The Beasts from Stuttgart

MANILA, Philippines - “550”. That’s all you really need to remember behind the wheel of Porsche’s uber-sedans. In the Panamera Diesel, that number stands for how many Newton-meters of torque its high tech, 250-HP Common Rail Direct Injected diesel punches out from a low of 1750 rpm to 2700 rpm. The average, diesel-powered SUV rates about half that number, while a premium marque like the BMW X5 is a few dozen short of the Porsche. And it’s a car, which means it’s smaller, lighter, and therefore stuffing that much torque in a 4-door sedan weighing all of 1,880 kilos (about the same as a regular midsize sedan) must be the automotive equivalent of injecting a pit bull with a gallon of steroids.

It. Is. Unstoppable.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration because at 242 km/h it won’t go any faster. Still, below its terminal velocity it’s about as much fun you can have with 4 wheels and 4 doors and without sacrificing any of the creature comforts billionaire tycoons are used to in the Panamera’s price range.

With the addition of the diesel to the Panamera range, Porsche beefs up their premium saloon for buyers who want the superior range and practicality afforded by a diesel engine with few compromises in performance. The diesel is mated to an 8-speed Tiptronic S transmission and sports all the newest technological trickery for low emissions and long range.

Rated Euro 5 for emissions and sipping just 6.5 liters of diesel for every 100 kilometers, one might think this Porsche is only good for grocery runs and corporate preening, yet it’s also remarkably quick: 0-100 km/h in 6.8 seconds, that 242 km/h top speed, and plenty of low-end and midrange grunt to make the scenery go by very, very quickly. To address any concerns about the noise a diesel engine makes, Porsche even tuned the exhaust system to give it a sporty audio character. At idle you can hardly hear it except for a discreet rumble, but at full throttle it has a muscular, throaty roar that brings to mind a small block V8.

So between the powertrain and chassis, which sports such exotic driving aids like adaptive dampers and optional air suspension, the Panamera Diesel makes a strong case for the argument that you really can make a luxury car perform like a sports car.

Of course, for those who are still unconvinced about Porsche’s stand that its 4-door saloon is a true Porsche (you know, fast, nimble, rumbling with character…), it has the big gun approach: the Turbo S.

4.8 liter V8, twin turbos, 7-speed PDK transmission, 550 horsepower.

It’s the type of saloon for those who believe that any Porsche worth its salt should be able to do the 0-100 km/h sprint in less than 5 seconds; the Turbo S does it in 3.8. It’s a car for those who regularly ply the autobahn or similar roads where 200 km/h is just your cruising speed, and 300 is the standard to be accorded supercar status. Porsche quotes a top speed of 306 km/h, and while we couldn’t go any faster than 278 on the autobahn due to traffic, the car was still pulling like an Airbus on takeoff.

To enjoy the car, Porsche let us loose on the back roads of the Hohenlohe region. The 2-lane roads snake every which way through the countryside, into the woods, leading from one village to the next and occasionally bringing us to the autobahn. Blind corners and steep switchbacks on unfamiliar roads would normally prevent a cautious driver from getting in over his head in any car, yet the Porsche just gives you that confidence to push a little harder than you normally would.

Its supercar resume includes a short list of exotic items like 20-inch tires, active suspension, dynamic chassis control and torque vectoring, but the way everything works so seamlessly is the real beauty of it all. Not 15 minutes behind the wheel and you’re flooring the throttle at the nearest open stretch to get that rush to 100, 120, 150 km/h in less time than it takes you to pop open a Coke and take a sip. Despite its substantial mass (the car has about the same floor area as a Toyota Camry), it seems to shrink from behind the wheel. The steering is surgically precise, the brakes indisputably powerful, and the chassis so composed that you could take this car to the track and it would eat any number of lesser sports cars for breakfast. It is, in fact, so quick that it occasionally outran even our own GPS navigation system, zipping us past crucial turns just as the nav system was telling us to turn left or right.

On the autobahn it’s as stable as any other premium sedan, and I was initially surprised to see that we were actually cruising at 200 km/h when it felt like 140. Getting everything to work according to your preferences is a matter of pressing a few buttons on the central command console, from how firm you want the dampers to the responsiveness of the traction control (don’t turn it off unless you’re very skilled… or foolish), and even if you’d like the motorized spoiler up all the time. And just to get this out of the way, yes there is real legroom with the rear seats. You even have your own set of controls for the power-adjustable seats. And the cargo area, err, boot is large enough to swallow your complete set of LV luggage.

When Porsche first unveiled its plans to make a 4-door sports car not a few critics and purists decried the supposed pandering to the market’s real desires. Yet when the Panamera finally came out, it silenced them all when it proved that you really could have a luxury car and a sports car in just one body type. With the Panamera Diesel Porsche proves that you can also a have a pretty economical Grand Tourer too. And with the Panamera Turbo S, there’s probably one thing better than the silence of the leather-lined cabin as you cruise along in stately fashion; flooring the accelerator and savoring the Wagner-ian roar of the twin turbo V8 as it zooms you faster than you ever thought a 4-door could.