Porsche Panamera review

The driver’s seating position in the Porsche Panamera is fabulous. The pedals and steering wheel line up well and the low-slung seat gives it an authentic sports car feel. Once you’ve set the electrically adjustable steering wheel and seat to your liking, it’s a wonderfully comfortable place to be.

That said, we’ve only tried the 14-way adjustable sports seats. On models without these, you’ll need to add them at extra cost if you want adjustable lumbar support. Visibility out of the rear isn’t great, due to the sloping roofline and large rear pillars, but front and rear parking sensors are standard to help judge the car’s extremities. Powerful LED headlights are standard, for confident night driving.

The screen is a high resolution, and never lags like the system in the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé is prone to doing. Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring is standard, but you can’t have Android Auto.

To help deliver even more information to the driver, a pair of configurable 7.0in digital screens flank the traditional analogue rev counter that sits directly in front of you. They’re effective, showing sat-nav and driving information, for example, but the outer edges of the display get lost behind the thick-rimmed steering wheel.

Quality is very impressive. Everything feels beautifully put together and, depending on how much you want to spend, it’s possible to get virtually every surface covered in leather, Alcantara or a veneer of some sort.