Who among us didn’t have a Porsche poster on our bedroom wall at some point during our childhood? Whether you grew up with a 930 Turbo, the O.G. Boxster Spyder concept, or a 911 GT2 RS on your wall, one thing is certain: you can’t have the good stuff without cars like the 2022 Porsche Panamera 4 Platinum Edition.
It’s easy to chide Porsche for going soft, selling out, and catering to the masses with models like the Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera. But here’s the thing: catering to the masses is how you make money. You know, money that can be used to build cool things like track-ready Caymans, lightweight Boxsters with needlessly complicated soft-tops, or 911s that can do 0-60 in the blink of an eye. Scoff if you will at the idea of a four-door Porsche, but we need the Panamera more than you’d think.
As far as powertrain options go, all Panameras come with a boosted engine, and things can go from mild to wild pretty quickly. On the wild end, you can spec a snarling V8 or a plug-in hybrid pushing 700 horses. Our Panamera 4 Platinum Edition tester sits on the decidedly mild end, powered by a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 putting out 325 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque. That’s hooked up to an eight-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel-drive is standard fare up here in Canada.
It all comes together quite well, minus one sizable caveat. Power delivery feels linear all throughout the rev range, plus the eight-speed automatic is smart — it’s quick to kick down and rapid-fire gear shifts when you want to pass an 18-wheeler on a two-lane road in the sticks, and it’ll also happily disappear into the background when you ease up, sit back, and relax. However, the Panamera 4 tips the scales at just over 4,100 pounds — and therein lies the rub. No matter how you slice it, that’s a lot of mass for just 325 horses to haul. Granted it does get out of its own way, and there was a time where its 5.3-second sprint from zero to 100 km/h was impressive, but when you drop the hammer, the Panamera 4 just doesn’t feel as quick as the crest suggests.
Fortunately, the Panamera makes up for that in a couple of ways, one surprising and the other, not so much. Unsurprisingly, the Panamera’s impressive road manners strike a good balance between athleticism and comfort. Ride quality is on the firm side but certainly not harsh, with only the harshest of potholes and imperfections registering in your posterior. Wind and road noise are virtually non-existent, too — the latter is particularly impressive considering the Platinum Edition’s standard 21-inch wheels and rubber-band tires.
Chuck the Panamera into a tight on-ramp and even though you’ll feel its mass, there’s ample grip and very little body roll. Steering is another Stuttgart specialty; it’s responsive and the weight is just right. Calling something a “four-door sports car” may be a tired marketing trope, but in the case of the Panamera, it’s the truth. Besides, everyone knows a good sports car isn’t all about straight-line speed!
Surprisingly, the Panamera proved to be a fuel-sipper — relatively speaking, of course. It’s officially rated at 12.8 L/100 km in the city, 9.8 on the highway, and 11.8 combined. Thanks to some particularly lengthy highway jaunts, we saw the trip computer settle at 9.7 L/100 km, which is no doubt an impressive feat given the Panamera’s heft. That said, its 90-litre fuel tank can result in some pricey fill-ups, but most Panamera buyers undoubtedly have the means to foot the bill anyway.
Remember the humpbacked silhouette of the first-gen Panamera? We’re glad this second-generation car ditched the look in 2017. Admittedly, it does buy into the four-door-coupe trend, but five years into its current iteration, the Panamera still looks fresh. The Platinum Edition adds a number of style-first tweaks to the mild side of the Panamera lineup, including darkened accents, more equipment, and — uhh — door sills that say “Platinum Edition”.
The Panamera’s interior is almost a home run. It feels exactly as a $100,00-plus luxury car should: the leather is buttery smooth, fit-and-finish is tight, and the tech is crisp-looking and responsive. From the driver’s seat, you’ll appreciate the meaty steering wheel and low-slung seating position; from the passenger seats, you’ll appreciate the sumptuous materials and generous accommodations. Headroom and legroom all around is plentiful, and the rear hatch is another pleasant surprise, opening up to just under 500 litres of cargo space with the seats up, and about 1,340 stowed.
That being said, we’re not totally smitten. For some reason, shiny black surfaces continue to be associated with “good” interior design, and you’re given a dust-and-fingerprint magnet on the centre console to control the Panamera’s climate and other functions. Additionally, if you’re setting off for a long drive on a warmer day, be mindful of where you keep your phone — wireless CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity coupled to wireless charging are great, but when the charger is tucked away in the crowded black pocket below your right arm, there’s a decent chance your phone will overheat. And finally, where the hell is the dimmer for the switchgear? Why do you have to adjust the brightness through a maze of menus in the infotainment, and why isn’t it a knob beside the headlight switch?
Price-wise, the Panamera covers a broad range. The base rear-wheel-drive car — yet another pleasant surprise — starts at $103,400. That more than doubles by the time you cross 24 various flavours to get to the full-jam Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Executive, at $234,700. All of that is before options; our lower mid-range Panamera 4 Platinum Edition tester starts at $129,700, but various options tacked on here and there — some of which should really be standard, like the 360-degree camera and adaptive cruise control — brought the price tag to $137,640 as-tested.
Nobody is going to put a poster of the Panamera on their bedroom wall anytime soon, but a funny thing happens as you get older: you start to view things from a different perspective. What was once a tired marketing trope and viewed as sacreligious is now a staple of the lineup and part of the reason why we get cool cars like the Boxster Spyder, Cayman GT4, and 911 GT3 RS. Maybe the 2022 Porsche Panamera 4 should be on your bedroom wall after all.
