Test drive Porsche Panamera
The market has demanded this for a long time. Meet the Sport Turismo - the first station wagon in the history of the Porsche brand
Had it happened a few years earlier, the noise would have been ... And now, it seems, and nothing extraordinary has happened. After experiencing two crossovers and a big five-door hatchback, the station wagon from Porsche seems to be a matter of course.
Moreover, in the opinion of many, it turned out to be even more beautiful than the now classic liftback. However, choosing the most striking and stylish among the two modifications of the car is as difficult as deciding between a chicken and a fish on an airplane. But if you look at practicality and usability, the Sport Turismo is the clear leader.
And it's not just the luggage space that has increased by 20 liters. The Panamera station wagon has a more convenient opening into the cargo compartment, and customers can order a 4 + 1 cabin configuration on request. It implies the installation of not two separate armchairs on the back row, but a sofa with three headrests. However, landing on the back row of the Sport Turismo of the third rider is as strange a gamble as the idea of using the car as a typical station wagon for transporting belongings.
Despite all the practicality of the body, the Sport Turismo is a real Porsche: with crazy power plants, exemplary chassis and verified handling. After all, he inherited all the technological toys that we have already met on the test of an ordinary car.
The estate has the same line of engines, the same transmissions and the same chassis with three-chamber pneumatic elements and shock absorbers with variable stiffness.
But the engineers still have something special in store for the station wagon. Thus, active aerodynamics is laid down on all Sport Turismo modifications, not just the Turbo version. However, unlike the plumage of the Panamera Turbo liftback, it is not so complex here.
There is only one roof edge spoiler that only changes the angle of attack in Sport and Sport + modes. Or it opens forcibly using a special function hidden deep in the multimedia menu. By the way, it works in one more case - when the hatch opens. The wing then changes its angle of attack and creates tremendous downforce against the rear axle to compensate for the lift generated by the open sunroof.
In general, the Sport Turismo, being more practical, with its driving skills is in no way inferior to the leaner five-door brother. So if you've made money with the Panamera and you like station wagons, then the choice is obvious. At least until the next generation Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake comes out.
