Am I looking at a Porsche Panamera estate?
Your eyes are fine - this is a Porsche Panamera wagon, or, to give it the correct nomenclature, the Sport Turismo. And you really shouldn't be that surprised: Porsche hinted at this car's eventual arrival with a concept in 2012.
Oh, did it? What was that called?
The, er... Panamera Sport Turismo Concept.
I see. So what can you tell me about the production car?
OK, it's the practical one of the Panamera family. It has a bigger boot (only up by 20- or 50 litres on the saloon, with maximums of 520- and 1,390 litres, according to what position the 40:20:40 split rear seats are in), which is accessed by a powered tailgate as standard, all models gain Porsche Traction Management four-wheel drive (as it's clearly a lifestyle estate and therefore you'll be taking it to Courchevel on regular occasions for the family skiing trip) and it's also a five-seater, too. Well, a 4+1 actually...
A 4+1?
Yup. The Sport Turismo is the first Panamera to have more than four chairs within, although the fifth seat is a raised bench between the two sculpted outer items. That means not many people are going to want to be in the centre-back position of the Sport Turismo for long. As an alternative, you can have just two individual back seats, with electric adjustment.
Anything else on the practicality or aesthetics?
Yes, the Sport Turismo has the 'first adaptively extendible roof spoiler in the segment' - this has three stages, depending on the driving situation. If you're going less than 105mph (and you should be, in the UK, for rather obvious reasons), the aerodynamic guide at the rear is held retracted at minus-seven degrees, to minimise drag and thus maximise fuel efficiency. Above 105mph, it shifts to a positive angle of one degree, ramming another 50kg of downforce onto the back axle as a result. You can make it move to this position at anything above 55mph, if you're in Sport or Sport Plus modes, while it will also shift to 26 degrees if the panoramic roof is open, to reduce wind noise and buffeting in the cabin.
Very clever. So, what engines have we got?
The Panamera 4 Sport Turismo, with a 330hp 2.9-litre V6, kicks off the range for £73,071. Then there's the 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo, with its electrically-augmented version of the V6 drivetrain churning out 462hp, for £83,288. The rest of the models are the 4S Sport Turismo, with 440hp, for £93,979; the 4S Diesel Sport Turismo, 422hp, £97,067; and then the daddy, something for the Mercedes-AMG CLS 63 Shooting Brake to think about - it's the Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo, with 550hp and yours for £117,247. Admit it, you want one of these bad boys...
Can you tell me anything else about the mechanicals?
Three-chamber adaptive air suspension will be fitted to the S models, while rear-axle steering and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC Sport) electronic roll stabilisation will also be offered on the Sport Turismo. For the cars with conventional combustion engines, expect anything between 30.1- and 42.2mpg, with CO2 emissions of 215- to 176g/km accordingly (the two bookends, in case you were wondering, are the Turbo and the S Diesel; we'll let you work out which one you think is the more economical...). The 4 E-Hybrid trumps all of that with 113mpg and 56g/km, although its electrical hardware means it loses boot space: its ultimate figures are 425- and 1,295 litres with the rear seats up or down, respectively.
OK, when does it go on sale?
The Panamera Sport Turismo, due for its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show this week, is on sale now, with first deliveries in UK showrooms commencing from October 7.
Matt Robinson - 6 Mar 2017