The new Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is a beast. With 771 horsepower from its hybrid powertrain, it's the most powerful Panamera you can buy. Porsche already sent it around the Nurburgring, lapping the Nordschleife loop in 7 minutes, 24.17 seconds.
Now, we have a first-person perspective of the entire lap thanks to this in-car video recently published on YouTube.
Frankly, the lap doesn't look nearly as fast as it actually is. Porsche development driver and Nurburgring veteran Lars Kern appears borderline relaxed in the driver's seat as the scenery flashes by. There's very little drama, even on the fastest sections of the track. The Panamera reaches 173 mph heading into Schwedenkreuz, the infamous fast left-hander approximately two miles into the lap. We've seen many cars get skittish through here, but the Porsche remains remarkably composed.
For that matter, things stay composed even through the more demanding stretches of the loop. The back half after Karussell is nothing but fast turn after fast turn, and the Panamera doesn't flinch. Airing things out on the main straight, Kern gets the sedan to 190 mph—well short of its 202 mph top speed but enough to cement the 7:24 lap time. Again, it's all done with shockingly little drama.
Kern is certainly skilled behind the wheel, but credit also goes to a new aerodynamics package that pumps up downforce and the Active Ride chassis that manages pitch and roll, among other things. Aside from a racing seat and a roll cage for safety, the Panamera was completely showroom stock. That includes the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
Porsche claims a record as the fastest "top-class" sedan with a hybrid powertrain. It's not the fastest sedan to lap the Nordschleife, but we suspect company executives are too upset by that. The all-electric Taycan Turbo GT holds that honor at 7 minutes, 7.55 seconds, set earlier this year. But given Porsche's fondness for Nurburgring records, we bet this isn't the last time we see a Panamera hustling around the storied race track.
