2013 Porsche Panamera GTS - First Drive

Porsche’s Panamera is now available as eight versions in the U.S. You can, for example, slide in at $75,200 for a 3.6-liter V-6 Panamera and get to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds. Or you can leave that in the dust with the $173,200 4.8-liter Turbo S, which hits 60 in 3.6 sec. Or perhaps you would like better to tip your green-tinted hat as you drive by in your $95,000 S Hybrid.

So where does that put the newest variation, the $109,900 GTS. Porsche calls it, the sportiest of all Panamera models. That assert seems odd given the Turbo’s spot at the top of the horsepower and image list, but once you’ve driven the GTS, Porsche’s announcement makes sense.

We were at the Ascari circuit in Spain to try the 2013 Porsche Panamera GTS, which was popping its split-second PDK shifts as soon we accelerated uphill away from the pits. You would need much of the Panamera schedule there to make back-to-back comparisons, but reasonably rapidly you can sense this one has a firmer edge. Point the nose to a summit and there’s a split second of confidence-inspiring under steer, but then the car sets and responds. Not that Panameras are known as leaners, but this one is even less so. You almost forget there are two supplementary seats behind you.

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