Porsche Panamera
Encyclopedia
The Porsche Panamera is a four-door
Vehicle door
A vehicle door is a partition, typically hinged, but sometimes attached by other mechanisms such as tracks, in front of an opening which is used for entering and exiting a vehicle. A vehicle door can be opened to provide access to the opening, or closed to secure it. These doors are similar to...

 a coupe. It is front-engined
Front-engine design
A front-mounted engine describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the vehicle passenger compartment.Historically, this designation was used regardless of whether or not the entire engine was behind the front axle line...

 with rear-wheel drive, with four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...

 versions also available.

The Porsche Panamera production model was unveiled at the 13th Auto Shanghai International Automobile Show in Shanghai, China, on April 2009. In 2011, hybrid and diesel versions were launched.

Concept and description

The Panamera's name is derived, like the Porsche Carrera
Porsche Carrera
Carrera is a trademarked name exclusively used by Porsche for its models to honor the company's success in the Carrera Panamericana race.The following vehicles have been called Carrera:* Porsche 356* Porsche 904* Porsche 911...

 line, from the Carrera Panamericana
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sports car racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, it was widely held by contemporaries to be the most dangerous race of any type in the world...

 race. The Panamera is generally considered to be the long-awaited fruit of Porsche's 989
Porsche 989
The Porsche 989 was a 4-door performance-oriented touring sedan concept created by Porsche in 1988. The vehicle was never produced.-History:Increased sales of Porsche's 928 model during the mid-1980s prompted executives to consider adding another large, sporty touring vehicle to the lineup, this...

 concept from the late 1980s.

The Panamera is marketed as a more exciting and higher performing alternative to the traditional executive saloons such as the BMW 7 Series
BMW 7 Series
The BMW 7 Series is a line of full-size luxury vehicles produced by the German automaker BMW. Introduced in 1977, it is BMW's flagship car and is only available as a sedan or extended-length limousine...

, the Audi A8
Audi A8
The Audi A8 is a four-door, full-size, luxury sedan car manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi since 1994. Succeeding the Audi V8, the A8 has been offered with front wheel drive or permanent four-wheel drive, with multitronic or tiptronic automatic transmissions — and in short- and...

, and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s...

. The Panamera competes more directly with cars such as the Maserati Quattroporte
Maserati Quattroporte
The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door saloon made by Maserati in Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors". There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years....

, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
The Mercedes-Benz CLS is an executive-size sedan originally launched in 2004 and based on the W211 E-Class platform and was internally designated as the C219...

, BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo
BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo
The BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo is an executive or mid-size car from German manufacturer BMW, which was first displayed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show as a concept car...

 and Audi A7
Audi A7
The Audi Sportback concept is a concept car produced by Audi, shown at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. The Sportback concept, a luxury five-door fastback model, was regarded as a preview of two future models: the Audi A5 Sportback variant and the Audi A7...

.

Like the Porsche Cayenne
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a five seat mid-size luxury crossover manufactured by the German manufacturer Porsche since 2002, with North American sales beginning in 2003. Its platform was developed by Porsche and is shared with the Volkswagen Touareg and the Audi Q7. It is the first V8-engined vehicle...

 SUV (which has become the marque's best-selling vehicle), the Panamera upset many Porsche purists, since it was seen as an attempt to broaden Porsche's appeal beyond that of hardcore fans. The Panamera ran contrary to the company's signature offerings, particularly its light two-door rear-engine sports cars like the 911. The Panamera on the other hand is considered a full-size luxury car, weighing at nearly 4000 pounds (1,814.4 kg), with four doors, and its engine mounted in the front. The Panamera's appearance with its long hood and rear hatch bears little resemblance to a stretched 911, although it does resemble the 911 from certain angles. The iconic 911 has a sparse interior, as it was focused on raw performance, while the Panamera has a sumptuous interior loaded with modern technological amenity and expensive leather upholstery.

Production

Engines are first assembled in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, and the car's body
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...

 is built and painted at the Porsche Group facility in Hannover. The final assembly of the vehicle takes place in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, alongside the Cayenne
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a five seat mid-size luxury crossover manufactured by the German manufacturer Porsche since 2002, with North American sales beginning in 2003. Its platform was developed by Porsche and is shared with the Volkswagen Touareg and the Audi Q7. It is the first V8-engined vehicle...

.

Production began in April 2009, one month after its debut in the Shanghai Motor Show
Auto Shanghai
Auto Shanghai is a biennial international automobile show that alternates with the Beijing Auto Show and dates to its inception in 1985...

 in China.

Porsche has applied for patents on a four-door convertible version of the Panamera that keep the same general dimensions.

