The Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo was unveiled just
a couple of years ago and already, the German car manufacturer has started
developing a facelift for the sports estate. Carscoops spy photographers recently
snapped this Panamera Sport Turismo while parked in Austria. The clear giveaway
that this is a prototype rather than a customer-owned car is the cladding
featured on the tailgate.
This little add-on helps to hide parts of the
taillights and if our sources are correct, is sitting on top of a
newly-designed lightbar stretching between the lights. It won’t be a
significant alteration but should closely mimic the light array of the current
Porsche Cayenne.
The car in question didn’t feature any camouflage
across the front end but when the facelifted Panamera Sport Turismo does
launch, we anticipate it receiving new headlight graphics and a tweaked bumper. As for the cabin, it will remain
largely unchanged but the presence of a cover over the steering wheel indicates
to us that Porsche might be looking to update the wheel in some way.
The ‘standard’ Porsche Panamera sedan, which entered
production in 2016 (as a 2017MY) will receive the same visual updates as the
Sport Turismo and it is possible that the duo will debut alongside each other
at some stage next year, perhaps as early as the Geneva Motor Show in early
March or in Paris later in the fall
Customers will be offered the same array of variants
as the current car, meaning models such as the Panamera 4, Panamera 4S, Panamera
4S Diesel, Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, and Panamera Turbo will all be available.
Sitting at the top of the refreshed Panamera Sport Turismo range will be the
Turbo S E-Hybrid. This vehicle is currently powered by one of Porsche’s most
powerful engines which combined a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with an electric
motor to deliver a combined 671 hp and 850 Nm of torque.
