Oct 28, 2009 2:34:59 AM
- Ron (Houston)
- Rennteam Moderator
- Loc: Houston, TX , United States
- Posts: 8812, Gallery
- Registered on: Apr 10, 2002
Oct 28, 2009 2:34:59 AM
Oct 28, 2009 7:05:38 AM
Enmanuel:
i hate that "new entry-level porsche" idea. it diminishes the brand.
What diminishes a brand is making bad products IMO.
The size of production and the variety of models have no bearing for me.
New 928 serie can be succesful with front engine rear wheel drive lay out.
More useable back seats and bigger boot can make this car ideal daily drive.
The photoshop picture looks promising.
ONUR
09 Audi TTS Ibis
07 997 Carrera S / 05 M3 Coupe / 03 M3 Coupe / 96 M3 Coupe EVO (ALL BUT HISTORY)
Oct 28, 2009 7:48:31 PM
Reborn Porsche 928 is fronting up!
Front-engined 2+2 set to slot in above 911, Based on Panamera, with hybrid on the way…
(23 October 2009)
Get ready for a blast from Porsche’s past! The German firm is developing a luxurious, front-engined grand tourer – a spiritual successor to the 928 built between 1977 and 1995. The ‘new 928’ will be a fifth model line, and is designed to sit above the sportier 911 in the range.
With the compact Boxster and Cayman, the 911, the Cayenne SUV and four-door Panamera, Porsche would appear to have most bases covered. But it’s notable for its absence in the front-engined GT segment. The newcomer will allow the brand to take on rivals such as the Ferrari 599 GTB, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin DB9. And our exclusive pictures show exactly why the curvy, Panamera-based coupé is set to stun the competition.
Essentially it’s a two-door, short-wheelbase version of the Panamera, which will help to spread the £1.1billion development costs of that model. Its front-engined layout has a number of inherent benefits, too.
A rear-engined 911 has barely more than 100 litres of luggage space, but a similarly sized GT with its motor up front would offer a useful 320 litres – a vital attribute if the new 928 is to be taken seriously as a grand tourer.
While the nose is virtually identical to the Panamera, the shortened wheelbase and 2+2 layout mean the 928 features far smoother lines at the back. One of the major criticisms levelled at the four-door Panamera was its bloated rear, but this model’s muscular haunches and neater proportions should attract a new wave of style-conscious customers.
As you’d expect from Porsche, though, driver appeal remains a top priority. The engine line-up will mirror that of the Panamera, so a 4.8-litre V8, with or without a turbocharger, producing 500bhp or 400bhp, will be available. The naturally aspirated variant is set to come with four or rear-wheel drive, while the range-topping turbo model will be 4WD only.
Thirsty V8s aren’t the only power units on the agenda. The Cayenne SUV hybrid is ready to go on sale next year, with a petrol-electric version of the Panamera following closely behind. As the new 928 shares the latter’s platform, it’s sure to get the hybrid drivetrain, too.
An Audi S4-sourced 369bhp 3.0-litre supercharged V6, coupled to a 38kW electric motor, will give the hybrid 928 fuel economy that breaks the 30mpg barrier. That will make it the most frugal petrol-powered Porsche ever, while still providing hair-raising performance.
The 928 will slot into Porsche’s pricing line-up somewhere between the 911 and Panamera. The four-door ranges from £70,000-£95,000, while the 911 starts a little lower, at just over £60,000, but stretches to £128,000 for the GT2.
With this is mind, expect the 928 to be pitched between £65,000 and £90,000 – enough to safely undercut its Ferrari and Aston rivals when it goes on sale in 2012.
Oct 29, 2009 5:39:54 AM
Both these interpretations of the new 928 are fantastic!
I have the following observations/comments:
Oct 29, 2009 9:44:13 AM
Now we're talking! It looks STUNNING!!
(Or is this my knee-jerk reacion to the fact that Porsche has come up with a car that actually looks good?!)
The 928 was for me a stunning looking car, with excellent mechanical credentials, and even in the day (when I was all of 15 years old!) I couldn't understand why they had to stop production and development. I hope this car takes the 928 spirit forward (beautiful, fast, light, powerful and with engine & drive in the conventional places), and doesn't make it too big and 6 Series-like to compete in a segment. The best part will be that it will be able to live happily alongside the 911.
Why would Porsche design a "928" based on the Panamera w/ a rear end from a Jaguar? The new car is a Panamera coupe, not a 928, and it is more than reasonable to assume that the new coupe will be a short wheelbase Panamera, using as much of the existing tooling as possible.
Carpe Diem--life is but a crack of light bounded by eternities of darkness (Nabokov)
DaveC:
The new car is a Panamera coupe, not a 928,
Any front engined 8 cyl rear transaxle coupe from porsche is in essence a new 928. And why does it bug some so much? It's the car that changed Porsche from a kit car company into a true industrial top line auto maker and was the best car in its class for most of its life.
I hope these new 7 cars happen and make Porsche what it should have been, a full car company on par with BMW and Merc. There will always be a 911 - so why the pout?
