Porsche Panamera Review 2025

The Porsche Panamera provides more reasons than ever to shirk one of the more conventional luxury car options from Audi, BMW or Mercedes, with a compelling blend of comfort and performance. No version is cheap, some of the extra-cost options are hilariously expensive, but the Panamera's worth it. Find out more in our full Porsche Panamera review.

Remember how the original Porsche Panamera was mocked for being ugly? For a while, its ungainly bodywork sat awkwardly in the Porsche range, until the far more attractive second-generation model arrived, eventually bringing with it a handsome and practical Panamera Sport Turismo estate version. Suddenly, this ugly duckling had become the most desirable car in the range when all things are considered.

Fast-forward to the end of 2023 when order books for today's era of Panamera opened. The Sport Turismo is dead and, although Porsche calls this a new-generation model, complete with a unique chassis designation (976 in case you care), it looks awfully similar to the old one. Its engine lineup will give you an overwhelming sense of deja vu. 

Don't go thinking that Porsche has dropped the ball, lightly tweaked the old one and tried to pull the wool over our eyes. Yes, the proportions aren't far off the previous model and the interior hasn't been mucked about with a great deal, but the company states that over 70% of the car is new. One particular element of all the fresh stuff is jaw-droppingly impressive.

That's the Porsche Active Ride system, an incredibly complicated suspension set-up which, in some modes, will actually tip the car into corners to counteract inertia. It works spookily well and makes the Panamera more comfortable than ever. 

It hasn't forgotten about what the crest on its bonnet (or embossed on the headrests, if you pay the extra £411 for that option) means. It's sharper to drive than before, meaning that on all but the most demanding of roads, you aren't going to wish you were in a 911. 

The fact that a lot of the interior is carried over means the Panamera does feel a little dated straight out of the gates, particularly with its small — by modern standards — infotainment screen, but it's nonetheless a lovely and classy interior. 

This being a Porsche, it's expensive to start with, and it's easily possible to dispense a five-figure sum on optional extras, some of which are a bit irksome when cars costing less than half the price have this stuff as standard. But the company's customers seem more than willing to splurge, and we can see why, given the end result. 

Perhaps the closest rival in terms of ethos is the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe, which also includes a broad spread of performance, ranging from a 333PS inline-six to a mighty twin-turbo V8 with 625PS in the M8. Rivalling the top-sped Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid and Turbo S E-Hybrid models only is the Mercedes-AMG GT 4 Door (which, confusingly, is a five-door car, really), with the range-topping GT63 S E Performance version chucking out over 800PS. 

We'll update this review further when we've driven a Porsche Panamera that isn't fitted with the £7000 Porsche Active Ride system option, as we suspect it makes a fairly significant difference as to how the car drives.

It combines hydraulically linked adaptive dampers with sophisticated air springs and is even able to lean the car into corners — like a motorbike, is Porsche's analogy of choice. It also lifts the nose during acceleration and raises the back of the car under heavy braking. 

That might sound counterintuitive when manufacturers have spent decades making their cars stay as flat as possible when cornering, accelerating and braking, but the idea is to overcompensate for pitch and yaw movements to reduce the inertia felt by the driver and passengers. And it works, to the point of feeling a bit weird.

It's almost as though you're floating on top of the road surface rather than actually rolling along it. Once you're used to the strange sensation, the Panamera feels totally relaxing to be in and, other than the odd thud from its massive wheels when hooked into an especially nasty imperfection in the road surface, the ride is supremely smooth. 

Of course, if you've bought a Panamera instead of something like a Mercedes S-Class, you probably don't just want to glide over things. Happily, in its sportier modes, the Panamera behaves a little more typically, dispensing with the whole tipping and pitching thing by simply lowering its body as close to the road as the suspension will allow, lowering the centre of gravity and reducing the amount of available suspension travel.

Set thusly, the Panamera is an incredibly effective and enjoyable way of covering ground. Our Turbo E-Hybrid test car weighed the best part of 2.5 tonnes but you simply wouldn't know it, such is the way the car changes direction. Again, an optional extra in the form of rear-axle steering helps here, but at a cost of £1541.

The all-wheel drive system has no problem chucking all 680PS of the hybridised V8's might onto the road surface — when really pushed, it will gently step out at the rear. 

Porsche has long made cars with more natural-feeling electric power steering than any other manufacturer. It feels linear when turning through the lock and is very well judged in terms of both speed and weight. 

All Porsche Panameras come with either a 2.9-litre V6 or a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, each of which you'll also find in various Audis. What makes Porsche's use of them different is that they're paired with eight-speed PDK dual-clutch gearboxes (or Porsche Doppelkupplung, to use the official name you've little chance of pronouncing correctly), rather than conventional torque converter-equipped automatic transmissions. 

