Quote:
RC said:
I had the chance (by mistake of course ) to see a CAD "picture" of the almost final Panamera. What can I say, it looks pretty good (very stylish, didn't expect that from Porsche) but it also looks HUGE and pretty wide. Despite the stylish look, it still looks aggressive but unfortunately also a little bit "japanized" (if this is the word to describe it).

I thought that the Panamera is supposed to be a competitor for the BMW 5 series and Audi A6 series but apparently the Panamera is more targeted at the BMW 7series and Mercedes S class.

It also seems that AT LEAST one Panamera model will have AWD, the top model is supposed to have "around or slightly more" 600 HP.

Unfortunately, the weight of the Panamera will also be in the 7series/S-class range, meaning that the top model may hit the 2.2 ton barrier, the base model is rumored to weight around 2 tons. There is still room for weight reduction based on the material used but I heard that I shouldn't expect less than 1.8 t for the base model.

A hybrid version seems also to be in the planning, it may be used with the V6 (still not clear if it is coming) or the V8 engine. All engines have direct fuel injection and a surprisingly low CO2 emission for such powerful engines.

It is still not clear if the top model gets a twin turbo charged V8 engine or a V10 engine, both variants at the same time are quite unlikely.

The front looks a little bit like a mixture between the Carrera GT and the current Cayenne (facelift) with a "touch" of 997 Turbo. The rear looks a bit japanese to me (this is why I meant "japanized") and reminds me a little bit of current Mazda limousines but of course it looks completely different. The rear part doesn't look quite exactly of how it looks in those mule/prototype pictures, the rear window is pretty flat for a limousine but the real deal looks more like a mixture between the current Mercedes CL and a hatchback/911, it is difficult to describe. The new Panamera does NOT have a "real" hatchback rear, the prototypes are camouflaged. The rear is surprisingly 911-like and not, it is difficult to describe. The rear lights are actually much longer than they are in the pictures/photos of prototypes. It is diffult to describe it from my memory since I only had a 10-15 seconds time frame to look at the pictures before it was "removed".

It is also interesting to hear that another rumour indicates that parts of the development team of the VW Phaeton have been assigned to Panamera development together with some "information exchange" with Audi. Why ain't I surprised?

Again: RUMOURS, take them with a grain of salt.

First Panameras are expected around mid 2009 (as MY 2010) cars. It is also very likely that, depending on media hype and public opinion, the hybrid version will be available from the start. Also interesting: Porsche is also rumoured to play mind games with a COUPE version of a Panamera if the Panamera is successful.

I hope this is enough material for a "but" and "if" discussion.



Hi RC!

Thank you very much for these special and detailed infos. Do you can also get infos about the front-engine-V8-2-door-Coupé (the new Porsche 928)? I've seen a few computer-styled pics of it and they where yery impressive.

Greetings