Porsche Panamera interior

While all of the mechanical stuff sounds rather enticing, the interior makeover gives some cause for concern, because it follows the trend of going very screen-heavy. The gauge cluster loses its analogue tachometer and becomes one large screen. You can make it display the classic five gauges and it remains nicely clear and configurable, but it does feel a little like replacing a grand piano with a high-end electronic keyboard.

The main multimedia screen is an updated version of the old one and generally works well. It looks out over a redesigned centre console, where the main change is the lack of a gear selector, which has moved to the dashboard. In its place is a lid for a fairly generously sized storage cubby containing a cooled phone-charging pad.

The Panamera retains the touchscreen-controlled air vents that were introduced on the previous generation. Passengers in the rear have the luxury of manual vent controls. Lucky them.

James Attwood

Acting magazine editor

Back on the surface, a good selection of buttons and switches remains, but when you press the buttons, you move the entire panel, which feels like it might be a fault at first. But it's the same on all the cars, and clearly by design. And once you adjust for it, it at least does offer some welcome physical response to otherwise touch-based controls. 

That said, the whole slab is gloss black, and even in our low-mileage test car it was already showing plenty of ugly scratches. There’s more gloss black on the passenger side, and the only way to get rid of it is to order your car with the optional secondary display for £1289.