• Space for four passengers as standard
• Five seats as an optional extra (don’t bother)
• Good boot space considering its sleek looks

How much space is there?

Less than you’d expect. The Panamera looks like a luxury saloon, but it only has enough space inside for four people as standard. The middle seat is just an armrest. The trade-off for this is that the four passengers it can carry can ride around in extreme comfort. Leg and headroom are quite generous everywhere.

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If you do need an extra seat, you can pay extra to have a three-seat rear bench in place of the standard car’s two individual chairs. We suggest you don’t bother, because it’s a £719 option – and the fifth seat you get is far too narrow to be comfortable.

Boot space and storage

Boot space varies depending on which version of the Panamera you opt for. The standard car can hold up 494 litres with the rear seats in place, the sporty GTS has a maximum capacity of 478 litres, while plug-in hybrid-powered Turbo S E-Hybrid variant can only hold 421 litres on account of its battery pack.

Still, the non-electrically assisted models can hold more than the 440 litres offered by the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe or the 321 litres you get in the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe. And if you fold the Panamera’s seats flat, maximum space swells to 1,328 litres.

Interior storage is good, too. The door bins are just large enough to hold litre-sized water bottles and the central cupholders have been positioned intelligently low, so you don’t belt your elbow into your coffee when you’re driving down a twisty road.

Is it easy to park?

Surprisingly so, for such a large car. The view out of the rear window is quite restricted, but you get a rear parking camera as standard to eradicate that problem. Porsche will also sell you a 360-degree parking camera system and an active parking system that can sniff out a space big enough to hold the Panamera and then park it there.

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If you’re a proper technophile, you can spend an extra £1,700 on Porsche’s remote park assist system, which allows you to park the car while standing outside of it using an app on your smartphone. But it’s a bit of a gimmick if you ask us. We’d rather spend that money on some upgraded headlights.

Safety

• Not yet tested by Euro NCAP
• But it comes with loads of safety tech
• So, you’ve no excuse for crashing it

Euro NCAP hasn’t yet crash tested the new Porsche Panamera, but the spec sheet suggests it’ll look after you well in the event of an accident. In addition to the usual front-firing airbags, you get knee airbags for both front passengers and curtain airbags from the A-pillar to the C-pillar.

You also get loads of safety tech, including lane-keeping assist, traffic sign recognition, active speed limit assist and an automatic emergency braking system with pedestrian detection. Unlike more affordable cars, the Panamera’s systems have all been integrated quite well, too. They’re not that annoying to leave on.