Porsche is a name that comes with mojo - an image of speed, sleek design and power, glamour and sexiness. It comes with variety too these days, because as well as some seriously quick cars, it also does powerful SUVs and yet has managed to embrace all things green with its new hybrid models.

And yet, as the company itself says, it has its own principles that matter, stating: "They are rooted in motorsport, where we have written history on the track. We concentrate on what we do best: building sports cars."

Wonderfully instant

But Porsche does do an SUV, the Cayenne. Just in case anyone should think this beast is a mere pussycat when it comes to acceleration, think again. As Car Magazine says: "Response from a standstill is wonderfully instant. The 38kW electric motor develops a fulsome 221lb ft of twist from a single heartbeat and the bulky Cayenne Hybrid veritably shoots forwards."

Throttle

And if the Cayenne can accelerate fast, what then of the 997 Turbo? According to Evo, hitting the accelerator on this beauty is an awesome experience. It said: "Nail the throttle in any gear and there's a momentary gathering of breath to serve as a warning before, without any danger of a scrap of it being wasted, all 534bhp simply explodes, the digital speedo becoming a blur of scrambled digits."

Exemplary

And if the speed from a standing start isn't good enough, Porsche fans may find the Panamera a wonderful drive when they get a good, clear rise, as Channel 4 said after road testing it. They remarked: "The Panamera is absolutely devastating on fast, open roads. The long, low, wide body means there is almost no roll and the road-holding is exemplary - we took it to 300km/h (186mph) on a German autobahn and it felt more like a TGV train than a 911.

So those who fancy a Porsche should be in no doubt: When they say they make sports cars, they mean seriously fast ones.