IMAGINE a 911 with rear doors and a back seat so that you can take the whole family on an exciting joy ride.
That’s the Panamera, Porsche’s first sedan. It should be as special as any Porsche, so it won’t be cheap or plentiful.
It should challenge the likes of the Aston Martin Rapide and the Lamborghini Estoque at least in the race to being put in production first.
The 2010 Porsche Panamera borrows some components from the Cayenne SUV, and has a similar mission in life. Porsche conceived the Cayenne to bolster its bottom line and supplement its traditional sports-car business, where sales swings tend to be more severe than in the SUV segment.
Though Porsche purists greeted it as heresy, the Cayenne has done just what Porsche intended. As a result, this small, independent company is now the most profitable automaker in Europe. One of the most influential too, as it’s also the largest shareholder in Europe’s largest automaker, Volkswagen AG . Porsche relies on VW for Cayenne components and production, and wanted to protect those assets by ensuring that VW could never be a takeover target, however remote the prospect.
Now that’s done, and Porsche can diversify its lineup even further, starting with the Panamera.
Photos reveal that the Panamera will be a low-slung “4-door coupe” like the Mercedes CLS, but it also looks like a stretched version of Porsche’s 911 sports car. The engine is up front, where it should be in a highdollar sports sedan, and the sloped tail incorporates a liftgate, a novelty in this class.
Despite its low and sleek silhouette so typical of Porsche, the Panamera, measuring 4.97 metres in length and 1.42 metres in height, the cabin is bound to ensure a generous feeling of space on all four seats.
Performance should be plentiful, thanks to a pair of Cayenne- sourced direct-injection V-8s. The mainstay 2010 Porsche Panamera S gets a 4.8-litre unit expected to deliver 400 horsepower, 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds, and 280 kmph flat out.
The Panamera 4S uses that same engine but adds an allwheel drive to put down the power more effectively. An uplevel Panamera Turbo version is tipped to pack around 500 horsepower, enough grunt to challenge the BMW M5 and Mercedes CLS63 AMG for the title as world’s fastest sedan.
Both models will come equipped with a new Porsche-designed double-clutch 7-speed automatic dubbed the PDK.
The 2010 Porsche Panamera S will launch with rear-wheel drive. All-wheel drive will come standard on the 4S and the topline Turbo. There will also be a gas/electric hybrid model, but details are sketchy when it will be available. Porsche says it will be a full parallel hybrid -- meaning it can run on electricity only, gas only, or a combination of the two.
Other details are hazier, but it’s probably safe to assume the 2010 Porsche Panamera will also draw on Cayenne for suspension components, brakes, and steering. Another safe bet is Porsche’s alphabet soup of stability- and ride-enhancing electronics, including an air suspension. Ceramic brakes, borrowed from high-end 911s, may be optional for the Turbo, and the Turbo should include a 911-type rear spoiler that powers up and down according to road speed. Equally predictable, the Panamera will offer all the goodies expected in high-end cars, plus Porsche’s usual bewildering array of custom trim options.
The Panamera may be Porsche’s first production sedan, but it’s not the first 4-door Porsche. Back in 1988, Porsche studied the feasibility of a larger 911 with project 989, basically the normal 2-door coupe The ultimate posh machine Photos reveal that Panamera, Porsche’s first sedan, will be a low-slung ‘4-door coupe’ like the Mercedes CLS Members as well as non-members can avail of Biorhythm’s specialised body massages like Shiatsu, Swedish, reflexology, de-stress massages and baths. To unwind after a hectic week there is the relaxing jacuzzi designed for a truly out of the world experience. To relax and rejuvenate there is quality and hygienic saunas.
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Express Features sports car with an extended wheelbase making room for a pair of rear doors and a proper back seat. A single prototype was built but never publicly shown, let alone acknowledged.
The 989 remained only a rumour until some years later, when researchers uncovered photographs.
The project didn’t get far anyway, due to Porsche’s deteriorating financial situation at the time, but it appears the 989, had it been produced, would have retained the 911’s signature rear-engine configuration.
Aside from hefty cash, you’ll need to be on good terms with a dealer to buy a 2010 Porsche Panamera.
Porsche plans to build only 20,000 per year for worldwide sale, with perhaps 9,000 or so earmarked for the US alone.
Official reports suggest that the base 2010 Porsche Panamera will start at Rs.1.4crore and the line-topping Turbo stickers for Rs 2.01crore.
Come October and we will have it in Porsche dealers across the country.
vivekvenugopal@epmltd.com
Vivek Venugopal
(The author is an automobile engineer)