2019 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

The 2019 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is the Porsche Panamera you want to buy. It’s a wagon, and it’s a Porsche – enough to make any gearhead swoon. It might be even better than baby Yoda and his soup.  And yet, the sales split between the regular Panamera and Panamera Sport Turismo tells a different story. According to Porsche North America boss Klaus Zellmer, the Panamera Sport Turismo makes up a mere 10% of all Panamera sales in the United States – a mere 800 in total, virtually nothing. By contrast, Zellmer says the take rate in Europe is more than 50%.  After spending some lovely time in a 2019 Panamera Sport Turismo GTS, we think the Europeans are onto something. Why? Let’s get to it. First up: Utility You'd think utility is where the Panamera Sport Turismo would make its case. It’s a wagon! Therefore, space, right? Ah, sort of. Opening the hatch of our Panamera Sport Turismo GTS tester was a bit of a head scratcher. With the seats up, the Sport Turismo has a just 0.7 cu-ft more space than a normal Panamera (18.3 cu-ft versus 17.6 cu-ft). That advantage increases to 1.7 cu-ft with the rear seats down (49 cu-ft versus 47.3 cu-ft), but you get the point. A Country Squire it is not. What you do get with the Sport Turismo, though, is a lower lift-over angle and a more useful shape. Square cargo areas are always superior when trying to load up on luggage, and the Sport Turismo is much more squared-off than the Panamera. That little bit of extra vertical height can make all the difference. After a recent four-person road trip, I can attest to just how important an extra inch or two can be when stacking massive suitcases in a wagon.  So while the Panamera's sportback gives it a utility leg up on sedans, the Sport Turismo's wagon-lite cargo hold is still superior – even if the specs underwhelm. Next: The design The droopy, somewhat bloated styling of the normal Panamera has never been classically attractive. It’s better since the 2017 redesign, but it still doesn’t capture the sportback look in the way an Audi A7 or Kia Stinger do. The Sport Turismo's secret sauce is in the rear end. Instead of the downward curving roofline that leads straight into the rear window, it gets a flat roof that leads into a sizable roof-mounted spoiler painted in black — the spoiler is powered, with three different stages of deployment for maximum performance depending on the conditions. This hangs out over the top of the sharply slanted rear window. Despite the window's angle, it’s still far more vertical than a regular Panamera's. This glass quickly leads into a rear bumper design that’s about identical to that of the normal Panamera. In-person, the transformation is radical. Perhaps it’s our wagon-loving tendencies, but the longer roof makes the whole car look as if it’s hunkered down, ready to pounce. There’s a distinct aggressiveness to the …
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