The base Panamera and Panamera 4 models each feature 353PS V6s also producing 500Nm of torque, but the latter is a little quicker owing to its use of a traction-boosting all-wheel drive system. It manages 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds, while the rear-wheel drive Panamera needs 5.3 seconds to do the deed.

That same V6 is used in each of the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid and 4S E-Hybrid models, but with electrical assistance from a 21.8kWh battery pack and electric motor. The 4 E-Hybrid develops 470PS and 650Nm of torque and will hit 62mph from a standstill in 4.1 seconds, while the 4S E-Hybrid develops 544PS/750Nm, which makes 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds possible.

For keen drivers, the Panamera GTS looks like the pick of the bunch, using a V8 with no big battery to lug around. This makes it a lot lighter than the PHEV models, so although its 500PS/660Nm outputs are 44PS/90Nm down on the 4S E-Hybrid, there's little in it when sprinting from 0-62mph, with the GTS managing it in 3.8 seconds.

Your final two options are the Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid and Turbo S E-Hybrid, which come with the V8 from the GTS plus a battery pack and motor. The Turbo E-Hybrid combines the two for a total of 680PS, 930Nm and a 0-62mph time of 3.2 seconds, while the Turbo S E-Hybrid generates a whopping 782PS and 1,000Nm of torque. The latter needs just 2.9 seconds to hit 62mph, and if you can find somewhere safe and legal to keep going, you'll eventually hit a top speed of 202mph.

Whether you need the punchiest model's extra grunt is debatable. The Turbo E-Hybrid didn't exactly leave us wanting for more performance — in fact, launch control starts with this Panamera are borderline painful. You get to the national speed limit very, very quickly, and thanks to the electrical system effectively countering turbo lag, the throttle response is wickedly sharp. 

It sounds suitably rumbly, but we suspect the V8 is getting a little help in that regard. It seems as though there's some extra noise coming through the speakers, but it sounds natural enough and we're happy it's there. The Panamera is so cocooned from the outside world, especially when optionally fitted with acoustic glass, that the engine might sound a bit muted otherwise. 

Meanwhile, the use of a dual-clutch transmission makes for shifts that feel just a little snappier than in most rivals. And when you want to take control yourself, there's a lovely set of metal paddle shifters attached to the wheel. 

As was the case for the last two versions of the Porsche Panamera, the latest one hasn't been crash-tested by Euro NCAP. However, all of the Porsche models recently assessed by the safety body have all achieved the full five-star rating, if that puts your mind at ease.

Furthermore, the standard safety kit offering includes lane-keeping assistance, autonomous emergency braking and a decent helping of airbags. It's disappointing to see a lot of safety gear reserved for the options list, though, with side airbags for the rear, a 360-degree parking camera and blind-spot monitoring only available at extra cost. 

The Porsche Panamera doesn't strike us as an obvious choice for towing — shouldn't that be the Porsche Cayenne's job? Should you want to, there's a £1191 electrically extending towbar on the options list. 

It can haul braked loads of up to 2200kg with a maximum nose weight of 100kg.

There's a decent amount of space inside the Porsche Panamera, but you might not be blown away by the cabin's roominess considering the sheer amount of road space the car takes up (although it probably feels a tad more spacious than a BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe). What might impress you more is the way the Porsche Active Ride system props up the side of the car you're getting in. The car appears to jump up to meet you, raising the suspension quickly and by significant height. 

Boot space varies significantly between the pure petrol and plug-in Panamera Hybrid models due to the battery pack taking up room beneath, but the difference has narrowed with this generation.

In the base Panamera models, you get 494 litres, expanding to 1328 litres with the rear bench folded. Before, you couldn't fold the rear bench if electrical adjustment was added, but that's not the case here. You can still fold them in the same 40/20/20 split as in models without that option box ticked. 

The Porsche Panamera GTS loses a bit more space, offering 478 litres and 1321 litres with the rear seats down. We suspect this has to do with the subwoofer of the Bose sound system taking up some of the boot space.

Both the Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid and Turbo S E-Hybrid each have marginally boot space than the 4 E-Hybrid and 4S E-Hybrid models. You're looking at 430-1255 litres in the latter and 421-1265 litres in the former.

Regardless of your chosen model, loading will be made easier than the car's four-door saloon rivals thanks to a hatchback-style tailgate, while also made a bit harder thanks to a high lip that could prove a pain when loading especially bulky items. The boot itself isn't particularly wide, either. 

In the last few decades, Porsche has come on leaps and bounds when it comes to the quality of the materials it uses and how well it's all assembled, helping it compete on level terms with its fellow German manufacturers. The Panamera carries on this trend, with almost every interior surface you encounter being of the plush, soft-touch variety. 

The Panamera feels of the requisite quality to justify its lofty price tag, although we'd rather there was less of that piano black plastic trim car makers love these days. It scratches far too easily, which looks awful when caught by the light. Porsche is far from alone in favouring this stuff, it should be said.

