The 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show is in full swing, but more than 5,600 miles away in Essen, there’s another major event worth covering. It’s the place where the tuners at TechArt have brought a car with an impossibly long name – Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo. Other than the body graphics, new exhaust, and those flashy wheels, it looks just about the same as the regular version, if you can call a 671-bhp estate “regular.”
Gallery: TechArt Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo
The supercar disguised as a estate has been baptised “Grand GT“ to reflect its newly gained muscle. Combined output has blossomed by 88 hp and 96 pound-feet of torque to a grand total of 759 bhp and a mountain-moving 723 lb-ft. It was all possible after TechArt worked its magic on the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine to unlock more power automatically available once the driver selects the Sport mode.
With the newly gained power, the electrified super estate from Stuttgart needs just 3.2 seconds for the sprint to 62 mph or two-tenths of a second less than the regular Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo fitted with the optional Sport Chrono Package. The 0 to 100 mph task is completed in a mere 7 seconds or 0.7s sooner than the standard model while getting to 124 mph will only take 10.6 seconds. Flat out, the car will hit an impressive top speed of 196 mph or a little more than the 193-mph maximum velocity of the stock version.
According to TechArt, the power gain is available “without touching the standard engine management” and can be complemented by a custom sports exhaust system delivering a better soundtrack while also looking cooler thanks to the carbon tips. It’s still a roomy all-wheel-drive estate at the end of the day, so it blends practicality with supercar levels of power in a sporty and luxurious AWD package providing basically everything you’d want from a car.