While Porsche’s new Panamera is not perfect, the model brings to the luxury segment of the vehicle market intrinsic elements of sports car performance that rivals will fi nd hard to beat.

Porsche’s Panamera is unlike any other vehicle that the Stuttgart-based manufacturer has produced. Once famous for being a specialist sports car maker, in recent years the company has widened its activities to include the SUV market with the Cayenne and, now, the sports sedan market with the Panamera. Though producing a four-door GT is said to have been a dream of company founder Ferdinand Porsche, it has taken 62 years for the model to roll off the production line – but it’s been worth the wait, at least in my eyes.

From its shape, you might argue that the vehicle has been slapped out of a jelly mould – yet the styling is the antithesis of wobbly once the car is on the road. And, while some fashionistas might consider the outline of the rear end to be more hatchback than sedan – Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson famously said the model looked to have been designed by a janitor – there’s enough of a bulge in the shape of the boot to add elementary credence to the original concept.

Still, it’s probably safe to say that no other premium class car looks quite like the Panamera. And none may be quite as quick either, if a local road test report regarding the performance of the flagship, twin turbocharged version is to be believed – 3,8 seconds from zero to 100km/h at sea level, quicker by nearly half a second than Porsche’s claimed figures and almost unbelievable for a vehicle that weighs nearly two tons. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the Turbo was the model I found most appealing to drive during the launch of the three-car range recently in the Cape. The force fed 4,8-litre engine – mounted in the front of the car – produces 368kW and 700Nm, and is coupled with an all wheel drivetrain that operates through a seven-speed, double clutch automatic gearbox, in Porsche-speak dubbed the Porsche- Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK).

Nearly five metres long and three metres wide, the Panamera is a big car but, thanks to the turbocharged engine’s copious amounts of power and torque, an air sprung suspension system that even in comfort mode limits body roll, and a steering system that displays characteristics similar to those of the 911 sports car, the performance and dynamic aspects of the model contradict its bulk. Far more agile than it looks, the sumptuous fourseater thunders across the tarmac like a true GT should – extremely comfortable, nimble and fast. In acknowledgement of environment concerns, Porsche has also included for the first time stop-start technology that’s designed to save fuel by switching off the engine when the vehicle is stationary in traffic.

All models in the Panamera range are equipped with the system and, though it works unobtrusively for the most part, on one occasion drivetrain ‘clunk’ was audible when the engine engaged in a baseline S derivative. While the auto ’box impresses with smooth, quick changes, critics have long held the view that the shift mechanism on the steering wheel – unique to Porsche – doesn’t match the ease of use of rival left down, right up paddle systems, and the company has taken note of complaints. “If you want, you can now stipulate a conventional paddle shift system for the Panamera – or any other Porsche, for that matter,” says Toby Venter, CEO of Porsche SA.

And customers who queue up to buy the Panamera can also stipulate another option – a button that activates a resonance chamber designed to promote the sound of the exhaust in the cabin. While the car is perceived by some critics not to be a perfect fit in the luxury saloon segment – it seats only four people instead of five, for instance, and, despite the bulge in the boot-line, looks more like a fastback than a sedan – in my view the premium class is more interesting because of it.