Specifications

The V8-powered Panamera S, 4S, and Turbo models were the first versions that debuted in 2009. In addition to the 4.8L Twin Turbo 500hp V8, Porsche launched two further models in 2010: the Panamera and Panamera 4 which are both powered by 3.6-litre V6 engines producing 300 horsepower. The Panamera, S, Hybrid and Diesel are rear-wheel drive, while the Panamera 4 and 4S have the same four-wheel drive system as the Turbo and Turbo S.

Being derived from the V8 engine of the Panamera S and Panamera 4S, the V6 retains the V8's technologies like Direct Fuel Injection, infinitely variable intake camshaft adjustment with variable valve lift (VarioCam Plus), an on-demand oil pump, water cooling with thermal management, a variable intake manifold, as well as integrated dry sump lubrication with two-stage extraction of oil and, and an Auto Start-Stop function (only with the PDK transmission). US models include an engine start/stop system, and the Turbo version uses active aerodynamics with a multi-stage, adjustable rear spoiler.

In 2011, the Panamera S Hybrid, Diesel, Turbo S and GTS variants were added to the range.

Engines

car modeldisplacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...

 &
configuration
Engine configuration
Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine. These components are the cylinders and crankshafts in particular but also, sometimes, the camshaft....

max. motive
Motive power
In thermodynamics, motive power is an agency, as water or steam, used to impart motion. Generally, motive power is defined as a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover. The term may also define something, as a locomotive or a...

 power
Power (physics)
In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit...

 @ rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

max. torque
Torque
Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....

 @ rpm
Panamera,
Panamera 4
3.6 litre V6
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...

300 PS @ 6,200 400 N·m (295 ft·lbf) @ 3,750-4,250
Panamera Diesel 3.0 litre V6
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...

250 PS @ 3,800 550 N·m (406 ft·lbf) @ 1,750-2,750
Panamera S,
Panamera 4S
4.8 litre V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

400 PS @ 6,500 500 N·m (369 ft·lbf) @ 3,500-5,000
Panamera GTS 4.8 litre V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

430 PS @ 6,700 520 N·m (384 ft·lbf) @ 3,500-5,000
Panamera S Hybrid 3.0 litre V6
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...

380 PS @ 5,500 580 N·m (428 ft·lbf) @ 3,000-5,250
Panamera Turbo 4.8 litre V8 twin turbo 500 PS 700 N·m (516 ft·lbf) @ 2,250-4,500
Panamera Turbo S 4.8 litre V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 twin turbo
550 PS @ 6,000 750 N·m (553 ft·lbf) @ 2,250-4,500

Transmissions

The new 7-speed ZF Friedrichshafen
ZF Friedrichshafen
ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German public company headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg....

 PDK dual clutch transmission is standard on the Panamera 4, 4S and Turbo models. With the addition of the optional sport chrono package, this provides faster acceleration times. In some markets a 6-speed manual is available for rear-wheel drive petrol versions. The S Hybrid and Diesel models come only with an Aisin-supplied 8-speed automatic transmission called Tiptronic S.

Panamera Turbo

  • Drag Coefficient
    Drag coefficient
    In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...

    : 0.30
  • 0- 60 mi/h: 3.3 seconds
  • 0- 100 mi/h : 8.2 seconds
  • 1/4 mile: 11.7 seconds @ 119 mi/h
  • Top Speed: 188 mi/h
  • Braking 70 mi/h to 0 mi/h: 159 feet (48.5 m)


Top speeds in gear:
Gear mph km/h rpm
7th 193 311 4450
6th 193 311 6100
5th 169 272 6600
4th 123 198 6600
3rd 84 135 6600
2nd 51 82 6600
1st 28 45 6600

Panamera S Hybrid

In 2008, Porsche AG announced the development of a parallel hybrid
Hybrid vehicle
A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...

 system for the Panamera. and in February 2011, Porsche unveiled the Panamera S Hybrid. Using the same drivetrain seen in the Cayenne S Hybrid - an Audi-sourced supercharged 3.0L V6 engine producing 333 PS along with an electric motor rated at 47 PS, as well as the Cayenne's eight-speed Tiptronic S transmission - the 380 PS Panamera S Hybrid can accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 6.0 seconds. It would produce only 159 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, rendering it the cleanest car in the entire Porsche model range, but still provide a top speed of 270 kilometre per hour.

Panamera Diesel

The Panamera Diesel was launched in May 2011. The vehicle uses the same 3.0L V6 engine used in the Cayenne Diesel, itself a tuned carryover of an existing engine. The Panamera's engine has a power output of 250 PS. The car is capable of accelerating from 0–100 km/h in 6.8 seconds and has a top speed of 242 kilometre per hour. It is also the most economical Porsche in the entire vehicle range, consuming just 6.3 liters per 100 kilometers.

