Written by Daniel Pronto
The word you have read above has many weight in the automotive world, probably more than any other. As a technical innovation, it was introduced for the first time in the Second World War to support the performance of aircraft engines at great altitude, and only made a way into the production of automobiles in the series in the series in the 1960s with the Oldsmobile Jetfire. It only became omnipresent in the mid -1970s. For most of us, the 911 turbo is what we call a trim level of a specific model, which we mean. In his first generation, known as 930, it became the widow. This was the term that describes the delay most precisely (especially in the 4-course model), which would catch many people unprepared.
Since then and especially in the 80s and 90s, with razor and turbo beef smell, the word has a certain cultural meaning and today the marketing value has. When Porsche presented the Panamera in the Shanghai Motor show for the first time, three equipment variant was launched: the S, 4S and the one we will concentrate on today that you can guess the name.
It boasted over 500 hp and 700 Nm and easily gave the M5, RS6 and E63 a run for their money. Honorable mentions for the Quattroporte GTS and Jaguar XJL are given because they are my personal selection. With AWD and PDK, the secret sauce for many years, it could rush to 100 km/h almost as quickly as a “real” turbo.
This first generation car, Code 970, was plagued by some problems, namely styling. I never loathed it, but it doesn’t inspire me either. It didn’t help that it was called “Panamerda” from my father’s mouth. The uncomfortable slanted rear shape, the big bikes and the lack of resemblance to everything they did were also not helpful. It was followed with the face in 2013 and until then the entire area was completed with diesel V6 and V8 models, standard hybrids and the mighty Turbo S..
By 2020, four years after her life cycle, the “971” of the second generation had become a real success. The variant of the Turbo E-Hybrid had crowned the fastest four-door car car and destroyed an Audi R8 V10 in a drag race. The 971 also benefited from some changes in the styling. Sport Turismo’s equipment volume (traditional car) was introduced, and the strongly criticized flow tail look of the standard model was sharpened with stricter shoulder lines and an overall more aggressive attitude. This mixed well with the 930-inspired rear lamp, which until then had become part of every Porsche model and marked the beginning of the design language inspired by retro, which the brand dominates today.
The one I check is the highlight of all this development and refinement. To get my suffering at my side: The Sport -Turismo body style was set up in doses in this generation of 976. Understandably, very few of them sold, partly because in my opinion they were insufficiently marketed. Anyway, the big sale for this latest and the reason why I wanted to drive is the active driving system. I don’t think I can drive a big salon without him. What is active trip? Similar to the “bounce mode” of these horrible Mercs, the high-voltage architecture also sets the hybrid material on this sick hydraulic damper on every wheel.
This gives the driver’s control suite a massively important parameter that brings the salon experience to a level that I had not really valued. It gives him the kind of ability that a nerd how I had dreamed when the fear of computer -loaded cars when I grew up. They unlock a new measure of fun with this system when there are anti-tips, anti-squats and anti-rolls through heavy brake zones that go out and go through bending. It cannot begin to describe it impressively. In fact, it was so capable that the engineers had to dilute it a little during development so as not to make it so frightening. Certainly most of them have seen the video of the engineers who use the gyroscopic data of an iPhoneSE to show the activity of the dampers. Why this is not on the cover of a popular mechanics edition, strikes me …
All up to two petrol engines were distracted, the 2.9 L V6 and the 4.0 L V8 bite twin turbocharger. Each can be contained with or without the hybrid system, but it is a necessary pairing if you want the active journey. I don’t like it to disappoint, but this specific example is not the Vollbanzai 790PS TURBO S-HYBRID, it is not a hundred less performance. It is not cheap with almost 250,000 euros. As Michael Fidowicz from Candy Showroom said, Peak Car is expensive. This Panamera is as close to the Peak car as I have experienced.
I decided that I would bring out my friends and that we were blessed if they had the highway on our doorstep, we would do what it was designed for. There is almost nothing that I like more than bringing friends, getting their reactions and providing more reference points for their driving portfolio. It has also almost become a ritual or transitional rite for these cars. We drove east around midnight from Arnhem. We have quite privileged when the highway comes on our doorstep, the extended section extends almost to Düsseldorf. With a twelve second sprint up to 200 km/h, the average speed soon increased and before we knew it, the first petrol station flew past. During the dead of the night, the twin turbochargers came to life and covered the entire experience with a layer of sportiness with which they are consistent in every component with which they can interact as a driver. The whole car drops at 270 km/h and ticks over 300, the cooled seats and the 710-watt-bose sound system only help to feel that it is really able to make something without compromises. One can be confident to take these long, curved corners and slight changes in height in almost Vmax. The LED matrix lights help
It is not only the top speed at which the Panamera stands up – I have carried out a number of start controls that become incrementally faster when the computers learn the surface. With the “secret sauce”, which I mentioned earlier, she ensures one of the most explosive starts I have ever felt and only exacerbates by adding electricity to the drive train. The hybrid also offers you a much more modal control over the drive train, whereby the torque shift interpretation and the delay are completely reduced. You can also briefly move two gears if you want, and one of my favorite acquisitions was to pull in the 5th or 6th place from 70 or 80 to about 150 km/h and take over the climb. In this way it is very luxurious, with so much torque that is available on-demand.
At around 3 a.m. we made our way back and made a trustworthy Aral petrol station to fill them. V-maxing is fun and everything, but there is nothing better than stopping the speed control at 200 km/h and doing the car. In these moments we recognized how far the double -person aspect of these cars had got and how the hybrid system expanded it on a larger horizon than ever before. In the city, in complete silence, they will appreciate the magic of this active journey, and I only wish I could have kept the car for longer than the two days I had. Again, and in the specification I drove it, a quarter of a million euros is a lot of money – but I have to say that it corresponds to these costs with an inimitable feeling of luxury, attitude and self -confidence and the inhabitants focus on the experience of how every big Porsche has always done.
