After making bold claims about the capabilities of its second-gen Panamera, Porsche knew it was going to have to put its motor where its mouth was when the car finally hit the track.
And it did.
After bringing a standard, unmodified, 550-HP Panamera Turbo with road tires — a 440-HP 4S is also available as part of the 2017 line — to the Nordschleife in Nürburgring, the German automaker promptly set a new lap record for production sedans at the track.
The 550-HP Turbo beat out the previous record holder, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, by one second, finishing its lap in seven minutes and 38 seconds. That time also beat the old Panamera Turbo’s time by a substantial margin, 14 seconds, enough time for Ronda Rousey to win a fight or Blink-182 to play a song.
After the win, Porsche called the 2017 Panamera “the fastest luxury sedan on earth.”
The 2017 models have a range of new features, from an advanced cockpit with smart user interfaces and configurable LED screens to a Porsche Connect system that allows some vehicle functions to be controlled remotely by smartphone, but they still have the distinctive Panamera silhouette that has drawn criticism from many auto enthusiasts.
But if you can walk the walk — who cares?
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