Ron (Houston):
Emperor:
Given the butch appearance and the significantly increased width, I suspect 8 cylinders for this one. Can't see another logical reason for increasing the size of the car as the Panamera will serve those looking for a spacious "sports car".
I would still say 6-cyl. My take on why it's longer
1 - Due to some complaints that the rear seats don't have enough room even for kids.
2 - Moving engine forward (semi mid-engine) configuration
3 - None of the above .
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Happy Driving
Reasonable logic but buckle up for a counter argument
1. Nobody every complains about the AMV8, R8 or F430 not having space for kids. The 911 is first and fore most a sports car and the so called seats are just a bonus more suitable as cargo space. Porsche has made the Panamera which they call a sports car for 4 and have claimed that performance is close to a 911. That makes a stretched 911 very redundant, especially when Soccer moms can resort to a Cayenne for proper hospitality.
2. Porsche already has a midengined demon, the Cayman. But most importantly the rear bias configuration is the 911's unique selling points and is the primary reason why the car is so popular and so damn fast. Push the engine to the middle and the 911 officially dies.
Another possibility is increased displacement because the A91 with DFI is pretty much the limit of what you can squeeze out an engine with a 3.8l displacement. What if it's the so called "engine of the future" that TechArt got in trouble for buying from a Porsche worker in 2007.
http://jalopnik.com/cars/news/stolen-porsche-development-center-engines-found-at-techart-garage-265767.php