sanath
01-30-2009, 09:30 AM
The all new Porsche Panamera has broken cover at last. Scheduled for its public debut in Geneva in March, what you see here are official pictures of this four-door sportscar. Porsche has always gone about things in its own idiosyncratic way, and the Panamera is arguably an evolution of the sportscar concept that could have happened a long time ago. Porsche likes to call it a fast car for "four big people and their luggage", and looking at it, especially with that bulbous rear, it seems increasingly able to doso.
While the overall look is heavy from the rear, and the profile looks strange with the bulky fastback styling, Porsche didn't want to do a conventional three-box design, in orderto maintain the Porsche identity. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it's unmistakably Porsche.
The Panamera uses a steel monocoque structure, but the doors and bonnet are made of aluminium to save weight. Still, the lightest version tips the scales at approximately 1,600kg. The Panamera is nearly five metres long, which means it should have reasonable space inside, and the company claims it can easily seat one six-footer behind another.
1146
The engines are very different to anything we've been used to in a low-slung Porsche. So there's no horizontally-opposed 'boxer' engine hanging out the back, but instead a V6 or 8, mounted more conventionally at the front. To keep the weight low and provide sufficient agility, the engines have been pushed as far back from the front axle as possible, and as low as they can.
The V6 is new to the Panamera and not from the Cayenne SUV, but it's understood to have been based on a powerplant from the VW Group. Engine options include a 3.6-litre V6 with 300bhp, a 4.8-litre naturally-aspirated V8, which produces 400bhp, and a full-fat twin-turbo version of the same engine with 500bhp. Transmission options include a six-speed manual, seven-speed DSG or the new seven-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox. A hybrid version is on the cards too, but is unlikely to come to India.
While the overall look is heavy from the rear, and the profile looks strange with the bulky fastback styling, Porsche didn't want to do a conventional three-box design, in orderto maintain the Porsche identity. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it's unmistakably Porsche.
The Panamera uses a steel monocoque structure, but the doors and bonnet are made of aluminium to save weight. Still, the lightest version tips the scales at approximately 1,600kg. The Panamera is nearly five metres long, which means it should have reasonable space inside, and the company claims it can easily seat one six-footer behind another.
1146
The engines are very different to anything we've been used to in a low-slung Porsche. So there's no horizontally-opposed 'boxer' engine hanging out the back, but instead a V6 or 8, mounted more conventionally at the front. To keep the weight low and provide sufficient agility, the engines have been pushed as far back from the front axle as possible, and as low as they can.
The V6 is new to the Panamera and not from the Cayenne SUV, but it's understood to have been based on a powerplant from the VW Group. Engine options include a 3.6-litre V6 with 300bhp, a 4.8-litre naturally-aspirated V8, which produces 400bhp, and a full-fat twin-turbo version of the same engine with 500bhp. Transmission options include a six-speed manual, seven-speed DSG or the new seven-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox. A hybrid version is on the cards too, but is unlikely to come to India.