Panamera E-hybrid vs Taycan driving dynamics

[taycanpath]

Context: I've done some looking around for stories about the Panamera vs Taycan here on taycanforum, rennlist, and other reviews. It seems the E-hybrid opinion is pretty close to that of the Taycan, but the non-hybrid Panamera is not - the Taycan flatly beats it. That would make sense... although I do wish commenters said which performance options were on each vehicle.

I've not been able to try an E-hybrid Panamera as it seems they're relatively rare, but I have tried a 2023 Panamera GTS with all the performance options which I thought handled beautifully for a car its size. I've also tried a pretty base Taycan 4S, no performance options. I could barely tell a difference between the two in their driving dynamics, except that the Taycan had the instant torque.

Discussion: I'd like to hone this thread a little bit, as I feel like the non-hybrid Panamera isn't fair as a comparison to the Taycan. Panamera E-hybrid owners now or formerly, what's your opinion on how it drives compared to the Taycan? Please specify which performance options on each you've tried.

 

[BigBob]

I had a new pan hybrid ST as loan car for a couple of weeks. I really liked it. Thought it was very responsive, felt fast and I loved the power boost button (why can't Taycan have one!!) and sports settings (incl sound). The eco (i think it was called) setting it seemed to start in wasn't great, as it took a while for the proper engine to kick in if you needed some decent acceleration. The more blended hybrid setting was good for everyday.

It has lots of proper buttons rather than all 100% touch screen. I was surprised how different the PCM etc was from my Taycan. Didn't fiddle about with it too much though, so not sure if better or worse.

The car i borrowed had a very high spec, so lots of bells and whistles i don't have on my Taycan, and overall i thought it was a really good. I've no idea what economy figures or anything like that were.

I think the Taycan CT looks a bit sharper than the Pan ST I borrowed. But overall felt very similar in the cabin etc. I'd be very happy with one/either.

 

[Pete85]

My brother in law has a Panamera E-hybrid 2018 and I really like his car. Its responsive and turns very well for a big car. There is quite a difference to the Taycan though, which we both agreed on. I have a 4S with PB+, no RWS but otherwise nicely specced. It feels smaller and more agile than the Panamera, it feels much more planted and out of the corners clearly faster than the Panamera.

About the interior I dont know. The Panamera feels a little more luxurious but as I am used to the Taycan, dont know if I want more physical buttons ?.

Both are great cars and the Panamera has clearly more space but as a sports sedan the Taycan is superior imo.

 

[RAHRCR]

I have a Pan ST 4S now and a Taycan CT 4S on order. Before ordering the Taycan, I took a hard look at the hybrid Pans. Keeping in mind that Porsche absolutely takes advantage of its customers on routine maintenance/service, I decided against the hybrid. I like the Pan more than Taycan but full electric is the way to go.

When they release the full electric Pan, I will probably switch to that.

 

[taycanpath]

I have a Pan ST 4S now and a Taycan CT 4S on order. Before ordering the Taycan, I took a hard look at the hybrid Pans. Keeping in mind that Porsche absolutely takes advantage of its customers on routine maintenance/service, I decided against the hybrid. I like the Pan more than Taycan but full electric is the way to go.

When they release the full electric Pan, I will probably switch to that.

Could you tell us more about what you mean by "Porsche taking advantage for routine maintenance/service" regarding the hybrid? Is it just that the Taycan has to go in for routine maintenance/service less often?

 

[PanameraFrank]

Driving dynamics? The Panamera isn't in the same class as the Taycan. It's really nice for a big car but the Taycan isn't even in the "for a big car" category it's just exceptional as a sports car.

 

[RAHRCR]

Could you tell us more about what you mean by "Porsche taking advantage for routine maintenance/service" regarding the hybrid? Is it just that the Taycan has to go in for routine maintenance/service less often?

