Porsche Panamera

The Panamera is Porsche's answer to the four door Grant Tourer, and judging by spy shots and computer rendered pictures, it is going to be true to the Porsche bloodline in every sense.

The Panamera has as much in common with the 911 as it has with the Cayenne. Porsche borrowed the chassis from the 911 Turbo, codenamed G1, for the Panamera. However, the suspension, brakes and body structure are adapted from the Cayenne, its chassis being deemed too heavy for the grand tourer.

Boot space, at 475 litres, is the largest you'll ever find this side of a sporty Porsche, mainly because this time round, you won't find the engine sitting behind the driver. Porsche has placed the engine up front, sitting it as close to the firewall as possible, so as to achieve an ideal weight distribution. Coupled to a ZF dual-clutch transmission, the 4.8 litre, 400 bhp (NA) will drive the rear wheels and propel the 1800kg (just 200kg more than the 911 Turbo) grand tourer to 100 km/h in 4.2 secs and, if you have enough road, all the way to 300 km/h. This thing is a real grand tourer, offering genuine comfortable headroom and legroom for four adults.

Launch will see two engines offered, a naturally aspirated V8, loosely based on the Cayenne engine, but with bigger cc and direct injection, kicking out 400 bhp. The other is the crazier turbo-charged version of the same engine, giving a heady 500 bhp. The additional equipment associated with the turbo (intercooler, and bigger tyres and brakes) will see the car weighing 150 kg more. An entry level V6 (300 bhp) should follow shortly. A hybrid is also likely to be in the works, while 4-wheel drive may be offered for the American market.

Already drooling? You can start queueing for one at the Porsche dealer, but be prepared to wait for quite a while more, as the car is only likely to be launched in 2009. Start saving!!

[IMG]http://www.oneshift.com/showroom/uploadimages/resized-20070118214159819.jpg[/IMG]

Credits: triggerpuff