Porsche has revived its much-vaunted GTS badge for the third-generation Panamera, but rather remarkably this 500hp, V8-powered machine is only mid-level in the seven-strong model line-up - there are three variants of Panamera with more power than it has. It’s also only one of three versions in the range which hasn’t got plug-in hybrid technology. Yet, because Porsche is positioning this as the most driver-focused model of the current Panamera seen so far, it has a clear reason for being. We’ve sampled it on roads around Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart to see if it lives up to its lofty design brief.
How much is the Porsche Panamera GTS in Ireland?
We have to start this review on a bum note, we’re afraid, and it’s a pretty big one at that. As brilliant as we’re about to tell you the Panamera GTS is, the fact of the matter is it is by far and away the most expensive of all seven models of the Porsche ‘saloon’ on offer in Ireland - at nearly a quarter-of-a-million Euro, it’s €31,908 more than the also-new Turbo 4S E-Hybrid... which has 782hp, loads of standard equipment as the flagship Panamera, and its running costs will be a lot lower due to its 47g/km CO2 output.
Worryingly, the GTS is also more than twice as much to buy as the cheapest Panamera, which is the 470hp 4 E-Hybrid. All of which puts this V8 newcomer on rather shaky ground before it has so much as turned a wheel.
What’s different on the outside of the Porsche Panamera GTS?
Getting onto better news, the GTS takes the elegant shape of the current Panamera and builds upon it with a subtle, tasteful and effective programme of styling tweaks that are model-specific. Chief among these is a Porsche GTS trademark, namely black exterior detailing and badging. This is complemented by the standard-fit Sport package, which includes enhanced lower body trims, bolstered by the bigger air intakes at the front.
As all Panameras have two-piece fold-out rear spoilers, when it’s standing still the GTS doesn’t have anything like a big fixed hoop on its boot lid to make it obvious you’re looking at the driver’s choice in the range, but 21-inch Turbo S centre-lock alloys and ‘Dark Bronze’ exhaust tips for the quad outlets should give Porsche-spotting aficionados all the info they need, in those instances where there’s no GTS boot badge in place. Overall, it’s a very fine-looking thing with presence and purpose.
A look inside the Porsche Panamera GTS
The basic, excellent interior of a Panamera is present in the GTS, which gains the sporty Race-Tex microfibre material for the centres of the seats - 18-way electrically adjustable in the front as standard - as well as for the roof lining, door panels, central armrest and the delightful GT Sport steering wheel incorporating a rotary mode switch.
There are also two GTS-specific interior packages for the car, which render the stitching and the seatbelts in either Carmine Red or Slate Grey Neo. There are, of course, loads of options to further up your expenditure, like a matt-carbon trim bundle or having ‘GTS’ embossed on the centre armrest, but if you opt to go standard with the GTS’s cabin you won’t be disappointed.
Further, it’s a reasonably practical model, albeit it’s a four-seater with proper individual chairs in the back and no centre seatbelt. But the space offered to all the people onboard is generous, and the GTS has one of the bigger boots in the Panamera range. While the E-Hybrids either hold 430 litres (the V6 models) or 421 litres (the V8s), the GTS doesn’t have to accommodate a battery at the back, so it has 478 litres at your disposal. That’s still less than the most spacious Panameras, but a useful amount of room in a car of this class regardless - and the Panamera has a proper full hatch at the back, too, meaning loading in bulky items is easy.
The Porsche Panamera GTS’ on-board technology
Both the ‘Curved Display’ digital instrument cluster that is now seen in all of Porsche’s products and the superb 10.9-inch Porsche Communication Management (PCM) central touchscreen infotainment are standard equipment on the Panamera GTS, as are useful items such as a heated steering wheel and front seats, an automatic tailgate, keyless entry and go, dual-zone climate control, a 15-watt wireless smartphone charging pad, the Sport Chrono pack, a Bose Surround Sound system and - on the outside of the car - Matrix LED headlights with Exclusive Design tail-lamps, among more.
But if you want the head-up display, the 10.9-inch passenger display, four-zone climate control, heated rear seats and fripperies such as soft-close doors (all fitted to our test vehicle), then you’re looking at significant further outlay.