Sure.

simple service which basically amounts to an oil change - $700

I recently had to have 4 brake pads replaced - $2000

If replaced the rotors too - addt’l $3000

A part of the reason I’m going to full electric is eliminate/reduce this nonsense.

 

[Jrkennedy37]

Curious how an ehybrid Panamera would perform better than non-hybrid? Don’t they throw a 500lb battery in the trunk plus a few other bits in the drivetrain that result in a much heavier vehicle on the same chassis?

Haven’t driven one, but on paper I never saw the benefits outweighing the extra complexity and the, um, weight of the ehybrid.

Have an ‘18 4S that weighs almost 1k less than our Taycan but the Taycan handles tremendously better (on the road) due to low CoG. Putting a battery in the cargo area would further increase the height of the Panamera’s CoG.

 

[W1NGE]

Could you tell us more about what you mean by "Porsche taking advantage for routine maintenance/service" regarding the hybrid? Is it just that the Taycan has to go in for routine maintenance/service less often?

Service interval is the same on all Porsches - 2 yrs (18 / 20K miles).

For EVs they've padded out the service schedule to maintain revenue - I think that's what the comment refers to.

 

[taycanpath]

Curious how an ehybrid Panamera would perform better than non-hybrid? Don’t they throw a 500lb battery in the trunk plus a few other bits in the drivetrain that result in a much heavier vehicle on the same chassis?

Haven’t driven one, but on paper I never saw the benefits outweighing the extra complexity and the, um, weight of the ehybrid.

Have an ‘18 4S that weighs almost 1k less than our Taycan but the Taycan handles tremendously better (on the road) due to low CoG. Putting a battery in the cargo area would further increase the height of the Panamera’s CoG.

Well, the Taycan is really heavy, too. It helps the Panamera's CoG to put a battery in it. I've seen some people saying that's how they bridged they range-issue while still having instant torque - hybrid Panamera. It's not as good as the Taycan in weight distribution of course, but in any case, there is an argument for the opposite of what you're saying.

 

[cometguy]

I like the infotainment screen and buttons-design in my 2018 Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo more than in the Taycan. The temperature and fan speed for each front-seat occupant has a physical lever that you push up or down to change each function. There's a dial below the infotainment screen that can be used to zoom in or out on the map (much preferable to pinching the touch screen), and there's a volume dial/button, as well, for audio in the same vicinity. Other buttons for climate (including heated seats) also surround the gear shifter and have "haptic" responses. These are all superior to what is in the Taycan central screen area. The Taycan has that wonderful curved instrument screen, which may be the best in the entire BEV world, but the Pan4 E-Hybrid also has what may be the best instrument panel in the PHEV world; Porsche is good at their instrument panels. The one thing that Taycan does better than Panamera in the instrument panel is the infrared "night-vision" screen: in the Panamera and Cayenne, the screen is placed on the right side of the instrument panel, partially obscured by the steering wheel (due to the analog tachometer dead center), whereas in the Taycan, the infrared screen is displayed in the center of the instrument panel.

The Pan4 E-Hybrid for US buyers comes standard with lots of goodies, including air suspension (allowing you to increase the ground clearance for going over driveway dips, speed bumps, etc.), sport chrono package (with the nifty drive-mode button on the steering wheel, which is used A LOT in a PHEV). It's a fabulous long-distance touring car, and you get the benefit of driving in mostly electric mode locally on a daily basis while not having to deal with public-charging infrastructure on long road trips. I owned a non-PHEV 2015 Panamera 4 sedan that I traded in for the E-Hybrid ST model in 2018, and there's a world of difference between the two, with the E-Hybrid being much better in just about everything. Having the 14-kWh battery pack (now 18 kWh in the current version of E-Hybrids, and presumably going to ca. 25 kWh in MY2024) low below the back seat gives a lower center of gravity, and the E-Hybrid handles corners better despite being heavier; the E-Hybrid also has amazing torque (516 ft-lb of it). When accelerating gradually, there's hardly any notice of the ICE coming on and going off (except that you can hear the ICE come on if you have no radio/music playing), but when you accelerate rapidly from stopped, while you have great quickness, the changing of gears isn't always smooth. Having owned now three Porsches with its PDK transmission, I would say it's rather over-rated. But the drivetrain tech in the Porsche E-Hybrids is second to none in the PHEV world, with both electric-motor power/torque and ICE power/torque going to all four wheels in true AWD fashion (with the great Porsche real-wheel bias).