The 928 was a clean sheet of paper design and no doubt a technologic tour de force for its time. Unfortunately they did not sell more than 5000 units in any given year of its 19 year run, and would undoubtedly had led Porsche into bankruptcy had it been Porsche's only model. To suggest that prior to the 928 in 1977 Porsche was a kit car company akin to Lotus w/ its Europa and Elan w/ their oursourced components and fiberglass body work is a bit of hyperbole IMHO.
Carpe Diem--life is but a crack of light bounded by eternities of darkness (Nabokov)
DaveC:
To suggest that prior to the 928 in 1977 Porsche was a kit car company akin to Lotus w/ its Europa and Elan w/ their oursourced components and fiberglass body work is a bit of hyperbole IMHO.
Fast forward -- anything built in Leipzig has to be pretty close to a kit car these days. Even my Carrera GT.
It seems to me that the "final assembly only" system operating in Leipzig is a major factor in how Porsche keeps expenses under control at its relatively low production volumes.
--
Mike
2005 Carrera GT - Signal Yellow + 2008 Tesla Roadster - Thunder Gray +1972 BMW 3.0 CSi - Nachtblau +2009 Bentley Arnage T - Black Saphire
DaveC:
The 928 was a clean sheet of paper design and no doubt a technologic tour de force for its time. Unfortunately they did not sell more than 5000 units in any given year of its 19 year run, and would undoubtedly had led Porsche into bankruptcy had it been Porsche's only model. To suggest that prior to the 928 in 1977 Porsche was a kit car company akin to Lotus w/ its Europa and Elan w/ their oursourced components and fiberglass body work is a bit of hyperbole IMHO.
It was first sold in 1977, It started as a clean sheet in 1971. It was NEVER intended as the replacement for the 911(as Fritz once stated here), so quoting sales figures is pointless other than to show it outsold its exotic competition 3 to 1.
1971 is when the work started that transformed the company and its manufacturing process.
Ferry's own home garage was used to test emissions on the 928, thats a kit car company.
If you have not read the history how can you possible discuss the subject?
overview - from Porsche executives
http://www.porsche928forums.com/download/Germany928Club.pdf
detail - project 928
http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/porsche/porsche_928/7398640-1.html
I will talk about out-sourcing on the factories thread.
Ernst Fuhrmann was head of the 928 project was he not? Wasn't the 928 his concept for an eventual replacement for the 911? Or was the 928 created in a design vacuum since Porsche was flush with so much R&D money in 1971? Perhaps that he lost his job to American Peter Shutz had nothing to do w/ the direction that Porsche was headed w/ the 928? At the time (early 1970s) it was impossible for Porsche to predict what direction the US Government would take in terms of safety and emission requirements. The US market represented nearly 50% of Porsche sales at that time. The soft top convertible essentially disappeared from the US market after 1973, and there were real concerns that a rear engine car would not be allowed for sale in the US. In hindsight people may tell you otherwise, but at the time the 928 was conceived there was real concern and serious discussion that the 911 would be removed from it's most important sales market by Government regulation. What people remember and tell historians, and what they actually believed at the time are often two different things.
--
Carpe Diem--life is but a crack of light bounded by eternities of darkness (Nabokov)
Fuhrmann was the CEO of Porsche and the developer of the 356 engine. The 928 was not any one persons concept. It was what everyone came to as the next generation to meet safety and emissions concerns. The concept itself had to be approved by the Board, long before the look existed. The Board consisting notably of Ferry and his sister Louise Piech.
The person that led the effort of building it was Anatole "Tony" Lapine, the design chief handpicked by Ferry to replace his son Butzi.
Porsche was anything but Flush, it was a tiny but talent laden company that had to use the Chairmans own home garage as an emissions testing center.
The same guys who designed and built the 928 built the 917 and 956 .... Many changes happened during the design phase affected by things like Arab-Israeli war and resulting oil embargo which caused a downsize in the displacement and power of the 928 engine.
If anything the 928 was a major success in awards, milestones, and sales until the 1987 redesign, by which time Fuhrmann was gone and the 928 started its slide downhill because of the redesign.
It was the Porsche Family - Ferry and Louise Piech who had the most to do with approving every step of 928 development, so in effect it is the most Porsche of all the cars, not some rework of an existing design but a clean sheet created by PORSCHE!
Smiles all around for the best Porsche ever built- Ferry, Dorothy, and Tony Lapine drink to the 928
There is no need for discussion on the subject. Ferry loved the 928, he drove 1 as his personal car. He approved it every step of the way.
He liked it so much the engineers at Porsche spent a lot of time and money (Porsche time and money) building him a one-off extended wagon version as a birthday present. It is now in the Porsche museum.
Do you really think they would have done that if he didn't love the 928?
enough of the 911 revisionist history. If Ferry were the 911 fanboy some suggest, all these guys would have been fired on the spot!
better pictures exist but here Ferry receiving his gift at his house
Some more cool shots from Ferry's 75th birthday
ferry and sons
Ferry with his 75th birthday present - a 928 special
Does everyone notice the projection style headlights that are now the big deal on supercars, was this their first use in the mid 80's ?
So I hope everyone can get it thru their heads, Ferry was a 928 guy and when he wanted to roll in style this dapper dude took his 928 out on the town