Big power: 550hp, 770Nm to all four wheels. Price starts from RM1,550,000

The new Porsche Panamera is a car with many talents, one that we are quite fond of as we have shown in our video review here. And the faster it goes, the better it is. Having said that, few is faster* than the Panamera Turbo, which is now officially available in Malaysia from importer Sime Darby Auto Performance (SDAP).

It’s shock and awe for the driver – 550hp between 5,750 to 6,000rpm and 770Nm between 1,960 to 4,500rpm from a twin turbo 4.0-litre V8. Luckily, all that power goes to all four wheels, managed by the same 8-speed PDK twin clutch transmission as in the 4S.

0-100kph takes just 3.6 seconds, and the car will accelerate to 200kph in 13 seconds. With the Sport Chrono package, this lowers to 12.7 seconds. Part of the reason is low-down power – 340hp is available at just above 3,000rpm. Top speed is 306kph.

A lot of attention goes to the engine, and not just because of it brute power. Every component in the engine was analysed to see if it can go lighter – the aluminium cylinder crankcase itself is 6.7kh lighter than the 4.8-litre engine in the old model. All in all, the new engine is 9.5kg lighter than the predecessor’s.

Now, the twin-scroll turbochargers are also housed in-between the 90 degree angle of the cylinder banks in order to make the engine as compact as possible.

The new engine also features cylinder deactivation. In part load operation, only four cylinder are employed, with the control of this change governed by a two-stage sliding cam system. Cylinder deactivation works between 950 to 3,500rpm and up to a torque limit of 250Nm. The result is a fuel economy improvement of up to 30 per cent during the four-cylinder phases.

According to Porsche, combined fuel consumption figure is between 9.4 to 9.3-litre/100km.

The second-generation Panamera Turbo is sold at a starting price of RM1,550,000 that comes with a four-year warranty and four-year maintenance package. Of course, this price will easily balloon once you go crazy with the options list.

* The most powerful Panamera is actually the Turbo S E-Hybrid variant. It even uses the same force-fed 4.0-litre V8 from the Turbo, and adds an electric motor to it. Result? 680hp, 850Nm; 0-100kph in 3.4s. Too much car? Not at all. But not sold in Malaysia, though.

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