The 2010 Porsche Panamera

The 2010 Porsche Panamera

The 2010 Porsche Panamera borrows some components from Porsche's 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 insuring 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.



Spy photos of late prototypes show the Panamera to be a low-slung "four-door coupe" like the Mercedes CLS, but looking like a stretched version of Porsche's flagship 911 sports car. The engine is up front, where it should be in a high-dollar sports sedan, and the sloped tail incorporates a liftgate, a novelty in this class. The Panamera should be a bit smaller and lighter than the CLS, and in line with promises of Porsche-level performance and handling.



Performance should be plentiful, thanks to a pair of Cayenne V-8s. The mainstay 2010 Porsche Panamera S gets a 4.8-liter unit expected to deliver 400 horsepower, 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds, and 180 mph all out. An uplevel Panamera Turbo version is tipped to pack some 520 horsepower, enough grunt to challenge the BMW M5 and Mercedes CLS AMG 63 for the title as world's fastest sedan. Both models will offer a six-speed manual transmission and a seven-speed sequential manual. The latter is a new Porsche-designed twin-clutch unit with automatic shift mode, similar to VW's DSG transmission. Those choices should also apply to an expected base Panamera using a VW-sourced 3.6-liter V-6, tuned for around 300 horsepower.



The 2010 Porsche Panamera will launch with rear-wheel drive, but there's talk of an all-wheel-drive option, again based on Cayenne components, arriving in the second or third year. There's also talk that the base model will be a gas-electric hybrid instead. The system reportedly allows low-speed running on battery power alone, but can also provide an extra 100 horsepower in short bursts to juice acceleration.



Porsche will show a concept of this vehicle, a four-door coupe, at this
fall's Frankfurt auto show. However, the production version has not
received final approval, and reports suggesting that the vehicle will be
called the Panamera remain unconfirmed.