I have never gotten to drive a Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid (the only trim of Panamera that I've never driven), which has a V8 instead of the V6 in my Pan4 E-Hybrid; I also prefer my E-Hybrid to the couple of Panamera GTS sedans (with V8s) that I've test-driven. I don't "race-track" my cars, and -- having extensively test-driven all Taycan "trims" except the GTS ones -- I find the acceleration (both from zero and from mid-speed) to be excellent, from the RWD version to the Turbo S version; sure, the Turbo S accelerates much more quickly than the RWD or CT4 Taycans do, but I simply don't need that extra acceleration (not worth the huge extra cost to get it). For the money, if buying tomorrow, I'd buy the CT4 over the Pan4 E-Hybrid because I think it's a better value (the latter starts about $15k USD cheaper in MSRP). But if Porsche follows through on Oliver Blume's promise of their E-Hybrids having 80 km (50 miles) of all-electric range in a couple years, I might go for that E-Hybrid over a Taycan simply because I do multiple cross-country road trips every year, and, well, public-charging infrastructure .... But If I only drive a BEV within a couple hundred miles of home, the Taycan CT4 would be hands-down the car to pick for me over an E-Hybrid/PHEV.

 

[taycanpath]

I like the infotainment screen and buttons-design in my 2018 Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo more than in the Taycan. The temperature and fan speed for each front-seat occupant has a physical lever that you push up or down to change each function. There's a dial below the infotainment screen that can be used to zoom in or out on the map (much preferable to pinching the touch screen), and there's a volume dial/button, as well, for audio in the same vicinity. Other buttons for climate (including heated seats) also surround the gear shifter and have "haptic" responses. These are all superior to what is in the Taycan central screen area. The Taycan has that wonderful curved instrument screen, which may be the best in the entire BEV world, but the Pan4 E-Hybrid also has what may be the best instrument panel in the PHEV world; Porsche is good at their instrument panels. The one thing that Taycan does better than Panamera in the instrument panel is the infrared "night-vision" screen: in the Panamera and Cayenne, the screen is placed on the right side of the instrument panel, partially obscured by the steering wheel (due to the analog tachometer dead center), whereas in the Taycan, the infrared screen is displayed in the center of the instrument panel.

The Pan4 E-Hybrid for US buyers comes standard with lots of goodies, including air suspension (allowing you to increase the ground clearance for going over driveway dips, speed bumps, etc.), sport chrono package (with the nifty drive-mode button on the steering wheel, which is used A LOT in a PHEV). It's a fabulous long-distance touring car, and you get the benefit of driving in mostly electric mode locally on a daily basis while not having to deal with public-charging infrastructure on long road trips. I owned a non-PHEV 2015 Panamera 4 sedan that I traded in for the E-Hybrid ST model in 2018, and there's a world of difference between the two, with the E-Hybrid being much better in just about everything. Having the 14-kWh battery pack (now 18 kWh in the current version of E-Hybrids, and presumably going to ca. 25 kWh in MY2024) low below the back seat gives a lower center of gravity, and the E-Hybrid handles corners better despite being heavier; the E-Hybrid also has amazing torque (516 ft-lb of it). When accelerating gradually, there's hardly any notice of the ICE coming on and going off (except that you can hear the ICE come on if you have no radio/music playing), but when you accelerate rapidly from stopped, while you have great quickness, the changing of gears isn't always smooth. Having owned now three Porsches with its PDK transmission, I would say it's rather over-rated. But the drivetrain tech in the Porsche E-Hybrids is second to none in the PHEV world, with both electric-motor power/torque and ICE power/torque going to all four wheels in true AWD fashion (with the great Porsche real-wheel bias).

