Going To Greater Lengths

Newcastle Herald

Saturday November 29, 2008

writes Brent Davison

THE fact that Porsche has been planning a four-door grand touring car for years has been one of the car industry's worst-kept secrets.

What it might look like though has been a tightly guarded issue and one subject to much speculation and Photoshopping of long-range spy images.

Finally, the speculation is over with Porsche releasing the first official photographs of its Panamera grand touring car, a four-door sports sedan that will make its debut internationally in the first half of next year and go on sale here late in the second half.

To their credit the designers managed to hold onto many of the traditional Porsche characteristics, encapsulating its corporate heritage in the forward sheet metal, the rounded tail and the basic side profile, despite squeezing the engine in the front and an extra door on either side.

It even avoids having a grille to add front-end heaviness, its designers instead going with a series of front air intakes while strongly profiled wheel arches and long, sloping bonnet connect the car to the 911.

Panamera becomes Porsche's fourth model line after the evergreen 911, the Boxster/Cayman pair and the Cayenne and is its first move on the emerging four-door GT class dominated by Maserati's Quattroporte, Jaguar's XF and Mercedes-Benz's CLS.

In size terms the newcomer has an impressive footprint. Standing 4970mm in overall length and 1931mm wide, the car is just 1418mm high.

Buyers will be able to choose from a number of engine options starting with a 220-kilowatt V6 and stopping at a 368-kilowatt, twin-turbo V8. There will also be a naturally aspirated V8 option. All engines will be available with a six-speed manual transmission and optional seven-speed twin-clutch (PDK) automatic.

There will also be an all-wheel-drive option across the range (standard on the top model) and a petrol-electric hybrid variant is also expected but not until 2010.

Porsche says full details on the car including engines, transmissions, performance figures, pricing and equipment levels will be released in the first half of next year.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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