2013 Porsche Panamera GTS

Great cars have their moments. For the Porsche Panamera GTS, it came at the end of the three quarters of a mile back straight at the Monticello Motor Club.There, as I began breaking for the tight switchback that followed, I snuck a glance at the speedometer and saw that the car was going 140 mph. At first the number didn’t register, but then context hit me in the face as if I’d driven head on into the guardrail.A couple of weeks before I had been in that exact location in a Camaro ZL1 travelling at precisely the same speed. The ZL1 is, of course, a 580 hp sports car that has two doors and looks like a robot from another planet. The Panamera GTS has 430 hp, a 100 pound weight disadvantage and can fool someone into thinking it was a humpback whale.

The GTS is arguably the best of the eight versions of the Panamera currently available – GTS model Porsches usually are. The letters stand for Grand Touring Sport and designate vehicles designed to handle cross-country treks and track days with equal ability.This one is the most powerful normally aspirated Panamera available, with improved breathing for its 4.8 liter V8 thanks in part to a good (probably not) old-fashioned ram air system fed by pair of intakes below the front bumper and redline increased to 7,100 rpm.

Like most Porsches these days, it has a seven speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, but one that’s been upgraded to deliver quicker, more intense shifts, regardless if its in Normal, Sport or Sport Plus modes. For the $111,975 base price, an active air suspension is standard, as is all-wheel-drive. An extra $5,000 adds an innovative system called Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control that can adjust the stiffness of the roll bars to offer a broader range of suspension compliance. Electronic torque vectoring uses the anti-lock-braking system to distribute power between the rear wheels in a way that helps direct the car through turns.

I will exclude the brakes from that statement. Even thought they are very potent and borrowed from the Turbo model, the ones in my test car got cooked pretty quickly and the pedal travel was quite long. But since I can’t vouch for the type of duty the car saw before it came into my possession, I’ll reserve judgment until my next go around. That said, even at $9,210, the fade-free carbon ceramic disc option seems like a good call:

Regardless, at no point during my time with it did I find myself saying “this is fun, but I really wish I had a 911 right now.” Don't judge this book by its big, bodacious cover, the GTS is as much of a sports car as any other, and touring rarely gets this grand.

Main Source:http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/08/16/test-drive-2013-porsche-panamera-gts/And Photos From:http://www.automobilesreview.com/pictures/sr-auto-porsche-panamera-gts-crimson-crusader/sr-auto-porsche-panamera-gts-crimson-crusader-01.html