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"After four years of delivering Porsche performance in respectable four-door form, it&amp;#039;s time for the Panamera&amp;#039;s mid-life refresh, and we&amp;#039;re taking a turn behind the wheel. You might recall that the big news for this update was the addition of two new engines and the option of a $20,000\u2013$25,000 pricier long wheelbase Executive body, for weirdos who would rather have someone else drive their Porsche for them. Porsche&amp;#039;s engine changes include swapping the normally aspirated V8 in the Panamera S for a twin-turbo V6. The sportier GTS and Turbo models retain their eights, with a few revisions. There&amp;#039;s also a big update for the hybrid: The new plug-in S E-Hybrid can do 22 miles (and up to 85 mph) on electric power alone. The outgoing model could manage just 1.2 miles. The Panamera remains the only big luxury four-door that convinces as a sports car, rolling little in turns and steering crisply. The new 414-hp V6 might give away two cylinders to the old eight, but it gains 20 hp, the torque is spread much more evenly, and it&amp;#039;s 0.2 second quicker to 62 mph.  Despite ditching the four-wheel drive system, the E-Hybrid weighs a massive 4600 pounds, so it isn&amp;#039;t quite as nimble; but it&amp;#039;s still fun. And fast. Zero to 62 mph takes 5.5 seconds using the combined might of the 328-hp gasoline-powered engine and 94-hp electric motor, or you can drive it purely in electric mode. Treat it like an EV and it still delivers Porsche performance\u2014as long as the comparison Porsche is a 40-hp 356. Push the E-Charge button on the console and the drivetrain syphons off enough gasoline power to recharge the batteries faster than the wall charger could. The biggest gripe with the S E-Hybrid? Brake feel, which is a common gasoline-electric bugbear. Also, the V6&amp;#039;s lack of noise. It might have the moves on the eight, but it doesn&amp;#039;t have the voice. The S has lost a bit of soul with the switch to V6 power, but it&amp;#039;s a more useful engine, and, Porsche says, 20 percent more economical. It also happens to neatly slip under the 3.0-liter tax bracket in China, the country that is the main driving force behind the back-seat driver Executive. Space in the back of the standard Panamera was never great, so the Executive&amp;#039;s extra 5.9 inches is a welcome change, and you don&amp;#039;t notice a huge drop in agility (or an improvement in the fidgety ride).  The original Hybrid didn&amp;#039;t really add up, but this one really works. It&amp;#039;s quick, as frugal as the Euro diesel model in real-world driving, and that 22-mile range and 2.5-hour refill time using the fast charger, means some commuters may not need to engage the gasoline engine for weeks on end. Impressive, but not our idea of Porsche entertainment. The best Panamera remains the barely changed GTS, now with 434 hp (up 10 hp) and a soundtrack like Eros and Aphrodite making out. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a4855/performance-tests-first-drives-2014-porsche-panamera-4s-and-s-e-hybrid/>