What's this then?

These, you mean. These are the Porsche Panamera, both in saloon and Sport Turismo 'estate' versions, getting the GTS treatment, bringing the range in line with the Cayman, Boxster and 911.

As with those cars, Panamera GTS models will get a little more power and some chassis tweaks, as well as some subtle styling upgrades. Those include the Sport Design styling pack as standard, which features black finishing trim around the nose and rear end, as well as 20-inch alloy wheels.

Inside, there's lots of Alcantara and anodised aluminium trim, and as standard there's a sports three-spoke heated steering wheel, also trimmed in Alcantara, which has paddle shifts for the eight-speed gearbox. There's also a full suite of Porsche Connect services in the infotainment system, as well as a new head-up display, which will be rolling out to the rest of the Panamera range in due course.

You can of course customise the interior to your heart's (and wallet's) content, with GTS logos, contrast stitching and extra colours for the centrally-positioned rev counter.

Power comes from the same twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine as the Panamera Turbo, but it's been wound back a little, to a still-substantial 460hp, which is 20hp more than the old Panamera GTS. There's 620Nm of torque too, which is an extra 100Nm compared to the old one. With four-wheel drive and the eight-speed PDK gearbox as standard, that's enough to propel the Panamera GTS from rest to 62mph in just 4.1 seconds, thanks in part to the standard-fit Sport Chrono pack, which includes launch control. The top speed, for the saloon model, is 181mph, with the Sport Turismo a fraction behind on 179mph.

Better look away now if you're keen on saving money or the environment, though, as the Panamera GTS scores a pretty pitiful 26.6-27.7mpg fuel economy, depending on the model, and CO₂ emissions are 235g/km for the saloon and 242g/km for the Sport Turismo.

Still, compensation of a sort can be found in the chassis, which gets three-chamber air suspension all round, riding 10mm closer to the road than the standard Panamera. The PASM - Porsche Active Suspension Management - has been upgraded too, to sharpen up the handling. It should do the usual Porsche-style running-into-a-tree braking thanks to 390mm brake discs up front, with 365mm discs at the rear.

Prices start from £105,963 for the saloon and £108,110 for the Sport Turismo and they're both on sale now.

Neil Briscoe - 16 Oct 2018