Porsche Panamera
Porsche’s new four-door coupe – dubbed Panamera – is currently undergoing an extensive testing
The Panamera was pictured recently undergoing counter-seasonal hot-weather testing in Namibia – and we shot the whole Panamera range in northern Sweden today. Scheduled for an official presentation at the 2009 Geneva show, the fourth range from Porsche is developed to be a strong competitor to the Mercedes CLS and Aston Martin Rapide. These are the first pictures showing all three models of the new range: the 'standard' Panamera with two pairs of rectangular exhaust pipes, the Panamera S featuring two round pipes on each side, and the Panamera Turbo equipped with tailpipes similar to those of the 'standard' car but featuring the taller air-intakes at the front.
The entry-level engine for the 'standard' Panamera will be Volkswagen’s 3.5-litre six-cylinder unit developing 300bhp, while Porsche’s own drivetrain will be a direct-injection eight-cylinder petrol engine, available in naturally-aspirated guise (350 bhp) for the 'S' and with twin-turbo (560 bhp). That should be enough to beat off the competition for a while: Mercedes’ CLS 63 AMG comes up with 'only' 514 bhp. However, should Stuttgart make the CLS even stronger, Zuffenhausen would strike back with the Porsche GT’s 700-bhp ten-cylinder unit...
The target for the Panamera is to be a true sportscar while at the same time it shall be a family-car for every-day with four full seats, easy access to the rear and a luggage compartment of around 450 litres. When it hits the road in 2009, Porsche hopes to be able to sell 20,000 units annually – and to jump over the barrier of 100 000 sold cars per year.
