First Drive: Porsche’s New Panamera Prototypes

Alternating between test versions of the third-generation Panamera Turbo S and Turbo S E-Hybrid reveals a new level of poise.

By Tim Stevens 28/08/2023

Porsche’s Panamera has always been an interesting proposition. Long and low, comfortable yet quick, and always with handling that seemed to belie its prodigious dimensions, the model has defied expectations. Now, for the third generation of this unusual sedan, Porsche is pushing for luxury.

Though the company that Ferdinand built isn’t quite ready to show exactly what the new Panamera looks like on the inside or out, they did give me the keys to not one but two prototypes undergoing final validation in Spain, approaching the end of a road that has taken nearly three years and well over four million kilometres of testing.

Prototypes of the third generation of the Porsche Panamera in Spain.

The result won’t be substantially different from what’s come before, but it will deliver a level of refinement above previous Panameras. It starts with doing away with conventional suspension. For this third generation, all cars will ride on air, with twin-chamber adaptive air suspension now standard. Able to dynamically adjust firmness, that suspension combines with other tweaks to the chassis to push the comfort side of the Panamera equation further. Now slightly more supple, Porsche’s Active Suspension Management absorbs road imperfections without transmitting as much disturbance into the cabin. That’s helped by some other changes to reduce noise intrusion, like replacing a formerly aluminum beam—located ahead of the windshield—with steel, lining it with foam, and reducing the number of holes in the firewall.

The overall result is a space that isn’t quite as tomb-like as the Taycan, but is extremely calming and quiet just the same. At least it is until you uncork the optional sport exhaust. On the Turbo, the sound of the twin-turbo V-8 then fills the cabin, a delightful but refined roar that is slightly boosted in amplitude by the car’s sound system, still provided by Burmester on higher trims.

Driving prototypes of the third generation of the Porsche Panamera in Spain.
The prototypes are undergoing final validation as they approach the end of a road that has taken nearly three years and over four million kilometres of testing.

That engine has been revised largely in the sake of emissions, single-scroll turbos replacing the former dual-scroll units—a change that’s said to increase efficiency. Porsche promises some power updates as well, but nobody was ready to quote any figures there. However, I can say the revised plug-in E-Hybrid unit now offers 140 kW purely from the electric motor, up from 100 kW before. That’s paired with a larger, 25.9 kWh battery pack that should provide significantly more range than the outgoing model, which is officially rated for 29 kilometres on a charge.

Driven in purely electric mode, the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is remarkably fun. Though only drawing from the electric motor, the acceleration from zero is strong, and plenty enough to dart around town. It’ll take you all the way up to 143km/h, too, before it fires up the engine to go faster. That revised electrical-drive system facilitates something else: a wholly new, optional air suspension. Available only on E-Hybrid models, this single-valve air suspension elevates the suppleness and refinement to another level while adding some interesting tricks.

Prototypes of the third generation of the Porsche Panamera in Spain.
In purely electric mode, the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid will take you all the way up to 143km/h before it fires up the engine to go faster.

Called Porsche Active Ride, the system is capable of keeping the car level through corners, under braking, and acceleration by dynamically stiffening the suspension on whatever side needs it. If that weren’t enough, the car can be set to spring upwards by 50 mm (just shy of two inches) whenever someone opens a door, making it easier to slip into or out of the notoriously low machine.

The effect is almost comical as the car jumps to height in less than a second. It’s also slightly disorienting from inside the cabin, but the self-levelling aspect is actually compelling. It’s designed not so much to improve handling, as it is to improve comfort, keeping the car level to minimise motion for passengers. It’s a very interesting sensation from the passenger seat and it could make for a much more pleasant riding experience—if Porsche decides to bring it to market. It’s still in testing.

A close-up of a prototype of the third-generation Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid being charged.
The revised plug-in E-Hybrid unit now offers 140 kW purely from the electric motor, which is paired with a larger, 25.9 kWh battery pack that should provide significantly more range than the outgoing model.

What will definitely make it to market is a vastly refined interior, borrowing a lot of ideas from the streamlined Taycan. Most of the formerly physical controls have been moved into the 10.9-inch central touchscreen. While the HVAC functions still have buttons, driver and passenger will now need to dig through menus to adjust the aim of the flush dashboard vents. That’s not exactly progress in my book.

A second, 10.9-inch display can be added for the passenger, offering access to vehicle settings, navigation, and even streaming movies. That display is cunningly shaded so that it looks like a black square from the driver’s seat, eliminating any concern about causing distraction.

Driving prototypes of the third generation of the Porsche Panamera in Spain.
The Porsche Active Ride system is capable of keeping the car level through corners, under braking, and acceleration by dynamically stiffening the suspension on whatever side needs it.

The steering wheel and its controls are much the same as before, but a large, curving digital cluster now sits behind, offering up to five separate circular gauges, plus a heads-up display—projected on the windscreen—that’s bright and clear, even with polarised glasses.