Given the size of some infotainment screens these days, not just in other luxury cars but also vehicles costing a whole lot less than the Porsche Panamera, you might be a bit underwhelmed by its 12.3-inch offering. Its size means some of the content and virtual buttons are on the smaller side, plus it's made trickier to use by the fact it's not angled towards the driver at all.

The menu systems all make sense, though, and we've no complaints about the graphics. Plus, Porsche changed its stance on Android Auto a few years ago, so it's offered as standard alongside Apple CarPlay.

We haven't tried the standard audio setup yet, only sampling the Burmester 3D system which costs £4601 on derivatives that have the Bose setup fitted as standard. For those that don't it's an even chunkier £5822 to upgrade. It really ought to be good — happily, it's excellent. Where not already fitted, the Bose system is a more reasonable £1223 option.

The entry-level Porsche Panamera is called, erm, Panamera. It's yours for £82,500, while the similarly specced all-wheel drive version, the Panamera 4, isn't drastically more at £85,500. It's £91,000 and £102,100 respectively for the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid and 4S E-Hybrid, but from there, it's quite a leap to the Panamera GTS. 

That model costs around 25% more at £125,600 but you can spend lots more than that should you wish, with the Turbo E-Hybrid costing £145,400 and the Turbo S E-Hybrid weighing in at £168,700. 

You might think that opting for the latter will give you a want-for-nothing spec, but that's not the case. Some elements we consider basics these days, such as adaptive cruise control, will set you back an extra £1274, regardless of your chosen model. 

You can also spend a lot of money on somewhat less essential options, including £11,265 for a carbon fibre aerokit, while those who like to be seen can splash out £801 for big race number stickers slapped on the front doors. Natch.

While all of the above might make the Panamera sound quite expensive, you can spend similar amounts on various rival cars. The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe actually has a slightly higher starting point than the Panamera range, with the entry-level 840i coming in at £84,530, although things are a bit less spendy at the top end, with the M8 costing £144,840.

If you're going for the Porsche Panamera as a company car, there's no question that the PHEV E-Hybrid models are the way to go. Low CO2 emissions and sensible electric-only range figures mean these have a Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rate of just 9% from April 2025, compared with 37% for the pure combustion models.

They're also the most economical on paper, with figures of 282mpg for the E-Hybrid, 256.8mpg for the 4S E-Hybrid, 235.4mpg in the Turbo E-Hybrid and 201.8mpg in the Turbo S E-Hybrid. 

We say 'on paper' because these figures are best ignored. They're a result of WLTP economy tests which heavily favour plug-in hybrid models. The exact figure will depend on how much you rely on the Panamera Hybrid model's large battery, which offers anything from 50 to 57 miles, depending on the model.

You might struggle to replicate these in real-world driving scenarios, but we reckon over 30 miles is a realistic aim. For instance, if your commute is under 30 miles and you're able to charge at work and at home, you might rarely need to use petrol at all. Or, you might drive as we did when testing a Turbo E-Hybrid and end up getting 18mpg. Oops.

Should you prefer a pure internal combustion Porsche Panamera, you're looking at 29.1mpg for the Panamera, 28mpg for the Panamera 4 and 23.5mpg in the Panamera GTS. These figures will be far easier to replicate and even exceed in real-world driving. 

The Panamera E-Hybrid models are liable for a £185 annual Vehicle Excise Duty (VED or road tax), while for the petrols it's £195. All models are well beyond the £40,000 threshold for the government's Expensive Car Supplement (or premium car tax charge), which involves coughing up an extra £410 annually from years two to five of ownership. It's based on the original RRP of the car plus options and is transferred from owner to owner, so buying used doesn't get you around it, sadly. 

Like other models in its range, the Porsche Panamera line up is is more differentiated by its drive systems and power outputs than traditional trim levels. Variations of standard specification levels aren't drastic, with customers instead expected to pick exactly the equipment they want from an intimidating number of options. 

All models have adaptive air suspension, Matrix LED headlights and two-zone climate control. Opt for the entry-level Porsche Panamera 4 or the Panamera 4S models and this kit list will be combined with eight-way electrically adjustable front seats and some quite underwhelming-looking 19-inch wheels. Alternative sizes and designs are optionally available — but, of course they are. 

Choose a Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid model and you'll also get the famed Sport Chrono pack, while the Panamera 4S E-Hybrid gains 20-inch wheels.

The Porsche Panamera GTS goes one better with 21-inch wheels pinched from the Turbo S, along with a more sporty look for the exterior, 18-way electrically adjustable front sports seats, a heated steering wheel and a Bose audio surround sound system. 

You'll find that the Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid isn't all that different in terms of its equipment, but it doesn't get the sporty exterior nor the 21-inch wheels, instead riding on a set of 20s. The wheels go back up to 21 inches on the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, which is the only model to get the Porsche Active Ride system as standard.