By guest contributor and Fast Lane Travel customer, Johnny Speed    :)

“Clear road, let’s go” the walkie-talkie squawked. It was Thomas our lead driver.

The five 997 Carrera 4S’s and our Panamera 4S dutifully accelerated away.

My wife and I were in the back of the group enjoying the leisurely drive through the rolling pasturelands, admiring the light brown cows with their bells. I switched the PDK to “manual” mode. The road we were on went up through the Alps toward Austria and has been used in numerous movie chase scenes, due to its “zig-zag”/ switchbacks pattern.

This was going to be fun.

The 997’s pulled away a bit from us and I began pushing the new Porsche Panamera 4S through the “twisties” (German translation for road with many sharp corners and turns)

I locked the tension on my seat belt, engaged the “Sport Plus” feature and “double tapped” the PDK putting the engine into its power band.

I started easy, adding more throttle on each short straight and braking later and more aggressively into the corners. The harder I pushed the car the better it handled. I quickly became confident accelerating assertively on the short chutes and braking later into the tight bends, down shifting, then back on the throttle past the apex of the corners. The car seemed to say “I have more, push me harder!”  I responded.

I drove even more aggressively, threshold braking into the corners, down shifting just before turn-in then right back on the throttle, feeling not only the rear tires, but the front tires as well grabbing the last bit of traction the asphalt had to offer, crushing the accelerator into the carpet and up shifting as the tach needle closed in on redline.

The harder I pushed the car, the cleaner and crisper it responded.  It literally seemed to transform into a small light powerful sports car!

By now we were right behind the black 997 Carrera, where we stayed to the top of the pass. We took a break at the top and the husband and wife in the black Carrera said they were impressed how well the Panamera 4S had kept up with them.  I did not have the heart to say it had more to offer and I reflected on the days preceding this drive.

Our trip started several days before with a tour of the new Porsche museum where many historical racing Porsches as well as prototypes and historically significant Porsches are on display without ropes or rails around them.

After seeing the museum we were waiting outside for our tour of the Porsche factory to begin, when 2 brand new 997 GT3 RS’s (with their distinct rear wing) drove by on their way to the shipping area; WOW!

We toured the Porsche factory finding it to be clean, quiet and modern with unmanned motorized tugs moving part bins in and out of the assembly areas fulfilling the “just-in-time” requirements of the assembly line.

The factory utilizes both men and women to assemble components where a human touch is required.  Robots performed the more redundant precise procedures best done by machines, such as windshield installations.

Months earlier when Peter Sontag from Fast Lane Travel asked what model of Porsche we wanted to drive we requested a Panamera knowing it was highly unlikely we would get one since it had not yet been released for sale in Europe.

I will admit to wondering if a Porsche sedan was an oxymoron. A quote came to mind; “To be truly aesthetic, truly timeless, any design must be functionally justified” (Dr. Ferry Porsche)

The following day our group boarded a bus to Ludwigsburg where the Porsches we would be driving for the next week sat waiting for us. There in the line of nearly new, freshly detailed Porsche 997’s sat a Basalt Black Panamera 4S with our name on the dash. We loaded our bags and familiarized ourselves with the new Porsche Sport Sedan.

A voice from a walkie-talkie sitting in the cup holder asked if we were ready to depart.  I looked at my wife, smiled and started the big 4.8-liter V8.

We were ready for departure!

We left the delivery area and quickly found ourselves on the German Autobahn heading south toward Austria.

Few things will ignite the passion of an automotive enthusiast like entering the German Autobahn. Here in the USA we feel good when we can enter the freeway and accelerate up to 65 mph, (70 or 80 mph if we dare). In Germany if one enters the Autobahn at one of the many sections without a speed limit, 65 goes by like 30 mph. My wife notices the landscape moving quickly by and I ask her “guess how fast?”

“How fast?” she responds.

“217 km/h (135 mph) and the accelerator is still against the carpet” I stated as her eyes widened!

Our trip proceeded over a wide variety of roads and highways ranging from German Autobahns to narrow Italian city streets (Panamera Parking Assist doubles as Driving Assist in Italy, see photos).  The assortment of roads helped exhibit the level of high tech engineering that went into the Panameras’ suspension and chassis.

Not long ago car manufactures had to make a choice when engineering the suspension of a new automobile.  Was handling or comfort going to be the dominant trait of the vehicle?  Once that decision was made the springs, torsion bars, sway bars, struts and other suspension components were designed to favor either firmness for better handling or softness to enhance ride quality.  The car could not have both.  Generally a compromise was made.

Today if a manufacture has the engineering capability and is willing to make the commitment; the technology that inflates the air bags at the on-set of a crash, will adjust suspension components while the car is being driven.

The same automobile can be both smooth and comfortable for the Autobahn and firm and planted for the “twisties”.

The Panamera my wife and I had was equipped with air suspension and PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control).  This allowed me to set the ride quality and performance level with the push of one button. This system constantly adjusts the level of softness/firmness at each individual shock absorber, air “spring” and roll bar to minimize body roll, even when driven very hard.  It also controls ride height and regulates the rear differential lock!

Does it work?

Yes!  It is amazing how the characteristics of the car can change depending on which one of three suspension settings is chosen. The Panamera is still a fairly large automobile and the laws of physics are still in play, but this car bends those laws marvelous well.

On the Autobahn the Panamera quickly settled into a nice pace of around 125 to 140 mph and when traffic allowed, sprints up to 165 mph were taken in stride.

As the speeds increased the car became very sure footed, tracking straight without the annoying small movements that other cars often exhibit at high speed.  Curves and bends came and went without fan fare and my wife who is not a “lets see how fast we can go” person, quickly became very comfortable with the high speeds. The feed back through the steering wheel and seat were excellent, keeping me the driver informed with what the tires and chassis were being subjected to, yet the chassis effectively dampened out annoyances while maintaining a high level of comfort, road feel and minimal sound levels.

Living with the Panamera over the course of a week and covering a little over 1,500 miles I appreciated why the engineers designed the rear of the car in the manner they did. The rounded back-end allows for a high roofline over the back seat with outstanding headroom for the rear occupants, while keeping the overall length of the car reasonable.  The rear seats fold down, substantially increasing an already good-sized trunk.

As our trip came to an end and we returned the black Panamera 4S to Porsche, I asked my wife what kind of animal best reflected the car.  She considered the question and responded “a Black Panther”

I thought a moment; a Black Panther? Sleek, fast, agile, able to chase down a smaller animal with ease, and oh yes, functionally justified, she was right.

Ferry Porsche would be pleased.