The Porsche Panamera S Hybrid is leaps and bounds ahead of anything out there. A few kilometers in, the gas engine comes on seamlessly. L...
The Porsche Panamera S Hybrid is leaps and bounds ahead of anything out there.
A few kilometers in, the gas engine comes on seamlessly. Load shift is also unique - where the Panamera S Hybrid realizes the load being put on the engine is not at its most efficient, so the car will vary the load automatically (by varying the amount of power going toward recharging the battery) so that while the gas engine is running, it’s always at peak efficiency.
And when you want to take fuel economy out of the equation to see what the Panamera S Hybrid has to offer performance wise, air suspension and Servotronic steering are stock items on the Hybrid (whereas on the Panamera S non-hybrid they are options). You quickly find out that 380 hp is more than enough to push the rear drive Panamera S Hybrid along
Press the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) button and choose between comfort, sport or sport plus. With Sport Plus, you notice that the Panamera S Hybrid drives like a much smaller car. The seating position is ideal for sport driving.
As gas prices soar, there becomes an ever-increasing need to save fuel, but in the case of the Panamera S Hybrid, not at the cost of performance or luxury.
The 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid will be in dealerships in August 2011.
Having spent the week with a Porsche Panamera Turbo, complete with the torque-boosting Sport Chrono pack (yes, that one), the blast to SFO was a fitting sendoff. While the 500 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque from the boosted V8 proved the old adage about absolute power corrupting absolutely, it was the completeness of the Panamera package that left me slack-jawed. Now add the Panamera to that list. Its sheetmetal might not suit your tastes, but Porsche managed to create the best driving luxury sedan on the market. But a hybrid?
Porsche is calling this the world's fastest production hybrid and the most economical Porker of all time. With a 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 168 mph, Porsche nailed the numbers for quick and fast. U.S. EPA figures haven't been released yet, but figuring the Cayenne Hybrid – equipped with the same drivetrain and coming in some 600 pounds heavier – manages 20/24 mpg, a combined figure in the high 20s should be easily within reach.
It's a variation of the setup fitted to the aforementioned Cayenne and its Volkswagen sibling, the Touareg Hybrid. Sandwiched between the V6 and the eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission is a 34kW (47-hp) electric motor that brings overall output up to 380 hp and makes this Panamera the world's first full parallel hybrid luxury sedan. The torque curves of the engine and motor meld seamlessly, with peak torque from the electric motor beginning at 1,150 rpm and bleeding off just as the ICE's supercharged torque kicks in to provide uninterrupted shove from 3,300 to 5,250 revs (redline stands at just over 6,500 rpm).
As you'd expect from any modern hybrid, the Panamera allows you to motor along under electric power as soon as you twist the key. Porsche claims you can hit speeds up to 52.8 mph in "favorable driving conditions" without ever tapping into the V6. It's easily the most fluid, refined changeover we've experienced in a gasoline-electric vehicle.
Eighteen-inch wheels with 245/50 R18 rubber in front and 275/45 R18 rollers in the rear come as standard, but the 19-inch wheels on our tester (equipped with 255/45 R19 front, 285/40 R19 rear Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires) still looked undersized when nestled into the cavernous wheel arches.
When the 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid arrives this fall, it won’t find many hybrid luxury sedan competitors.
The company is quickly adopting hybrid technology with the Cayenne S Hybrid, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid racecar, the announced 918 Spyder supercar and now, the Panamera S Hybrid.
The hybrid powertrain is nearly identical to the Porsche’s Cayenne S Hybrid sport utility, which was borrowed from VW’s Touareg Hybrid SUV. Unlike gasoline-powered Panamera, the Hybrid edition does not offer all-wheel drive.
The Porsche full hybrid system can power the sports sedan by the gasoline engine only, the electric motor only or a combination of both. The electric motor then takes up the load until the engine restarts. Porsche engineers call the result “sailing”—for the quiet sensation of speed using only electric power. Porsche says the Panamera can operate on electric power alone for a little over a mile up to a speed of 53 mph. As in most hybrids, the electric motor also restarts the engine, and recharges the battery pack. The electric motor is connected to a 288-volt nickel metal hydride (NiMh) battery pack that’s fitted behind the rear axle, under the rear cargo area.
Exterior
The finished product resembles a stretched Porsche 911 with four doors, spacious room in the rear cabin and almost 16 cubic feet of cargo space in the rear. Yes, it’s quite clear that the Panamera’s design was influenced by the revered 911 sports car. Like other carmakers that have hybridized an existing model, Porsche adds hybrid-specific badges to the Panamera.
Interior
The Panamera has the most opulent Porsche interior ever. A condensed version of Porsche’s Hybrid Management system is added to the digital multi-information gauge. Panamera’s hatchback design makes it impressively practical. Space behind the rear seats expands from 11.6 cubic feet to 40.7 cubic feet—down 3.7 cubic feet from the non-hybrid model—, which rivals space found in many crossover vehicles.
