Porsche Panamera review – interior and tech
The interior is both superbly built and very high-tech
The Porsche Panamera’s cabin is among the best of any car, even after three years on sale. Not only is the tech impressive, but there’s also a synergy between digitisation and key Porsche elements such as the centre-mounted rev counter and wide centre console. So while the new Taycan might have swooped in with its curved instrument cluster and multiple touchscreens (up to three! On the one dashboard!), there’s an opulence to the Panamera missing from the newer EV.
Not only are materials top-notch, but the actual build quality underpinning the Panamera’s interior is second to none. The general layout is typical of a modern Porsche, with a wide centre console and high dashboard. Pair this to a seating position that drops right down in the chassis and it can initially be a little intimidating to drive, but the heft of the controls and precision of the steering helps you quickly acclimatise.
The tech is largely controlled by a 12.3-inch touchscreen in the middle of the dash, its predominantly black and white interface replicated on the glossy, touch-sensitive centre console. It looks sleek, modern and cohesive, but with no individual buttons to press you do find yourself deliberately peering down towards it whilst driving to ensure you are in fact cranking the heated seat up rather than switching into a firmer suspension mode.
There is a satisfying clunk when you do press the entire panel – it only does this when your finger is in the correct place to operate something, so accidentally touch a ‘dead’ area and the panel doesn’t move – but with no physical edges to the button areas you could press anything without dedicating some attention to where you’re poking.
As well as looking great, the quality of the materials feels high and there’s never any sense that it hasn’t been put together with the attention to detail that you’d expect of a luxury brand. The only real downside to the Panamera’s interior is that every time you touch the shiny new panel you leave visible fingerprints on it, and that doesn’t look very neat.
