The second generation of the four-door coupe (or Gran Turismo, as Porsche calls it) from Stuttgart that isn’t a Mercedes-Benz is currently undergoing testing in an undisclosed location. By the looks of it, in terms of design, there seems to be very few new features to report.
It’s pretty difficult to decide whether the Panamera is a direct competitor of the S-Class or, more likely, the smaller CLS-Class. It’s probably neither and the four door coupe from Porsche sits tightly right in between these two regarding size and – more or less – pricing.
This next Panamera is scheduled for a 2016 launch but by the looks of it, the car seems to be pretty much in the final stages of its development. The body appears to be almost identical to that of the current generation so it might be the case that Porsche is only testing some features of the new car using a mule with the old body. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking and Porsche is really only going for minute changes to the exterior design of the car.
Reports are saying that the biggest transformation will occur… well, in the biggest part of the car, that is its behind. The porky Panamera is said to be shedding anywhere near 100 kg thanks to lighter materials which will be used for the new version.
The new engines we’ve already seen on the recently launched Cayenne facelift will also make their way under the bonnet of the future Porsche Panamera. These include the new V6 turbo petrol engine in the S, the modified turbo V8 in the Turbo, the more potent V6 diesel in the S Diesel and the hybrid powertrain for the S Hybrid version.
While the actual diet programme will undoubtedly help the handling of the future Porsche Panamera, what we would have liked to see is something done about the chubby looks. Well, good thing there are other choices out there.
*** In the main image is the current Porsche Panamera Turbo S