Porsche and Ferrari aren’t necessarily renowned for their family friendly wagons, yet both actually offer such models in their lineup. Ferrari has the GTC4Lusso, a shooting brake with space for four, while Porsche has given us the Panamera Sport Turismo, an actual four-door estate with practicality to match its performance.

2019 Porsche Panamera ST meets 2019 Ferrari GTC4Lusso

It is definitely unusual that we can compare such cars from these two manufacturers, but since they are here and fairly evenly matched, the problem of finding out which is better arises. That’s what Chris Harris and co-host Matt LeBlanc try to discover in this Top Gear head to head video. Harris is in the Porsche, while LeBlanc has the Ferrari and, as you can imagine, each says that his vehicle is the superior machine.

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On paper, the 2019 Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo is down on power, heavier and slower. It packs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine that makes 550 horsepower and 770 Nm (567 pound-feet) and it can sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds. The Ferrari GTC4Lusso V12 has a 6.3-liter naturally-aspirated V12 engine that pumps out even more power and almost as much torque: 680 horsepower and 697 pound-feet of torque and since it too has all-wheel drive, its benchmark sprint time of 3.4 seconds is easily achievable time after time.

With all this in mind, the fact that there is really nothing in it between the two in terms of handling is definitely an impressive feat... for the Porsche. There’s no escaping physics, though - the Ferrari is lighter, has more power and since it too comes with all-wheel drive, it doesn’t give the Porsche an inch, not even off the line.

The Ferrari is considerably more expensive than the Porsche, though - $298,000 versus $155,500, so nearly double the price. And the Ferrari is certainly not double the car - in fact, the Porsche comes sufficiently close in terms of performance that its extra practicality and dramatically smaller price tag actually make it the winner of the comparison.

Even the fact that we’re discussing which practical, family wagon from either Ferrari or Porsche is best is a sign of the fact that we are living in a very interesting era for car lovers. Both of these cars are very cool - the fact that they were made is undeniably special, plus the fact that both are extremely good at what they do and they blend family friendly features (that you would never have expected to find in a Porsche or Ferrari, say, 15 years ago) with supercar performance and all-wheel drive grip. They just might be the epitome of the car as we know it.

2019 Porsche Panamera ST Vs 2019 Ferrari GTC4Lusso head-to-head specs

2019 Porsche Panamera ST Vs 2019 Ferrari GTC4Lusso Specs