2026 Porsche Panamera GTS

There are a couple of brands I get really excited about. Porsche is one of them. This four-wheel-drive, four-litre, twin-turbo V8, putting out around 368 kW, is the Porsche ‘wagon’, if you will, though it is more coupé-like. One of a kind, it is a rare beast that promises a lot and delivers more. Starting on the outside, it’s a shade of black so dark it’s hard to see. Up close, it’s a very handsome vehicle. Restrained? Yes. Sophisticated? Absolutely. It’s a Hugo Boss suit.

If early versions of the Panamera looked a bit unfinished at the back, this one is sorted. It’s very attractive. Everything about the GTS looks restrained, yet it means business. The GTS is always a special model in the line-up, combining every luxury, comfort and convenience with almost everything that makes a car go fast. It blends comfort and chaos, beauty and the beast.

There’s no hiding that it’s a large car, but it is low, which makes it look longer. However, there’s still plenty of room in my garage for me to walk around and admire it. It is probably the most subtle of all the Porsches, without the race-car look of a 911 or the jacked-up muscle of a Cayenne. No, indeed, this is a sleeper. Yet the matte-black 21-inch rims with enormous 325 mm tyres suggest great power lies within. Leather and Alcantara cover the interior, while the seats are comfortable, ventilated, heated and adjustable. The drive-mode selector is sensibly placed on the steering wheel, near a button for extra go, should you need it. You probably won’t, but it’s always nice to have a fun button. For the EV Taycan, Porsche developed a new headlight aesthetic that many other brands copied. Funnily enough, this model doesn’t sport the U-shaped lights, but it carries that design into the button clusters and air vents.

Being the GTS model, it has not one but two sunroofs. Spacious rear seating has its own independent climate controls, creating four separate zones. The highly electronic cabin retains dedicated air controls that work well. Very thick glass keeps the outside world at bay, and wireless integration is excellent, as you would expect. The camera package makes parking easy. Soft-close doors are another luxury.

Yes, it’s great-looking. However, a Porsche is meant to be driven, so I head out on my customary road test across a variety of settings. Lane keeping does its duty as I easily gobble up the highway in seductive comfort, but when I reach the twisty stuff, I turn it off to maintain the fullest control. Once I can unleash that power and capability, it’s quickly apparent that this is an astonishing car. With all-wheel drive, it’s extraordinarily competent and can always lay down all of its power. At 2,140 kilograms, it’s no lightweight; thankfully, the brakes are more than capable of stopping it. What is particularly impressive, however, is its ability to corner like a much lighter car. While it eats gravel roads like a rally car, this was a demonstrator, so I stuck mostly to sealed roads.

Some days you get lucky and some days you don’t. I’ve struck a logging-truck congregation at a roadworks celebration, and a Swift was anything but. Patience, Tim. Patience. A slow trip through great roads is a good way to practise mindfulness and meditation. This cabin is a good place for it, so inviting and quiet. Select Normal drive mode, relax the seating a little, play calming music on the sensational stereo, adjust the cabin temperature, and within a moment or two I’m in my zen haven. The only thing missing is yoga, but the car probably has room.

Launch control is genuinely exciting and easy to use. Foot on the brake, foot on the throttle. Release the brakes. Boom! A precisely controlled hint of four-wheel spin makes it more exciting, and suddenly you are at the limit. I wasn’t able to measure the actual acceleration. Porsche claims 0–100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. It usually understates things. Engaging launch control sends my phone into the back seat. If you like keeping things spicy, there’s a comprehensive lap timer and performance-analysis system with the Sport Chrono package. I didn’t get into it, but it would be ideal if you love the track.

The variety of drive modes allows you to select Normal, Sport or Sport Plus, adjusting the ride height, sports exhaust and spoiler settings. If you want to see the coolest wing on a car today, check this one out. It hides away when not in use, then extends back and out in a three-way action that only the Germans could master. Luckily, there’s a button to deploy it if you want to impress your friends when parked.

This car may share an engine with others from the Volkswagen Group, yet Porsche does things its own way, which usually means rigorously addressing driver needs. The Porsche PDK, which I thought stood for Pretty Damn Kwik, actually means “Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe”, or ‘Porsche Dual Klutch’. It does a fine job of choosing the optimum gear, and lovely metallic paddles let you pretend you can make a better selection.

It’s not quite in the fire-breathing camp. It’s tuned for a very fast, enjoyable trip. It’s not really a sports car; it’s more GT. I like that. It’s a real-world car, one you can live with, yet with lashings of brute force. It’s an easy choice for a family trip. It’s at its best using the copious 660 Nm of torque out of slow corners, and it has a top speed of 302 km/h. Large, though not enormous, in town, it’s a pleasure as a daily driver. It rewards smooth driving and loves long distances. When you’re driving this car, everyone else seems slow, and it has a way of making progress without fuss. An engineering hammer in a family-sized velvet race glove. The Panamera is a family car with supercar performance and sedate luxury.