Five for Porsche four-door

Words - Michael Browning in Germany

Porsche's new full four-seater, four-door Panamera 'Gran Turismo' due for release in 2009 will be available with an unprecedented range of up to five engines, topped by a 450kW 5.7-litre V10 from the recently discontinued Carrera GT coupe, the Carsales Network has learned.

The deep belly rumble from the exhaust of the poorly disguised prototype at the company's Weissach R&D centre gave away the V8 naturally aspirated engine under the Panamera's long front bonnet, but the fourth new model Porsche is expected to be launched with naturally aspirated V6, V8 and V10 engines, with a V6 hybrid and a twin turbocharged V8 to follow.

Porsche engineers confirmed at Weissach that the new V6 parallel full hybrid system previewed to a select group of International media in the Cayenne SUV is also destined for the Panamera.

However a Porsche insider told carsales.com.au that Porsche's answer to the Mercedes-Benz CLS and Maserati Quattroporte would be introduced with a 5.7-litre V10, alongside the 4.8-litre V8 and the 3.6-litre V6 from the Cayenne range. The hybrid V6 model is expected to follow in 2010 or 2011, with a modified version of the twin turbo 4.8-litre V8 currently employed in the range-topping Cayenne Turbo coming later.

The Panamera was hardly a secret at Weissach, with one blue example stopping outside the building where the Cayenne hybrid workshop we were attending was in progress. It idled away for several minutes before disappearing into a test laboratory opposite.

It has been assumed to date that the new model, which is to be built alongside he Cayenne at Porsche's Leipzig plant in north-east Germany, will principally be V8 powered, but mounting concern over fuel prices and pressures from the green lobby are understood to have led to Porsche's decision to include V6 engine options.

News of the V10, albeit not officially confirmed, is also interesting. Fitted amidships in 5.7-litre guise in more than 1200 Carrera GT coupes during the model's limited production run from 2004-2006, the power plant revs to 8000rpm, yet is muscular and flexible, making it well suited to powering a high performance luxury GT to a top speed of 300km/h.

The V6 hybrid will serve as Porsche's social conscience and based on projected figures quoted for the Cayenne hybrid should be capable of delivering comfortably less than 9.0-litres/100km in the New European Combined Driving Cycle.

Porsche's project manager for the Cayenne hybrid, Dr. Michael Leiters, said the Panamera could easily be the world's fastest production hybrid. Like the Cayenne, it will be a parallel full hybrid, with its 34kW electric engine sandwiched between a VW-sourced 206kW V6 engine and a standard Porsche six-speed Tiptronic transmission. A clutch controlled by a sophisticated Hybrid Manager, will engage and disengage the petrol engine, depending on driving requirements, with the car able to 'sail' without any petrol or electric power intervention at speeds up to 120km/h.

By comparision, the 'branch' hybrid system used by Toyota and others pioneering hybrid vehicle manufacturers employs a constantly variable transmission to cushion the take-up between petrol and electric motors.

Porsche's solution harnesses the existing Tiptronic automatic transmission and results in better performance and more sporting driving characteristics better suited to a high performance vehicle, their engineers say.

Dr Leiters told the Carsales Network that for a variety of reasons, Porsche had not rushed into hybrid technology.

"We have very carefully analysed the activities of other manufacturers, in particular Toyota, before joining forces with appropriate partners," he said, referring to VW and Audi.

"We were not even put off by the fact that to this day no manufacturer has arguably made any money on hybrid drive: In the fiscal year 2006 Toyota, for example, sold almost nine million cars worldwide, of which approximately 300,000 of which had hybrid drive technology.

"But considering the worldwide climate debate and new legislation in the pipeline, we are convinced that customers will become much more sensitive to the environmental compatibility of their cars in future, changing their purchasing behaviour accordingly.

"A premium manufacturer like Porsche must therefore offer competitive powertrain solutions with low fuel consumption and emissions, since otherwise the social acceptance of even a strong brand such as Porsche would start to weaken and lose credibility, which in the course of time would mean a loss of market share.

"Hybrid technology offers significant benefits particularly in urban stop-and-go traffic, with a decrease in fuel consumption under real-life driving conditions of up to 25 per cent. Indeed, this is also why numerous potential Porsche customers -- even purchasers of premium products like the Panamera -- will wish to have hybrid drive in their cars."

The Panamera's name is derived from the legendary Carrera Panamericana long-distance racecars of the early 1950s. However unlike their namesakes and any other Porsche car since the 968 and 928 models that ceased production in 1994, the Panamera's engines will be front-mounted and drive the rear wheels.

Porsche's total investment in the new model series, including development, will be more than Euro 1 billion and will come entirely from the company's own funds. Porsche expects to sell at least 20,000 units a year, taking total production by its launch to over 120,000 vehicles.

Unlike the Cayenne, whose platform is shared by the VW Touareg and Audi Q7 and arrives painted and trimmed at Leipzig from VW's Bratislava plant, ready to receive its Porsche mechanical components and drivetrain, the Panamera's platform will be unique to Porsche the company says.

However to ensure its profitability, Porsche will cooperate more closely than previously with selected system suppliers, with the German share of the Panamera being approximately 70 per cent, ensuring it can bear the "Made in Germany" stamp of quality.

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