Porsche's Panamera wagon wins on looks, adds room

Porsche launched its Panamera hatchback sedan, which the company refers to as a limousine, in 2009, and followed up with a design concept for a wagon in 2012. That design concept, has finally made its way to production with the Panamera Sport Turismo.

The Panamera Sport Turismo extends the roofline back over the cargo area, and uses a more vertical rear hatch than the standard Panamera.

The wagon form gives the Panamera Sport Turismo a very stylish look.

There isn't a great practical gain with the Panamera Sport Turismo, as the wagon body only adds about 10 percent more cargo space. However, the load floor is more accessible and Porsche offers seating for five, something not available in the standard Panamera.

Engine options are generally the same as with the standard Panamera, although each Panamera Sport Turismo comes with all-wheel-drive.

As with the Panamera, Porsche makes extensive use of aluminum in the Panamera Sport Turismo.

The base model comes with a turbocharged 3-liter V6, good for 330 horsepower. Porsche also offers the Panamera Sport Turismo with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, good for 462 total horsepower.

The drive character of the Panamera Sport Turismo feels very similar to the standard Panamera's. 

Porsche spent a lot of time engineering the Panamera Sport Turismo's performance, and even chose to put an active rear spoiler at the top of the hatch.

The all-wheel-drive system biases torque to the rear wheels, but can shift it forward when needed.

The base price for the Panamera Sport Turismo comes to $96,200, but the top model goes for $154,000.