Driving the Porsche Panamera GTS
All seven models in the Panamera ‘G3’ range use one of two petrol engines - either a 2.9-litre V6, or a 4.0-litre V8. Both of these are twin-turbocharged, but there are two plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) using the V6, and then another two using the 4.0-litre. Which leaves the GTS as the sole Panamera in the line-up with a V8 engine that is not electrically augmented.
For its application here, Porsche has raised the V8’s outputs from the old GTS’s figures of 480hp/620Nm to 500hp/660Nm. That’s enough grunt to see the Panamera hit 100km/h from rest in just 3.8 seconds, and then go on to a sizeable 302km/h (as irrelevant as that figure is).
However, it’s not just in a straight line that Porsche wants this car to be quick, so the chassis technology includes standard-fit dual-chamber, two-valve adaptive air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM - that's Porsche’s adaptive damping system) in a sporty tune. This sees the GTS sit 10mm closer to the ground than other Panameras, while it also has stiffer anti-roll bars.
And that’s not all. Quite aside from the huge, grippy sports tyres on those 21-inch wheels and Porsche Traction Management (PTM) four-wheel drive for ultimate traction, the GTS has a torque-vectoring rear axle thanks to Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus), bigger brakes with red callipers, Power Steering Plus with its speed-sensitive variable ratio, a sports exhaust system for the best sounds, and - like any Panamera - the fast-acting, dual-clutch PDK transmission. Further dynamic-enhancing kit like Rear Axle Steering (RAS) and the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) are on the options list.
What it all adds up to - with or without RAS and PCCB, although our car was fitted with both - is a quite majestic sports saloon (or fastback, if you’re being technically accurate) and, by a long chalk, our favourite Panamera to drive in the range, which is made up of some very, very good cars, remember. But the GTS eclipses all of them. It’s by no means a lightweight at 2,140kg with a driver onboard, yet when you realise that the 782hp Turbo S E-Hybrid is having to carry another 300kg of mass around with it for its higher, electrically assisted outputs, you suddenly understand why the GTS feels so darned good to drive.
It has epic steering and a feeling of total composure as its chassis approaches the limits of grip, which makes it an approachable car, but not a boring one. There’s crystal-clear communication from the GTS to its driver as to what the car is up to and how much talent it has left in reserve, which in turn allows the lucky so-and-so at its wheel to nudge it ever closer to the limits of its capability through any given bend. To steer a hard-charging Panamera GTS down a challenging road is an engaging and thrilling experience, and something that few fast saloons (if any) can get close to matching today.
And then there’s the noise. A beautiful, deep, bassy rumbling from the V8 is only enhanced by that sports exhaust system, to give the speed of the Panamera GTS an overlay of a rich, alluring soundtrack. It’s the sort of car where it feels like it is going even faster than it really is, mainly because of the aggressive note of its drivetrain - which sounds just as menacing in the lower reaches of the rev range as it does homing in on its limiter.
Naturally, driving a 500hp car hard could result in illegal road speeds, but what’s so brilliant about the GTS is that it rewards and feels special even when you’re just rowing it along at a brisk pace, because it feels so cohesive and in tune with itself that it can turn mundane kilometres behind its wheel into something enjoyable.
And if you’re really gentle with it, then it puts on a superb pretence of being a luxury cruiser, with a firm-edged but beautifully controlled ride teamed up to marvellous rolling refinement - wind and engine noise are minimal if you want them to be, and while there is a degree of road chatter from those fat rear tyres, it’s always kept to a dignified, background level. This is a quite fabulous car to drive in every single conceivable scenario you could imagine.
The reasons you’d buy a Porsche Panamera GTS
There is no doubt the Porsche Panamera GTS is one of the finest supersaloons we’ve ever had the pleasure of driving. Its supreme balance and magnificent levels of driver interaction make it a delight if you want it to behave like a sports car, while the cosseting standard of luxury it can summon up if you’re just cruising in it makes it feel properly limo-like.
It also looks glorious inside and out... all of which makes it even more of a shame that our taxation laws make it so outrageously pricey to buy and run here that it is really deemed an irrelevance in the heavily electrified Panamera range. If you’ve got the deepest of deep pockets, though, and you want a top-notch driving experience from an executive car with a prestige badge on its bonnet, look no further than the sublime Panamera GTS.
Ask us anything about the Porsche Panamera GTS
If there’s anything about the Porsche Panamera GTS we’ve not covered, or you’d like advice in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our (completely free) expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
