This new flagship Porsche Panamera takes the ‘Ring crown from its predecessor by 5.64 seconds.
Porsche is soon to be launching a spicy hot version of its third-generation Panamera, but naturally with this being Porsche, it had to first send it around the Nürburgring Nordschleife to make a statement. And that statement is (rather unsurprisingly) for this upcoming flagship variant of its four-door (petrol-powered) sedan to be the fastest car in its class round the ‘Ring, beating out its record-holding predecessor by a not-insignificant 5.64 seconds.
With Porsche test driver Lars Kern behind the wheel, a pre-series variant of this high-performance touring saloon set a new best time of 7:24.17 minutes for luxury class cars with combustion engines and hybrids. The prior record holder in this category was to be the Panamera Turbo S, which laid down a time of 7:29.81 minutes back in 2020.
Now according to its maker, the new Panamera’s record-setting lap time underlines the consistent further development of the four-door sports car. Porsche touts that this new four-door’s ‘electrically supported eight-cylinder combustion engine enables impressive driving performance, but this is not the only reason for the improved lap time’.
“On the Nordschleife, the transverse dynamic capabilities of a car are particularly important,” Kern comments regarding how this car drives out on track. “The new Panamera has made significant gains in this area. In technically demanding corner sequences in particular, such as between the ‘Hohe Acht’ and ‘Brünnchen’ sections, it responds with noticeably greater agility.”
“The powertrain, the aerodynamics, the chassis, the new ultra-high-performance tyres from Michelin – many aspects have contributed to this best time,” Kern adds. Porsche has worked with the French tyre maker to specially develop a set of Pilot Sport Cup 2s for this Panamera, which incidentally feature dimensions of 275/35 ZR 21 at the front and 325/30 ZR 21 at the rear.
For optimised performance, the optional Carbon Aerokit eliminates lift on the front axle. In combination with the Gurney flap on the adaptive 4-way rear spoiler, the end result is that downforce is generated. This boosts the aerodynamic balance.
“The new Porsche Active Ride chassis has made a particularly big contribution. The car stays parallel to the road at all times. Its cornering and body stability are on a whole new level,” Kern notes. “As a driver, this gives me a good feeling and further underlines that our development doesn’t just offer maximum day-to-day driving comfort, but also makes a real difference on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. No other Porsche offers such a wide spectrum between comfort and sportiness. The new Panamera combines the positive properties of an exclusive touring saloon with the handling of a sports car.”
As with any production car lap record, the Panamera was to be a series version with only safety-related modifications made to better protect the driver while out setting the time. These changes made include the fitment of a racing seat, as well as the mandatory safety cage.