Handling

The Panamera comes with the Porsche Traction Management (PTM), which is Porsche's name for its fully controlled, four-wheel drive system. PTM is standard on both the Panamera 4S and the Panamera Turbo. Optional Sports Chrono Packages include a Sport Plus button, which has tighter damping and air springs, and lowers the car body by 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in).

Reception

Despite the differences in dimensions and design, a reviewer noted that the Panamera's driving dynamics were close to that of the 911, and it "seems to occupy the no-man's-land between really good sports sedan
Sports sedan
A sports sedan or a sports saloon is a descriptive term applied to a sedan automobile that is designed to look and feel "sporty", offering the motorist more connection with the driving experience, while providing the comfort and amenities expected of a luxury sedan. A wider definition that includes...

s and proper sports cars", and so far the Panamera has won every comparison test against other four-door performance cars on the market such as the Maserati Quattroporte
Maserati Quattroporte
The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door saloon made by Maserati in Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors". There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years....

 and Aston Martin Rapide
Aston Martin Rapide
The Aston Martin Rapide is a four-door, high-performance sport saloon, which British luxury marque Aston Martin introduced in early 2010. It was first presented as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 2006. The Rapide name is a reference to the Lagonda Rapide, a saloon car...

. Function was also praised, with the 15.7 cubic feet (444.6 l) hatchback trunk, and the four-corner adaptive air suspension that retained superior handling while also providing a comfortable ride for public roads. Edmunds
Edmunds
-Companies:* Edmunds.com, provider of automotive information* Edmund Scientific Corporation, company supplying optics and other scientific items* Edmund's Auto Sales, Inc., Automotive Collision and Mechanical / Towing Company in Franklin, MA...

 stated that the Panamera was an innovative engineering feat that "makes a unique statement about the way that luxury transportation and serious high-performance potential can be mixed together in one car".
Unlike most of the V8-engined contemporaries, all models of the Panamera avoid the US Gas Guzzler Tax
Gas Guzzler Tax
The National Energy Act: Energy Tax Act of 1978 , or the Gas Guzzler Tax, imposed set tax penalties on car manufacturers who fail to meet the minimum fuel economy level of in the United States. This does not include minivans, sport utility vehicles or pick-up trucks. It is intended to discourage...

. The V6-powered Panamera was also praised, as its downsized engine still retained respectable acceleration, and as it had even better handling than its V8 siblings, due to the engine being lighter by 100 lb (45.4 kg) which gave the car better weight distribution.

However, the CAR magazine of the U.K. described the S model not as sporty as they expected, which they blamed the car "oriented to comfort as it’s possible"
and called the Turbo model "a missed opportunity on behalf of Porsche" to be "the world’s first lightweight four seater" as the top model weighs as much as an Audi S8.

Sales

As of 2011, the largest national market was the United States with 6188 sold, as the car is produced in limited numbers. Sales by cities: Los Angeles (890), New York (760), Hong Kong (300), Dubai (285), Tokyo (223), Munich (206), Moscow (203), Shanghai (188), Hamburg (117) and Berlin (108). Sales internationally by model variant: Panamera 4S (9394), Turbo (6171), S (4563) and V6 (2390 - introduced weeks earlier).

Publicity

On the 20 April 2007, a spy video of the Porsche Panamera became available on the Internet.

In September 2008, Porsche released the first teaser image for the Panamera. In early October 2008, an undisguised Panamera was captured on film in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

.

On 28 November 2008, Porsche sent a mailer containing two photos of the Panamera which were labeled as "the first official images of the Porsche Panamera" with an invitation to have online access to via Porsche USA's website.

The 30 November 2008 edition of Top Gear featured a look at the Panamera in its news section, with the three presenters being very critical of the look. On 21 May 2009 Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...

 and James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....

 from Top Gear were seen driving the Panamera along the A30 in Devon. They were racing against a letter sent via Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...

 between the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...

 and the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

. This episode was broadcast on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 on 12 July 2009. Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...

 reviewed the Porsche Panamera for an article with The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 newspaper and was quite critical.

On 19 April 2009, Porsche finally unveiled the Porsche Panamera saloon to the public at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. One of the highlights of the Panamera's debut was fitting the car in the freight elevator of the Shanghai World Financial Center
Shanghai World Financial Center
The most distinctive feature in the design of the building is an aperture at the peak. The original design specified a circular aperture, in diameter, to reduce the stresses of wind pressure, as well as serve as a subtext for the design, since "Chinese mythology represents the earth with a square...

and sending it to the skyscraper's 94th floor.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK