its aesthetic qualities, but there were none who were lukewarm in response to me parking it in front of them.
Nowhere does the Panamera feel bigger than from behind the wheel. The GTS' rear-wheel drive chassis offers copious amounts of grip (all-wheel drive is not offered with this model), but one never loses the sense of being at the controls of a massive sledgehammer on rails rather than pulling the strings of one of Porsche's more nimble and responsive tarmac dancers. Engage the car's standard Sport+ setting to stiffen its air suspension, drop its ride height, and take any remaining slack out of its seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual gearbox, and you're now dealing with a formidably raucous projectile all too willing to squeeze every drop of forward thrust from its 440 horsepower, 4.8-litre V8 engine.
Not Quite Civilized
Mash the throttle of the 2015 Porsche Panamera GTS and things happen quickly - and loudly, thanks to the mellifluous tone of its sport exhaust system - and if you're not prepared for the sedan's 4.0 second sprint to 100 km/h, you'll be happy to engage the huge brakes lurking under the car's bright red calipers and bring its two-tonnes of glass and steel to heel in a hurry.
The alternative to rocketing through your daily commute is to keep the car out of either Sport or Sport+ and simply attempt to drive it as you would any other big luxury-badged model. Those seeking a premium appliance will have to look elsewhere, however: there's simply too much of the Panamera GTS' 'always-on' personality leaking through even its most comfort-oriented chassis and transmission settings to let you completely relax. The Porsche begs to be driven, and when it is instead assigned to putter around town it protests through the balkiness of the dual-clutch gearbox off idle, the weight of its steering, and the ever present spectre of its generous mass, for which there exists no button to make disappear.
How Are You Wired?
The Porsche Panamera GTS is not simply a stretched 911 with a generous trunk, a couple of extra doors, and a V8 under the hood, nor is it direct analog for the BMW 7 Series or the Audi A8. Instead, it should be thought of as a grand touring car that is constantly trying to pick a fight not just with the driver, but with everyone around it, too. The Panamera GTS knows its muscles aren't just for show, and it's eager to do the kind of heavy highway lifting that can lead to both the suspension of your license and more than a few white hairs. If you're looking for the kind of sedan that is constantly egging you on - the automotive equivalent of a devil on your shoulder - then you'll find it in the GTS. Just don't expect it to play nice on a daily basis.
