Porsche Panamera to officially debut at Shanghai show in April
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jan 5th 2009 at 9:58AM 
Click above for a high-res image gallery of the Porsche Panamera
Underscoring the continued importance that automakers are placing on the Chinese market (especially in this difficult economic environment), Porsche has made it official that the new Panamera will debut in the Middle Kingdom in April. Porsche's new four door hatchback coupe/sedan gran turismo thingy will get its first public showing at the Shanghai Motor Show from April 20-28. In spite of its controversial looks, the Panamera should not be wanting for performance. Direct injected engines ranging from the Volkswagen 3.6-liter V6 up to 500 horsepower turbo V8 from the Cayenne will be available.
Backing up the engines will be a choice of 6-speed manual and 7-speed PDK dual clutch gearboxes, with power going to either the rear or both axles. At some point in the next couple of years, Porsche will add its hybrid system to the Panamera as well. Now, if they would just do something about the humpback looks, we might be able to get excited about its arrival. Click on the gallery below or hit the jump to view Porsche's official press release.
Gallery: 2010 Porsche Panamera
[Source: Porsche]
PRESS RELEASE:
New Panamera: World Debut in China
Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, will be presenting the new Panamera to the public for the first time at Auto Shanghai 2009 in China from 20 – 28 April. Porsche's unique, four-door Gran Turismo will be making its world debut at a press conference on 19 April and will be entering the market in late summer 2009.
The four-door Panamera combines a wide range of features seemingly contradictory at first sight, and offering a unique synthesis quite unparalleled in the premium segment: The Panamera comes with all the sporting and dynamic characteristics of a genuine Porsche combined with a very high standard of motoring comfort. Despite its extra-low and sleek coupé silhouette, in turn, the Panamera offers more than ample space and roominess inside for four passengers and variable loading space for a substantial amount of luggage. And last but not least, the Panamera proudly boasts power units offering a high standard of fuel efficiency despite the car's outstanding performance.
All power units featured in the Panamera are modern V-engines with either six or eight cylinders covering a power range from 300 – 500 bhp and featuring Direct Fuel Injection. This makes all engines quite superior in their power and torque, together with superior fuel economy and exhaust emissions reduced to a minimum.
The Panamera is making its debut with a V8 normal-aspiration power unit and a V8 featuring bi-turbocharger technology.
Depending on the model, power is transmitted by a six-speed manual gearbox or Porsche's new seven-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) (Double-Clutch Gearbox) available as an option on all models within the range not fitted with PDK as standard from the start. This gives the Panamera both a particularly sporting and an extra-comfortable character on the road.
As an option the Panamera Gran Turismo will be available with Porsche's Sports Chrono Package giving the car even more sporting and dynamic engine and gearshift characteristics and enhancing the dynamic performance of the Panamera to an even higher level of perfection.
The V6 and V8 normal-aspiration versions of the Panamera come as standard with rear-wheel drive. The top model in the range with its turbocharged power unit, in turn, features PTM (Porsche Traction Management) with extra-light, active all-wheel drive. PTM is also available on the other models.
In addition to the regular steel suspension featuring variable dampers for a sporting but comfortable driving experience, the Panamera is also available as an option with brand-new, adaptive air suspension offering additional air volume. This ensures a particularly wide range of suspension characteristics with an even higher standard of motoring comfort on the one hand and extremely sporting driving dynamics on the other.
In the Sport Plus Mode the air suspension lowers the entire car even further down to the road, giving the Panamera an even higher standard of aerodynamic efficiency and improving its centre of gravity, enhancing driving safety and reducing fuel consumption. As an option the Panamera is furthermore available with PDCC Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control actively compensating body roll in bends and at the same time improving the car's response and smoothness on bumpy roads when driving in a straight line.
Intelligent lightweight technology making appropriate use of high-strength steel, light alloys such as aluminium and magnesium, as well as high-tech plastic materials serves to reduce the weight of the car to an appropriately low level in its class, benefiting not only fuel economy, but also driving dynamics.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cyx 10:11AM (1/05/2009)
I love it.
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snp 11:17AM (1/05/2009)
Yeah, porsche is great. I love spending 70-150k on their cars. Wait...lemme sell my house. I'm gonna buy myself a diabo. The only thing better than porsche would be lambos, jags and rovers. lots and lots of land rovers. because i have lots and lots of land to rove on....
This niche segment sucks! The auto kings are releasing sales data today. Detroit auto show is coming up real soon. Can we get more info on autos that 95% of us are willing to pay for. Porsche car sales are the size of icelandic population. Even if they are popular, they really arent that popular stateside.
Rich 11:35AM (1/05/2009)
Ahem. Rover went bust a while ago. Land Rover is, and always has been, an entirely separate company. Much like the Daimlers.
TyWright 1:50PM (1/05/2009)
Does anybody know the code number for the Panamera? 9...something.
Can't find it anywhere!!
Cyx 2:10AM (1/06/2009)
what's the code number for cayenne?
ken_aisin 10:13AM (1/05/2009)
One of the two ugliest Porsche ever. The other being the Cayenne.
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tenfifteen 10:18AM (1/05/2009)
Concur. Awful.
Eddie 10:21AM (1/05/2009)
I still say the 914 was worse.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/dic/pix/porsche914.jpg
tenfifteen 11:24AM (1/05/2009)
I always liked the little 914. Whatever its aesthetic deficiencies, it was a great little car, and won races (class win at Le Mans in '70, as I recall). This pig is in no danger of winning anything but ugliest German sedan. Christ, it makes the new 7 look positively stunning, if such a thing is possible.
Mobius_1 12:52PM (1/05/2009)
914 was plain, but not really ugly, at least it looked like a sports car.
The Cayenne is just about bearable, the front is vulgar but the sides and back look good, as long as it doesn't get the "midas" touch from tuners. ("Midas" because that's how much money you pay and also what colour it will end up as)
The Panamera??? That arse is just horror to my eyes, a lesson in how not to design a car. Sure it looks really practical, but really, that would be the least of my concerns, especially in such a high price range with numerous worth competitors already there and coming out soon.
dukeisduke 1:16PM (1/05/2009)
I agree; it's still ugly.
John P. 10:13AM (1/05/2009)
I thought the Cayenne was a stinker and it sold like crazy. I think this one is even worse so it'll probably allow Porsche to afford a couple dozen bankrupt car companies! The Aston Martin Rapide is nicer in just about every way. I wonder how they compare price-wise?
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Jason 10:16AM (1/05/2009)
This car actually looks better than I initially thought it would - thought that isn't saying much.
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Randy915 3:32PM (1/05/2009)
Yep, I hate to eat my own words but I think it looks better now.
XJ 10:25AM (1/05/2009)
Why couldn't Porsche just made a 2-seater version of this thing and call it the new 911? Would finally give the 911 a new look since... forever.
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Eddie 10:34AM (1/05/2009)
Wouldn't a 2 seat coupe with a front V8 be a new 928?
XJ 11:12AM (1/05/2009)
Let me clarify. I meant the look of this car should be implemented on the 911.
tenfifteen 11:27AM (1/05/2009)
"Wouldn't a 2 seat coupe with a front V8 be a new 928?"
The 928 was a 2+2, wasn't it?
LloydChiro 12:01PM (1/05/2009)
Well... the 911 is a 2+2 too, not just a two-seater. Where are we going with this?
Mobius_1 12:54PM (1/05/2009)
911 looks way better than this, much cleaner and as a result prettier. Please stop tempting Porsche ruin one of their 3 only good looking car ranges left. :)