2014 Porsche Panamera 4S: Is a Twin-Turbo V-6 Better Than a V-8? - Ignition Ep. 94 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:05 We wouldn't blame you if you mistook this Panamera

00:07 for the GTS we tested last year, as the wheels and paint

00:11 are very similar.

00:11 [ENGINE REVVING]

00:16 But this is a 2014 Panamera 4S, and that means

00:20 this car no longer has a V8.

00:22 In its place, we have a direct-injected and twin-turbo

00:25 3-liter V6. Versus the outgoing V8,

00:31 this engine makes 20 more horsepower, 15 more pound-feet

00:34 of torque, and returns better fuel economy.

00:37 The thing that remains difficult with V6s

00:39 is mustering excitement.

00:41 This week, we find out if Porsche has made it work.

00:47 [ENGINE REVVING]

00:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:55 Launching the Panamera like all Porsches could not be easier.

01:10 You hit Sport Plus, you jam both pedals,

01:12 and then you release the brake.

01:14 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:17 And how it launches out of the hole is just hilarious.

01:20 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:23 Fast shifts, thanks to this PDK transmission.

01:29 1/4 mile in 13 flat at 104.6 miles an hour.

01:33 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:37 Yada, yada, yada, something about 60 to 0 braking.

01:40 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:43 Something about 99 feet in carbon ceramics.

01:46 Moving on.

01:46 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:50 Good power on exit, very easy to get aggressive on turn in.

01:56 It just stays pretty stable throughout the corner.

02:01 You can get some oversteer like we did just there

02:03 if you're really hard on it.

02:07 For the most part, it's not a heavy understeer.

02:11 It's a mild understeer.

02:14 And it's pretty easy to get out of by just lifting off

02:17 the throttle a bit.

02:20 There isn't enough torque on tap to really kick the thing out.

02:24 But that also may be because this is all wheel drive.

02:27 And we got the front wheels doing some of the work too.

02:29 [ENGINE REVVING]

02:34 Big carbon ceramic brakes do a good job of slowing you down.

02:37 I especially like the pitch forward, just a little bit

02:40 of pitch that they give you as you come into the corner.

02:43 It's really easy to drive the car in

02:45 and know where the limits of adhesion are at.

02:49 Being this is a turbocharged V6, you

02:51 do have to wait and plan for your corner exit

02:53 because you have to wait a little bit for the turbos to

02:56 come in.

02:57 They like to claim that this thing makes however much torque

03:00 it makes at 1,750 RPM, but it doesn't.

03:03 You still have to wait for the turbos to come in.

03:05 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:09 [LAUGHING]

03:12 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:16 Now, you wouldn't take a Panamera to a racetrack,

03:20 but you could.

03:22 And that's the cool thing about the Panamera.

03:24 It's something we discussed about at length

03:26 when we had the GTS last year.

03:27 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:31 Of course, this is the 4S, so things are slightly different.

03:35 But it still works.

03:37 It's still enjoyable.

03:38 It still has some sports car-like qualities

03:40 that make it pretty fun out here.

03:42 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:46 And it's interesting, when you hop in the Panamera,

03:49 so long as you never look behind you,

03:50 you might think you were in a 911.

03:53 The interior layout's identical.

03:55 The way the hood slopes down, the way the front fenders

03:58 slope down with them, it feels very much like a 911.

04:01 But then you look behind you and you realize, oh, you got two

04:04 more seats and cargo capacity.

04:06 That's a very nice thing.

04:08 But you also have some sports car driving qualities.

04:11 The chassis feels agile.

04:12 The steering feels good.

04:14 The power is decent.

04:16 And it's pretty fun to toss this car around.

04:18 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:21 Now, let's talk about this engine,

04:23 because it is the biggest, newest component of this car.

04:27 It makes decent power.

04:28 It works.

04:29 This car, in our testing, is faster

04:30 than any S Panamera we've tested in the past.

