Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Review - The Panamericana Spirit

Panamericana refers to a network of highways that connects the Americas. The Carrera Panamericana refers to a famous road race across Mexico in the first half of the 50s to celebrate the completion of the North-South Mexican section of the highway.

Having previously driven through Central America, from Mexico to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, I can attest to the suitability of the terrain for a cross-country road race. Moreover, it was no surprise that these kinds of races favoured the nimble and inherently sporty cars from Zuffenhausen. As you may have already guessed, the name Carrera (which means Race in Spanish) comes from said road race! Similarly, no prizes for guessing where the name Panamera gets its roots from.

Now, my last road trip on an entirely different continent – to Wales in the UK – was in a Porsche Macan GTS and, unsurprisingly, it proved to be the perfect steed for the task – fast, versatile and spacious. Engaging when pushed, always comfortable – if not a bit firm – and with acres of boot space, not to mention enough grunt to rival a freight train.

So, choosing another SUV for a repeat road trip to the awe-inspiring Welsh countryside would be the obvious choice – if not the most imaginative one. An SUV would be the most sensible in this instance, since I also had to consider the needs of my three co-passengers. But what if you – the driver – want something with a lower centre of gravity to make the most of those rather enticing ribbons of tarmac that the Welsh mountains offer, while also cossetting your passengers in the lap of luxury? Well, the Porsche Panamera springs to mind. In this case, one in Aventurine Green Metallic, shod with 21-inch exclusive design wheels in grey – the perfect spec in my book!

Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Powertrain - Plug in for Power

Making it even more perfect is a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 mated to a 25.9 kWh battery and an electric motor that produces 464bhp and 650Nm, giving this Panamera not only 89 kilometres of all-electric range but also a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 4.1 seconds.

Unfortunately, India doesn’t have any plug-in hybrids on sale. Still, you can have a standard Panamera sans the hybrid tech or, even better, a Panamera GTS with a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 producing just shy of 500 horsepower – which pips the 4 E-Hybrid to three-digit speeds by performing the sprint to 100 in under 4 seconds (3.9 to be exact). For a road trip, though, I can think of no better car than the 4 E-hybrid. It’s fast, but also frugal when you want it to be.

In the past, I’ve done a road trip to the Cotswolds in the first-gen Panamera – so I can attest not only to its inherent chassis goodness, but also its comfort and practicality. And that secret sauce is still available in spades in the current generation. In fact, it’s taken up a notch thanks to the Active Ride suspension system. In addition to the air springs, the new active ride of this Panamera uses a 400-volt architecture (which is why it’s only available in the Hybrid models at present) to power an electrically driven hydraulic pump that adjusts the dampers up to 13 times a second. The active ride also does away with traditional anti-roll bars, because it can alter each corner individually and with far more precision than a traditional suspension setup.

The result of all this wizardry is, well, magic! From the driver’s seat, you see the undulations in the road. In fact, you can see the cars around you being jostled violently by them, so you know that your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. But the Panamera remains totally flat no matter what. If you come across a large crest all of a sudden, for instance, the car moves once to compensate for the change in road conditions, but then it remains totally impervious to anything else the road throws its way. It’s genuinely incredible – it’s like nothing else that I’ve ever experienced before. There’s simply no roll, no squat, no dive – nothing! In fact, the suspension is so clever that it can even lean the Panamera into a corner for added comfort and grip.

The other thing that, it seems, only Porsche is capable of doing is using hybrid tech to enhance the performance and overall driving experience of a car. The electric and combustion elements of the drivetrain don’t feel disjointed and at odds with each other like they do in so many other cars. In the Panamera – and, in fact, in any Porsche – they feel totally seamless and work in unison to propel the car forward, not only with added urgency but also more efficiently. The transitions between electric power and petrol propulsion are virtually imperceptible.

The only downside of the 4 E-Hybrid is that it feels a bit sedate and less engaging compared to the GTS, for instance. It doesn’t quite offer the same shove in the back and guttural exhaust, despite being almost as fast on paper. In fact, even the electric power steering feels a little remote, although it is incredibly precise – as you would expect from Porsche.

Another pet peeve I have with the Panamera is with its air vents, which can only be controlled through the central touchscreen. Porsche, why would you do this? What’s wrong with regular vents that you can adjust without taking your eyes off the road? Other than this being a flex for the product planner or designer, I can think of no good reason for the use of technology that does nothing to enhance usability and exists for the sole purpose of being “technologically advanced” – while also being incredibly annoying to use.

Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid - The Perfect Road Trip Companion

Anyway, rant over, I have nothing but praise for the Panamera. The most surprising aspect was the sheer comfort and spaciousness it offered. With 430-litres of boot space, all our luggage was swallowed up comfortably by the rear hatch. And with four individual bucket seats, no one was fighting to be in the front seat. The rear seats even had a central screen to control a range of functions. And, of course, being a Porsche cabin, absolutely everything was built to the highest standards of quality and fit-and-finish.

And while the air vents were annoying to use, mercifully, Porsche does offer dedicated physical buttons to adjust fan speed and temperature, so you don’t have to access the screen for basic HVAC functions (as you do in current BMWs, for instance). And there are some really nice touches too, such as ventilation in the phone charging tray so your phone stays cool while getting some juice. But then that’s the level of detail you expect from Porsche!

All told, not only did the Panamera prove that you can really use a fun-to-drive sedan on a proper road trip, but when the road got twisty around the Snowdonia National Park it also proved that you could keep all the occupants incredibly comfortable while enjoying the twisties at a pretty rapid clip – now that’s true versatility, which not many other machines can match. And a plug-in hybrid means that you don’t have to worry about range anxiety either, so you can also enjoy the benefits of all-electric motoring – albeit with a limited range.

To be quite honest, the Macan GTS was also an incredible road trip car, but personally, I would take a hunkered-down sedan any day of the week over an SUV – no matter how accomplished – since the lower centre of mass means you feel more connected, and the car feels more precise.

If you can enjoy those benefits and also carry friends, family and their luggage, then what can I say – get out there and drive, whether it’s in Snowdonia, on the Panamerican highway, or the Golden Quadrilateral. If you can afford it, there isn’t much that can beat the Panamera as the perfect road trip companion…