Redeveloped. Rethought. Realigned: The new Porsche Panamera Turbo

The lap time of the new Porsche Panamera Turbo on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife 7.38 min

The new Porsche Panamera reconciles two contrasting characteristics more than ever before: the performance of a genuine sports car and the comfort of a luxury saloon. It is a Gran Turismo that has been rethought and realigned.

The second generation of the Panamera is advancing to become a performance icon of the luxury class. In this transformation, Porsche has systematically improved the Panamera concept – with a four-door car that has been redeveloped and redesigned down to the last detail. Its engines and transmissions have been redesigned, its chassis perfected, and its display and control concept reinterpreted for the future.

The new Panamera also extends the borders between the world of ambitious sports cars and the world of comfortable cruising cars with highlights such as rear axle steering, active roll compensation and three-chamber air suspension.

The top-of-the-line Panamera Turbo model features a twin-turbo V8 engine featuring twin-scroll turbochargers and VarioCam Plus. Its 4.0-litre engine reaches a peak power of 550 hp and maximum torque of 770 Nm. The eight-cylinder accelerates the Panamera Turbo from a standstill to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, with the Sport Chrono Package, its sprint time is 3.6 seconds. This Porsche has a top speed of 306 km/h.

The new eight-cylinder engines have a longitudinally-mounted V-engine design with a cylinder bank angle of 90 degrees. The four intake and exhaust camshafts can each be adjusted 50 degrees and are chain driven. The dominant technical characteristics exhibited by the V8 twin-turbo direct petrol injection engines are their new charging concept (central turbo layout), injectors located centrally in the combustion chamber, nearly wear free coating of the cylinder linings and cylinder deactivation.

These are technical features that have definite effects. Take the example of the Panamera Turbo: although its peak power has been increased by 30 hp and its torque by 70 Nm, its fuel economy is 10 per cent better.

Cylinder deactivation

The Panamera Turbo has the first Porsche engine to be equipped with a new adaptive cylinder control system. The system makes the eight-cylinder engine a four-cylinder engine in part-load operation: temporarily and imperceptible to the driver. The results: fuel economy has been improved by up to 30 per cent in the four cylinder phases, depending on power demand

Compact package

A high-priority aspect of the eight-cylinder engine is its compact construction; the aluminium engines are also up to 9.5 kilograms lighter than their predecessors. The weight reduction was achieved by various design measures. For instance, the high strength aluminium cylinder crankcase with its bearing cover weighs just 39.1 kilograms – this represents a weight reduction of 6.7 kilograms or 14.6 per cent compared to the comparable 4.8-litre engine of the previous model. Since every gram counts, every component was also analyzed and made lighter if possible. Also having a positive influence on mounting space and weight are the central turbo layout and a 0.8-litre reduction in engine displacement.

The progress that has been made is all the more noteworthy, because the maximum specific power of the new 4.0-litre V8 is much higher than that of the 4.8-litre V8. The new engine of the Panamera Turbo, for instance, has a specific power of 137.5 hp per liter; this figure was 108.3 hp/l in the previous model.

Central turbo layout

The new V8 petrol engines of the Panamera exhibit exceptional agility right up into high rev and power regions. At the same time, the eight-cylinder engines already produce their maximum torque at very low revs. This type of sports car dynamic is largely attributable to the central turbo layout that is a new conceptualization of twin-turbo charging that is being used in all models.

Every Porsche must fulfil the requirement of reliable operation under racetrack driving conditions. Naturally, this represents a very challenging stress test. The new Porsche Panamera meets this challenge impressively.

The Porsche Panamera Turbo even makes it possible to drive on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with its numerous bends and rapidly changing heights with extreme lateral acceleration.

The car’s measured lap time of 7 minutes 38 seconds demonstrates this impressively and makes the new Panamera Turbo the fastest luxury saloon on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife by far.

For more information, contact Porsche Philippines at 7270381 or visit its showroom at Greenhills, Global City, Alabang and SM Seaside City Cebu.