First look: Porsche produces Panamera V6

PORSCHE’S first in-house V6 will power the six-cylinder version of the German’s sportscar brand’s Panamera grand tourer when it goes on sale in the US, UK and Australia in June, priced from about $192,000 here.

As expected, the new entry-level version of Porsche’s first four-door sedan will be available in both standard rear-drive guise, simply dubbed the Panamera, as well as in optional all-wheel drive form, labelled the Panamera 4.

Due to make its global public premiere at the Beijing motor show on April 23, the V6-engined Panamera will join the V8-powered rear-drive Panamera S (which is priced at $270,200 in Australia), the AWD V8-motivated Panamera 4S ($282,400) and the AWD twin-turbo V8 Panamera Turbo ($364,900), all of which went on sale here in October last year.

The forthcoming Panamera Hybrid, which is likely to come with the same hybrid drive system as this year’s all-new Cayenne Hybrid - which runs Audi’s new supercharged 3.0-litre petrol V6, assisted by an electric motor – is expected to complete the four-door Panamera line-up in 2011. Two-door coupe and convertible derivatives are tipped to follow.

As the first images show, the most basic Panamera should come with a standard equipment list similar to the existing Panamera range, including Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) damping control. Air suspension will be optional, however.

Most significant, however, is the fact that unlike the most affordable variant of the current and upcoming second-generation Cayenne SUV range, which will make its world debut at the Geneva motor show on March 2 before going on sale here in July, the entry-level Panamera will not be powered by a Volkswagen V6.

The brand-new 3.6-litre 90-degree Porsche V6 is effectively a six-cylinder version of the V8 fitted to the Panamera and Cayenne, and is also built at Porsche’s engine plant in Zuffenhausen.

It is claimed to be about 30kg lighter than the 4.8-litre V8 found in the Panamera S and 4S, reducing the least expensive Panamera model’s kerb weight to 1730kg.



Fitted with direct fuel-injection (DFI), performance outputs are stated at 220kW (300hp) of power and 400Nm of torque – up from 213kW and 385Nm for the Cayenne’s current 3.6-litre petrol V6 and down 100Nm on Porsche’s naturally aspirated V8, which delivers 294kW in the current Panamera S, 283kW in the Cayenne S and 298kW in the Cayenne GTS.

Like the Panamera V8s – but unlike the petrol V6 and other engines in the Cayenne range - the Panamera V6 will come standard with Porsche’s double-clutch PDK automated manual transmission, and also comes standard with an automatic idle-stop system to reduce fuel consumption.

Porsche has revealed no acceleration figures for the Panamera V6, which goes on sale in Europe in May, but says the rear-drive version will return New European Driving Cycle economy of just 9.3 litres per 100km (down from 10.8L/100km for the Panamera S), while the Panamera 4 will return 9.6L/100km – down from 11.1L/100km for the Panamera 4S.

In economy-conscious Europe, the Panamera V6, which meets strict EU5 and US LEV emissions standards, will be available with the option of 19-inch low rolling resistance ‘all-year’ tyres, which are claimed to further reduce fuel consumption (by 0.2L/100km) and CO2 emissions - the latter to 213 grams per kilometre (220g/km for the Panamera 4).