All of the improvements to ride quality and comfort do make for a better Panamera to be a passenger in, but the best seat is still there behind the wheel. The car’s additional genteelness hasn’t dulled its always surprising degree of willing handling, optionally bolstered by rear-steering. It cuts a line far more aggressive than a car this size should and, thanks at least in part to the new Bridgestone Pilot Sport S 5 tires, grips tenaciously.

A prototype of the third generation of the Porsche Panamera in Spain.

I ended my time testing the new Panamera prototypes at a verdant winery in Spain, outside Barcelona, the sun beaming down on what couldn’t be a more perfect afternoon. The car leapt to attention when I opened the door to step out, then settled down as the door soft-closed behind me, silently regaining its poise ahead of yet more miles of development. It’s a car as joyful to pilot through the twists and turns as it ever was, now just that much calmer during the boring bits in between.

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Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection

The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.

By Nicole Hoey 31/03/2026

Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.

The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.

Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.

A watch from the Constellation Observatory Collection, with the Observatory dome on display. Omega

“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”

In addition to notching its place in history, the collection also debuted a new pair of movements: the Calibre 8915 and the Calibre 8914, each perched on a skeletonised rotor base. The former’s Grand Luxe iteration will appear on the 950 Platinum-Gold model in the collection, which offers up that base in 18-karat Sedna Gold alongside a Constellation medallion in 18-karat white gold with an Observatory dome done in white opal enamel surrounded by stars. The second Calibre 8915, the Luxe, will find its home on the other precious-metal models in the line, either made with the brand’s 18-karat Sedna, Moonshine, or Canopus gold seen across the case, the hand-guilloché dial, and, of course, the movement itself. (Lindo chose to rock the Moonshine Gold on Moonshine Gold iteration, priced at approximately $86,000, for Sinners‘s big night at the Oscars.) As for the Calibre 8914, it can be found in the collection’s four steel models.

 

Omega Constellation Observatory Collection
A look at a gold case-back from the collection. Omega

Each model is a callback to myriad design features on past Omega models. That two-hand dial, for one, comes from the 1948 Centenary (the brand’s first chronometer-certified automatic wristwatch), while the pie-pan dial (seen in various blue, green, and golden hues throughout the line) and that Constellation medallion caseback both appear on watches from 1952. The star adorning the space above 6 o’clock also harks back to 1950s timepieces from Omega. And to finish off the look, you can opt for alligator straps in a variety of colours, or perhaps a gold iteration to match the precious-metal models; the brick-like pattern on the 18-karat Moonshine bracelet was also inspired by Omega watches from the ’50s.

We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for any other Constellation Observatory timepieces (or any other unreleased models from the brand) at the rest of the star-studded events headed our way this year—perhaps the Met Gala?

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Best Combustion Supercar: Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider

A modern classic in the making, combining naturally aspirated power with elegant restraint to deliver performance that feels as refined as it is visceral.

By Vince Jackson 20/04/2026

In a year when carmakers of all persuasions sheepishly extended hyperbolic electric targets, it’s fitting that the monastic puritans of Maranello—who, lest we forget, won’t finally yield to the sin of battery power until October with the Elettrica—opted to make combustion their major power play.

As an uncertain future of AI omnipresence barrels towards us, the 12Cilindri—an analogue, open-topped tribute to Ferrari’s late-’60s/early-’70s grand tourer, the Daytona—represents a defiant fade into the past, a pause for breath, a fleeting return to The Good Times when nascent technology provoked excitement rather than existential dread.

Guiding this automotive nostalgia trip is, as the nomenclature suggests, a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine, generating an unceasing wave of power as it sears towards the 9,500 rpm redline with relative nonchalance. That’s because the 12Cilindri is not a mouth-foaming attack-dog. It scales performance heights with the refinement of the finest Italian works of art; its “Bumpy Road” mode facilitates comfy al fresco GT cruising, and even the imperious powerplant is mannerly at most speeds.

For all the yesteryear romance, progressive technologies and engineering, such as a world-class 8-speed transmission, advanced electronic aids and independent four-wheel steering, are baked into the deal. The 12Cilindri’s clean, stark design somehow toggles between retro and modern; and while vaguely polarising, one can’t ignore its magnetic road presence.

In terms of aesthetics, Ferrari describes the 12Cilindri as being “ready for space”; in many ways, a fantasy vehicle that transports users to another dimension is probably what the world needs right now.

The Numbers

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Power: 610kW

Torque: 678 Nm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

0-100 km/h: 2.95 seconds

Top speed: 340 km/h

Price: From $886,800

Photography by SONDR.
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Inside Loro Piana’s First Sydney Boutique

A first Australian address brings the Italian house’s textile-led approach to retail full circle.

By Horacio Silva 26/03/2026

On the fourth floor of Westfield Sydney, near the Castlereagh and Market Street entrance—in the space formerly occupied by Chanel—Loro Piana has opened its first Australian boutique. It is a significant address change for that corner of the mall, and a meaningful one for the Italian house, which has sourced Australian merino wool for decades but until now had no retail presence here.

