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Porsche Panamera takes a drive
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Porsche , Sedans, Sports
When one thinks of Porsche, one thinks of long tradition to the design and performance of sleek, fast, and incredible handling 2-door sport cars. For years the automaker has been pumping out 2-door sedans that really perform and deliver. Get ready, though, as it undergoes an extreme makeover with a 4-door new four-door coupe.
Dubbed the Panamera, the sedan is scheduled to debut at the 2009 Geneva show and is expected to be a strong competitor to the Mercedes CLS, the future Aston Martin Rapide, as well as Volkswagen's upcoming four-door coupe. Though the Panamera takes over design elements from the 911 range, there will obviously be huge differences. While the 911, for example, has always kept a rear-mounted boxer engine, the Panamera will have available three front-mounted engines, although they'll be set back to the center of the car as much as possible to distribute the weight better. The entry-level power plant will be Volkswagen's 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine with 300 bhp. Next up will be two direct-injection eight-cylinder engines, available either naturally-aspirated (350 bhp) or with twin-turbo (560 bhp). Porsche is also toying with the idea of using the Porsche GT's 700-bhp ten-cylinder power plant! Porsche wants the Panamera to be a sports car with family car amenities: four seats, easy access to the rear, and a good-sized luggage compartment. Porsche hopes to be able to sell 20,000 units annually and to jump over the barrier of 100,000 sold cars per year. This will definitely help make Porsche into an even bigger player in the global auto market.
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