I have never gotten to drive a Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid (the only trim of Panamera that I've never driven), which has a V8 instead of the V6 in my Pan4 E-Hybrid; I also prefer my E-Hybrid to the couple of Panamera GTS sedans (with V8s) that I've test-driven. I don't "race-track" my cars, and -- having extensively test-driven all Taycan "trims" except the GTS ones -- I find the acceleration (both from zero and from mid-speed) to be excellent, from the RWD version to the Turbo S version; sure, the Turbo S accelerates much more quickly than the RWD or CT4 Taycans do, but I simply don't need that extra acceleration (not worth the huge extra cost to get it). For the money, if buying tomorrow, I'd buy the CT4 over the Pan4 E-Hybrid because I think it's a better value (the latter starts about $15k USD cheaper in MSRP). But if Porsche follows through on Oliver Blume's promise of their E-Hybrids having 80 km (50 miles) of all-electric range in a couple years, I might go for that E-Hybrid over a Taycan simply because I do multiple cross-country road trips every year, and, well, public-charging infrastructure .... But If I only drive a BEV within a couple hundred miles of home, the Taycan CT4 would be hands-down the car to pick for me over an E-Hybrid/PHEV.

Stellar write up my friend. What performance options do you have on your Panamera?

 

[H@wk]

I got a Panamera 2018 4 E-Hybrid as a loaner for 2 days when my Taycan 4S+ had the last “big” upgrade. I’ve driven similar Panameras on a racetrack before, and now had the time to experience it on normal roads in everyday conditions. I did take “the long way home” both days just to get a proper feel for it. The Panamera is of course more spacious and feels at bit more luxurious inside. But for me as the daily driver, I don’t really pay much attention to the size and leather quality of the rear seats etc .

When it comes to buttons and knobs I actually prefer the Taycan with fewer physical buttons, but that may just be because I’ve got the Taycan “in my fingers” now.

I love having access to a petrol engine and actual gear shifters (love the paddles on the Panamera), cause there’s nothing like the nice rumble and backfiring of a quick manual downshift in a Porsche. However, apart from that - the Panamera feels heavy and slow compared to the Taycan - even in Sport+ mode. I really felt the weight of the Panamera, - when accelerating, braking and cornering, - much more so than with the Taycan. And on paper the E-Hybrid is actually 50 kg lighter than the 4S+.

With the Taycan I feel more confident when it comes to grip, acceleration/braking and cornering. And I would probably grow more confident with the Panamera given more time with it, but in the end I just didn’t want to; - I missed the Taycan too much
That’s when I realized that after being a petrolhead (gearhead for US members) for nearly 40 years, Porsche has now ruined me with the Taycan . I would still take a decent 911 with a manual any given Sunday, - but for efficient, quick and comfortable everyday use the Taycan can only be replaced - with a new Taycan.

 

[Scandinavian]

Curious how an ehybrid Panamera would perform better than non-hybrid? Don’t they throw a 500lb battery in the trunk plus a few other bits in the drivetrain that result in a much heavier vehicle on the same chassis?

Haven’t driven one, but on paper I never saw the benefits outweighing the extra complexity and the, um, weight of the ehybrid.

Have an ‘18 4S that weighs almost 1k less than our Taycan but the Taycan handles tremendously better (on the road) due to low CoG. Putting a battery in the cargo area would further increase the height of the Panamera’s CoG.

Have a look at this drag race from carwow

Panamera TS hybrid does quite well.

The 911 TS is amazing though.

It is just a straight drag race but handling in the Panamera is quite good overall.

 

[mystermykee]

Taycan with springs < Air PASM < Performance package (air PASM, PDCC, RAS, PTV).

Then again, I don't know how anyone can buy a Porsche without optioning at the very least PDCC...