Johnny Mayday

As the post on the HP says, the first is the 918. That's pretty wild, and definitely merits some bragging rights...

extanker

have you driven a panny ?

95spiderman

my vote for best sedan all time. absolutely perfect! has looks, comfort, luxury, performance, economy, involvement. nothing can compare

Johnny Mayday

Nope, I haven't gotten the chance. Would love to though.

MC90

Isn't it also the heaviest Porsche ever? Or was there some models of the old cayenne that was heavier?

It's going to be interesting to se if the normal Turbo or the Turbo S hybrid model is going to be the most fun to drive. I suspect the normal Turbo is going to be the most fun and rewarding model to drive.

95spiderman

I disagree. luxury cars are not supposed to be light weight and sporty. theyre supposed to be comfortable and fast. regular turbo and turbo hybrid have both those bases covered. but I think hybrid makes the drive more involving being able to play with the different electric modes. I was recently in my friends new cayenne hybrid and it is fun to play with.

MC90

And I disagree with absolutely everything you say. A Porsche isn't suppose to be sporty? That's quite a shocking statement! If you don't want something sporty you'd be better of with a Mercedes S-class in my opinion. More comfortable, quieter and more specious.

But if your idea of fun is to change modes in a hybrid, I'm sure you would like the new Turbo S. I drove the last gen Panamera e-Hybrid once and I didn't like it. It didn't feel like a Porsche at all. It felt heavy, the brake feel was bad and the drivetrain was unresponsive. But I didn't play with modes. I only changed them in to the most sporty setting and left them like that.

95spiderman

yes the old pana hybrid was only a first try. slushbox trans and no awd held it back. that's all been fixed in the new one.

I had an audi a8l which i liked then replaced it with pana 4s which i absolutely loved. no comparison. every Porsche will be sportiest entry in that segment. that's a given. but i see no need for light weight in this segment.

gt3 for driver involvement, light weight, etc. panamera should only be as sporty as it can after luxury and comfort. i think they nailed it on this one

CAlexio

I think the difference lies in the designation of "e-hybrid" vs "s-hybrid".. the former used the electric part for economy gains, the latter for sportiness. I have to imagine this new one is a beast.

wogamax

I also think the battery being 50% larger, is worth the weight. These cars can track, but don't belong next to that yard stick.

As I'm these days more of a battery than an engine geek, I got out the 918 promo booklet this weekend and noted the "6.8KWh" available at a steady "200KW" draw. Wow, for the sake of the track. Most PHEVs, at this battery size, are fitting 50-100KW electric motors. So, they aren't getting near that output (~268HP). You do the math (6,800KW for an hour / 200KW instantaneous) and its spent in a couple minutes, but if these VW Group batteries can hold up at these crazy discharge/charge rates (918's tiny battery also accepts a full 20KW charge rate), than I think that's something valuable Porsche is bringing to the track/hybrid table.

In the end, however, the street is a very different application and, to me, Porsche is generously raising the KWh to a point where all-electric performance nears an acceptable level (14KWh). I'd still rather 6 or 4 cylinders, attached to >20 or 40KWh, because then the duration of the battery gets closer to daily use of a car.