2024 Porsche Panamera COTY Review: The Benchmark Four-Door Performance GT?

The 2024 Porsche Panamera four-door GT has hit the market in updated form. It follows the company's usual formula of taking an excellent vehicle and making it about 3 percent better with a new front end and beautiful new taillights integrated into a mini ducktail.

There are many Panameras in the model lineup; for COTY, we were only able to evaluate the rear-drive base Panamera with the updated 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.

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This third-generation Panamera also features a redesigned interior with large new displays, including an available third screen for the passenger, like the infotainment system in the electric Porsche Taycan. The screen wraps around the steering wheel for better viewing and has crisp, clear graphics. The center console houses the hardware for climate controls, and the car now features wireless charging. Connecting a phone and enabling Apple CarPlay is easy, and the system still lets you use Siri for commands when CarPlay is enabled. 

“The Panamera is highly underrated in my book,” associate editor Billy Rehbock said. “This car offers so much performance and excitement in a somewhat understated package. The new engine is super gutsy and has lots of torque to launch you.” Director of editorial operations Mike Floyd wasn’t as impressed by the 348 hp available to move a 4,410-pound vehicle, but he agreed that, as a daily driver, “it is one of the best sport sedans you can buy and the very definition of a GT.”

To the point, this four-door muscles its way through corners with tremendous grip and no tire squeal, and it offers a quiet, composed ride at speed. It also provides well-tuned steering and tremendous brakes. Ride quality with the air suspension is excellent, but judges detected some axle hop through one big, sweeping turn.

However, the updated Panamera has a terrible lane keep assist system. It lets the car approach and sometimes cross the lane marking and then almost violently snaps the car back into place. And although we appreciate the standard adaptive cruise control, we implore Porsche to toss the difficult-to-use stalk-mounted controls. Please, just put simple controls on the steering wheel like everyone else.

The car’s high cowl was another complaint, as it had some drivers struggling to find a comfortable seating position high enough for good visibility. This made the Panamera at times feel more like an SUV than a car. And there are no massaging seats on this $132,575 cruiser.

On the other hand, the rear cabin offers heated memory seating, window shades, gorgeous trim, air vents, a control screen, two USB-C outlets, and cool but shallow cupholders (tall cups might tip). Legroom is adequate unless you have a tall person in the seat directly in front of you.

The Panamera was lovely and still is. But its advances are merely evolutionary, and it faces serious competition from a different four-door Porsche sedan: the Taycan. As Floyd said, “There’s another four-door Porsche performance car here that sort of stole its lunch money and peeled out in a hail of electrons.”

This review was conducted as part of our 2025 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.

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