Porsche Panamera 2011 News

Speak to any motoring journalist and you will find they all love driving the big Porsche Panamera sports hatch. But they have differing opinions on the styling, many hate it, a few like it, but I can’t say I know one who really loves it. Always happy to listen to owners – and even to us journos if need be – Porsche has given the Panamera a major makeover. This is far more than simply a facelift and tail-tuck. The changes to the rear in particular give it a much more refined look than the somewhat clumsy original. We like the look that has been achieved by the wider rear windscreen and a revised bootlid. At the front, Panamera has a bigger, bolder air intake and the shape of the headlights has been altered. Most important of all, the windscreen has a sharper angle. This time the Panamera looks less like a bulked up 911 and more like a luxurious sports sedan in its own right. These days when you’re launching a new upmarket model you don’t do so at a motor show in Europe or the USA. No, you go the Shanghai Motor Show to give yourself first crack at the world’s largest car market. Interestingly, Porsche is introducing the world’s first upmarket plug-in hybrid as part of its push in the second-generation Panamera. As well as the standard car, Porsche is also introducing an extended-wheelbase version. These stretched models are vitally important to sales in China as very few luxury cars are ever driven by their owners – which sounds strange to us Aussies. Indeed, Porsche Australia knows its customers well, so the extended wheelbase Panamera will not be offered in Australia. However, never say never. The gen-two Panamera S E-Hybrid has a more powerful electric motor, a higher-performance battery that supplies more energy and, just as importantly the ability to be plugged in for charging externally from the electrical grid. The electric drive produces 70 kW, which is more than double the power of the previous model’s electric motor. It gets its power from a newly developed lithium-ion battery, which at 9.4 kWh has over five times the energy capacity of the previous nickel metal hydride battery. Amazingly, the previous model’s official European fuel consumption figure of 7.1 litres per hundred kilometres has been reduced to just litres per hundred. The acceleration time from zero to 100 km/h is shortened by half a second to 5.5 seconds. Porsche Panamera is taking part in the engine downsizing technology that’s sweeping Europe. A V6 engine with 3.0 litres displacement and bi-turbo charging replaces the previous 4.8-litre V8 engine in the Panamera S and Panamera 4S. This powerplant has 15kW more power and 20Nm more torque, with a maximum torque of 520Nm available over a very broad range of engine speeds. Most Panamera models are equipped with the seven-speed dual-clutch PDK. An eight-speed automatic Tiptronic S is standard in the Panamera Diesel and Panamera S E-Hybrid. The second-generation Porsche Panamera will be sold in Australia from late July, pricing has yet to be confirmed.  

The Panamera S Hybrid will make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next month  - but Australian Porsche dealers are already taking orders, with a starting pricetag from $298,300.That asking price slots it into the range as the second most-expensive model behind the all-wheel drive Turbo, but the price could come down if the Australian arm of the company puts the Michelin tyres on as standard.Porsche Cars Australia spokesman Paul Ellis says the hybrid could become the third-most expensive Panamera if luxury car tax fuel-efficiency exemptions come into play."Anyone who orders the car with the Michelin low-resistance tyres is subject to getting that car as much as $6000 cheaper with the Michelins. We're currently investigating if we can make those tyres standard for the Australian market, therefore the car would be priced more favourably because it comes in as standard under seven litres per 100km, we estimate there's a potential price difference of $6000 which is worth pursuing." he says.The new Panamera S Hybrid has the same basic drivetrain as the Cayenne hybrid SUV, producing  279kW - 245kW from the supercharged three-litre V6 and the rest from the electic motor and battery system.There's a theoretical torque figure of 580Nm (440Nm from the V6 and 300Nm from the electrical engine, as per the Cayenne hybrid) with the assistance of the electric motor, although Porsche says hybrid drivetrain torque figures are difficult to quantify in total.The hybrid's fuel consumption claim (in European spec) of 6.8 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 159 g/km, achieved with the Porsche petrol-electric hybrid system and Panamera-specific Michelin low rolling-resistance tyres.Standard rubber ups the number to 7.1 litres per 100km and emissions of 167 g/km of CO2, but even on standard tyres it's still the most frugal Porsche yet.The Panamera S Hybrid is far from a green slug, claiming 0-100km/h in six seconds and a 270 km/h top speed, with the ability to cover up to 2km in full electric mode at speeds up to 85 km/h.Unlike other petrol-electric hybrids, the electric motor operates as a generator and a starter, but the Porsche employs a separating clutch between the hybrid unit (which includes the nickel metal hydride battery) and the petrol engine, allowing the conventional eight-speed automatic transmission to be retained.Further similarities to the Cayenne drivetrain range are likely some time next year, with Porsche also working on a diesel Panamera model using the 176kW/550Nm three-litre turbodiesel six-cylinder (which boasts 7.4l/100km in the SUV), but there's no firm timeframe on its arrival.

Since cars all deliver on the same basic promise of personal mobility, and many vehicles do it with incredible value and panache, good design can often make the difference between buying and losing.Ian Callum knows it and, after more than four decades of top-class design work on everything from HSV Holdens to Volvos, Aston Martins and now Jaguars, he is the right man to be talking. "This is a time of car design. It's not just styling any more. You really have to understand design, and the elements that make up a good design," Callum says. "We're also seeing a lot of change in the automotive world. The make-up of cars is changing. Designers are going to have an incredible influence."Callum has revolutionised Jaguar design over the past 10 years and just visited Australia to showcase his all-new XJ flagship, which steps right away from anything which has previously worn the brand's leaper mascot. "I didn't want to be a slave to heritage," he says simply.Callum believes good design is simple but incredibly difficult, elegant and timeless, but also challenging and filled with tiny little details. He is rare among designers because he backs his promises with commitment and talent, and is also happy to give an opinion.So, then, how does he judge the work from some of his rivals? Surprisingly, Callum is happy to go on the record with a simple tick-or-cross verdict on the latest designs in showrooms.Here are his ratings: Aston Martin Rapide - tickAudi A5 - tickBMW GT - two crossesBMW X6 - crossFerrari F458 Italia - tickHSV EII Commodore - tickLexus LFA - tickMercedes E-Class - crossMercedes SLS Gullwing - crossNissan GT-R - crossPorsche Panamera - crossRolls-Royce Ghost - tickToyota Prius - tickVolkswagen Golf - tick