While the Panamera is the luxury sports saloon which Porsche offers, the Panamera Sport Turismo has a new body type akin to a shooting brake design.
The difference can be seen from the B-pillar to the rear with the pronounced shoulder, elongated window line and equally long roof contour.
Other than its aesthetic appearance, this results in a large tailgate, low loading edge, increased luggage space of 520 litres. Right at the edge of the roof is the adaptive spoiler which deploy in three stages depending on the speed for additional downforce.
Also setting this apart is the 4+1 seating concept. The Sport Turismo ideally seats four but there enough space to seat a third in the rear however, the tall centre tunnel does not give way for legroom.
The Panamera Sport Turismo which we previewed was flown in all the way from Germany and is the top-specced all-wheel drive Panamera Turbo in mesmerising Sapphire Blue Metallic.
Under the bonnet is a 4.0 litre V8 engine mated to an 8-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) automatic transmission which produces 550hp and 700Nm of torque.
The interior is covered in smooth black leather and the cockpit design is very minimal especially the centre console with the Direct Touch Control in place. This is a glass-looking surface with touch senstive buttons for direct access to the controls such as the four-zone climate control and followed by a neatly compact gear selector.
The dash also features a high resolution 12-inch touchscreen display. The instrument cluster has an analogue rev counter with digital displays on both sides to display virtual instruments, maps and other information.
Other goodies include adaptive air suspension with three chamber technology, Porsche Traction Management (PMT), Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control, sport exhaust system with quad tailpipes, rear axle steering, Sport Chrono Package and 21-inch wheels.
It is also fitted with the Burmester High End 3D Surround Sound System which comes with 21 speakers.
The Panamera Sport Turismo is expected to arrive next year and three variants of the Sport Turismo will be offered in Malaysia: the Panamera 4, Panamera 4 E-Hybrid and Panamera Turbo.
The regular Panamera is going for around RM1.6mil, and the Sport Turismo should be priced north of that at launch on account of the bigger interior.