04:33 Around our figure eight, it was way faster

04:36 than the GTS we tested.

04:37 And yet, I'm not in love with this engine.

04:41 It has no emotional component.

04:45 It makes good power, again, but it doesn't sound very good.

04:48 It just sort of has this mechanical whine to it.

04:51 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:54 It's not a very interesting engine,

04:59 the way it goes about delivering power.

05:01 It just sort of does it like any sort of German luxury sedan

05:04 does.

05:05 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:08 The Porsche badge brings with it some expectations

05:14 of excitement, of emotional draw,

05:17 something that makes you interested in the car.

05:19 And this engine really doesn't have that.

05:22 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:24 The car as a whole is still brilliant.

05:26 It's still comfortable, incredibly practical

05:32 for a Porsche, and still a lot of fun.

05:34 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:38 This being the 4S, it's not going

05:39 to do some crazy power oversteer or crazy slides.

05:43 It has a lot of stability.

05:44 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:48 The balance seems to be more on the safe side than anything

05:50 else.

05:51 But it's not punishing.

05:54 It's not embarrassing.

05:55 It's not a pain to be driven fast.

05:57 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:01 Braking power is very strong thanks to these carbon

06:04 ceramics, which I don't know why you would get on a 4S Panamera

06:10 that you would drive every day.

06:11 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:16 Which brings us to the options.

06:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:23 This 4S has $42,445 worth of them.

06:27 And half of that price comes from the wheels, carbon ceramic

06:30 brakes, and other performance items.

06:32 There's a dizzying amount of smaller options, too--

06:35 thermal and noise-insulated glass, voice control,

06:38 front seat ventilation, a rear wiper, and on and on.

06:42 It's rather ridiculous.

06:45 But our biggest disappointment rests with the engine.

06:47 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:54 It should always have that sort of edge.

06:56 It should always have that sort of excitement in everything

07:01 that it does.

07:02 And this doesn't.

07:03 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:11 We're in Sport Plus.

07:14 We have the dampers set on their most aggressive mode.

07:16 We have the exhaust baffles open with this exhaust button

07:19 over here.

07:20 But it doesn't seem to make a difference

07:22 if I turn the exhaust on or off.

07:28 I just wonder if they might have missed their opportunity

07:31 with this engine.

07:33 Maybe they have.

07:34 Despite its weight and all-wheel drive,

07:41 the Panamera retains the certain nimbleness and overall agility

07:45 you'd associate with the Porsche name.

07:47 You wouldn't take it to a racetrack, of course,

07:49 but you could.

07:50 And you wouldn't be disappointed.

07:53 The new turbo V6 makes a strong empirical argument for itself.

07:57 But it lacks a certain enthusiasm

07:59 one would expect from a car with a Porsche crest on it.

08:02 The engine to get is still the naturally aspirated V8.

08:06 Regardless, the Panamera remains an extremely competent

08:09 and fascinating car.

08:10 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:15 Put it up.

08:16 Put it up.

08:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:21 Oh, no.

08:21 Electric parking brake.

08:23 German cars, whenever you have an automatic German car

08:27 and you open the door, the parking brake comes on.

08:30 Why?

08:31 Because Germans hate people who test cars and move cones

08:34 around all day.

08:35 Don't put the e-brake on.

08:36 Don't put the e-brake on.

08:37 Don't put the e-brake on.

08:38 Don't do it.

08:39 Don't--

08:39 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:40 [LAUGHTER]

08:41 Dick.

08:42 I can't shut the door without knocking the cone over.

08:45 Granted, I've built this box.

08:48 Don't do it.

08:49 Don't do it.

08:49 OK.

08:54 Jesus.

08:55 So that actually takes two minutes

08:56 to get around the first time.

08:57 Yeah.

08:58 You know, so this is actually a really slow figure eight lap.

2014 Porsche Panamera 4S: Is a Twin-Turbo V-6 Better Than a V-8? - Ignition Ep. 94

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