2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo spied at Nurburgring
Is the Porsche Panamera at the Nordschleife to reclaim its status as the fastest four-door to lap the famous circuit?
An updated Porsche Panamera Turbo has been caught on camera at the Nurburgring undergoing some hot laps.
In 2016 a Panamera Turbo broke the Nurburgring lap-record for a production four-door sedan (with a time of 07 minutes, 38 seconds).
However, Porsche lost the bragging rights just three months later when an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio shaved off six seconds (with a time of 07 minutes, 32 seconds).
According to our photographer at the Nurburgring, unofficial reports suggest Porsche was there to reclaim its lap record.
“A rumour hit our ears that Porsche was up to something with the updated Porsche Panamera Turbo,” our spy agency wrote to us in an email.
“There were some quick laps before we got there and after that the Porsche Panamera was doing a slow lap together with a photo car in order to shoot some on-track photos, and that’s where we shot our photos.”
It is unknown how quickly the Porsche lapped the Nordschleife, or if it broke any records.
Reports in 2019 claimed Porsche was working on a lightweight update of the Panamera dubbed “Lion".
It is unclear if these new photographs show that version of the car, although the image below reveals it is still wearing some form of mild disguise in the upper grille, behind the number plate.
The showroom standard Panamera Turbo has a 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 that produces 404kW and 770Nm.
Australian pricing starts from $391,700 plus on road costs.
Watch the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio's 2016 sedan lap record below.
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