The facade is understated—creamy, tactile, more about texture than theatre. Inside, the store unfolds across a single, expansive level divided into distinct men’s and women’s wings. The separation is clear without being heavy-handed: womenswear leads from soft accessories and leather goods into ready-to-wear, while menswear occupies its own assured territory, with tailoring and outerwear given proper breathing room. Footwear (supple loafers, luxurious slides, pared-back sneakers) is particularly strong, and the sunglasses are a quiet standout: mineral-toned frames with a disciplined elegance that feels entirely of the house.

That same restraint carries into the interiors, where the surfaces do much of the talking. Walls are wrapped in the company’s own linen and cashmere; carpets are custom, dense underfoot, softening the acoustics and the pace. Oak and carabottino wood add warmth without fuss; marble accents introduce a cool counterpoint. The effect is a composed space calibrated around material, proportion and restraint.

The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.

What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.

Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.

 

Photography: Courtesy of Loro Piana.

 

 

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This Stylish, Water-Resistant Dopp Kit Might Be the Last One You Ever Buy

Patricks’s limited-edition wash bag is designed to keep liquids in and out, so it can come along wherever your travels take you.

By Justin Fenner 11/03/2026

If all you’re going to do is look at it, a leather Dopp kit from a fashion house is a fine choice. But if you take travelling seriously—and do it often, for business, pleasure, or both—such a bag will inevitably end up blemished with droplets of water or stained by errant flecks of toothpaste. Get stuck with a cavalier team of baggage handlers, and it can even get soaked in your favourite fragrance or anti-ageing serum.

But Patricks, the high-performance Australian grooming brand stocked in Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman, has a solution. Its limited-edition bathroom bag, called BB1, is purpose-built to protect everything inside and out. Conceived by industrial designer George Cunningham with brand founder Patrick Kidd, the cuboid design is executed in a water-resistant recycled nylon you can rinse clean. It’s lined with a thin layer of shock-absorbing foam to safeguard your products, but if a bottle somehow gets cracked in transit, the two-way water-resistant zippers and sealed seams (which keep liquids from seeping in or out) ensure that whatever leaks won’t ruin your cashmere. Inside, two dual-sided zippered compartments are ideally sized to fit toothbrushes, razors, and other small essentials.

And though its clean lines and rugged construction make it undeniably masculine, its greatest feature is borrowed from women’s makeup bags. Like the best of these, BB1 unzips to lie flat, giving you unobstructed access to everything inside. Well, you and the 999 other gentlemen who move fast enough to snag one. $289

Courtesy of Patricks

1. Hanging Loop 

The G-hook system isn’t just a stylish handle: You can also use it to hang the bag from a hook or secure it to your carry-on.

2. Two-Way Zipper

The closures are water-resistant in both directions, meaning liquids won’t get in or out.

3. Fold-flat Construction

BB1 opens to 180 degrees, letting you scan its 4.2-litre capacity at a quick glance.

4. Technical-Fabric Shell

The durable recycled-nylon is easy to maintain and woven to survive splashes and leaks from your go-to products.

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You Can Now Place Bets on the Future Prices of Rolex Models

And which models will get discontinued next, thanks to a new collaboration between Kalshi and Bezel.

By Nicole Hoey 11/03/2026

You can bet on pretty much anything these days, from when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will get married to who will be the next James Bond—and now that includes the Rollies on your wrist, or on your wishlist.

Prediction market platform Kalshi, regulated in the U.S., and luxe watch marketplace Bezel have teamed up on a new platform called Watch Futures that allows users to splash down cash on where they think the prices of a particular luxe timepiece are going, whether that’s a Rolex Submariner or a coveted Patek Philippe, Time & Tide reported.

You can also place a wager on which models might be discontinued, as well as any future launches from the top watchmakers on the new platform; with Watches and Wonders coming up, it’s certainly a well-timed launch that could see a lot of activity as a slew of new releases are announced at the event.

Watch Futures is all based on Beztimate, Bezel’s system (once used only internally) to help it accurately calculate the market price of a timepiece. It draws data from real-time transactions, live bids, verified sales, and other market offers to spawn its own series of independent valuation models to establish a watch’s value. From there, it’s up to bettors to place their wagers, and then the platform will showcase any price fluctuations or other updates as time goes on.

This new platform could have some pretty large implications for the watch industry.  As any horological savant would know, the internet and collectors alike are constantly chattering about which models are on the way out or when a certain timepiece of the moment’s time in the limelight will fade, of course, having a large impact on the prices of said model. And now, a Watch Futures user can have a direct stake in where a model is headed—and if they own said timepiece, it can be a protection from dwindling values on the marketplace, say, if a user places a bet on their model losing value and that actually comes to fruition.

To see Watch Futures in real time (and scope out how some pieces in your collection are faring), you can use the Kalshi app or its website.

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