The new 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S has taken its latest step as it demonstrates its capabilities on demanding courses around the world. After achieving a then-record lap at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife before its official unveiling late last year, the Panamera Turbo S travelled to Porsche Cars North America’s home and on to its local track – Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to set a benchmark lap time of 1 minute and 31.51 seconds. PCNA enlisted professional race car driver Leh Keen to showcase the significantly enhanced driving capabilities of the new Panamera on the 2.54-mile race track in November.
This track activity follows the benchmark lap time achieved by the Taycan Turbo S at the same track last year.
“The engineers found a perfect balance,” said Keen. “They really made it feels small and sporty. The stability gave me a ton of confidence to use every bit of the asphalt and curbs. And yet the car has a completely different and more refined and relaxed character on the highway – an amazing combination.”
The 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S, expected to arrive in U.S. dealerships Spring 2021, includes an extensive list of performance-oriented standard equipment that helps in highly dynamic and demanding driving scenarios, such as Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV+), rear axle steering and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport roll-stabilization system (PDCC Sport).
To further improve its performance, the Panamera Turbo S was fitted with optional newly-developed road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 ND0 ultra-high performance tires. They are sized 275/35 ZR 21 103Y XL at the front and 325/30 ZR 21 108Y XL at the rear. Bearing the typical Porsche “N” designation signifying a co-development between Porsche and the tire manufacturer, this tire was tuned at the Nürburgring specifically for the Panamera and its customers and will be available via the Porsche dealership network and TireRack.
Vehicle data acquisition and timing expert Racelogic was on site to record and verify the lap time utilizing their VBOX video HD2 system.
