Porsche Panamera

Porsche used to have one solid philosophy, build sport cars that are not only fast but also take the whole sports car scene to a whole new level. The Porsche 911 is arguably the best Sports Car of all time. However due to their success with the Boxster and now the Porsche Cayenne, Porsche has realized that the rich and wealthy would rather have a 911 Porsche AND another day to day Porsche instead of buying from one of the other German or Italian manufacturers. So Porsche started working on the Panamera:

The Four Door, Four Seater Porsche will further emphasis Porsche as a car manufacturer for all sorts of cars. Seen by many Purists as an act to simply increase Porsche’s revenue, the Panamera has not been welcomed with open arms from all car enthusiasts. Here at Car Advice we can’t say we are that keen on the Panamera however if it helps keep Porsche alive, then by all means let those who already have a 911 spend some more money. Besides if it means one less Porsche Cayenne on the road, its for the best.

Powered by a slightly upgraded 4.5L V8 engine which also powers the Porsche Cayenne, power output is expected to range from 350 horsepower to 500 given the different engine variants including a Turbo version. There is also some talk of the all to famous Porsche V10 from the Carrera GT powering the Panamera.

The car will go up against the Astin Martin Rapid, Mercedes Benz CLS and Maserati Quattroporte. Expect to see the car released mid 2008. Lack availability will probably push the Australian release date to the beginning of 2009.