It took more than 50 legendary Porsche cars, two insane helicopter pilots and 36,000 feet of asphalt to make the Porsche Panamera family tree commercial. But it seems to be worth it as Porsche gets its message across that although the Panamera might be a sedan, it’s nothing sedate - fully participating in the Porsche sports tradition.

The “family tree making of” video is as much as a commercial as the finished product, but I like it. And we’ve seen enough videos to be convinced that the Panamera can drive as good as most others in the Porsche family. See the making of video above, and the full family tree commercial after the jump.

Continue reading: Porsche Panamera family tree commercial and making of video

The Porsche Panamera is better than a Mercedes S-Class and Bentley Continental, and is just like driving the sedan version of the Porsche 911 Turbo, according to Fifth Gear. I must say, this Panamera Turbo is very sexy in white and being a girl myself, I’m quite jealous that Vicky gets to take a spin. The handling is lovely, the speed and power impressive for a car of this size and weight, and overall, it’s far more exciting than you’d expect from any other luxury sedan. “Sexy”, “super-racy” and “super-quick” and at 500 hp, you’d believe all of that, too. If I was very very rich, with a couple of kids, I think I would just about purchase this…

Continue reading: Fifth Gear Porsche Panamera Turbo video

The 10,000th Porsche Panamera has rolled off the production line, and if yours is not exclusive enough already, you could think about doing a few modifications to make it more exciting. This SpeedART Panamera turbo tuning was presented at the Essen show, and is called the PS9-650. The sedan has both body kit and engine modifications, with an increase to 650 hp and 890 Nm of torque.

This has been achieved thanks to changes to the turbine and intercooler system, new aspiration system and exhaust with bypass valves. Engine mapping was also modified, with the Panamera now having a top speed of over 320 km/hr and acceleration to 100 km/hr in 3.5 seconds. If 650 hp is too much for you to handle, other power steps of 520, 550 and 600 hp are available.

Aerodynamics and the body kit get a new look with new bumpers and side skirts, and a rear wing and extractor. The Panamera tuning includes 22-inch wheels and air vents in the bonnet. On the inside, we get coloured carbon fibre finishes, three spoke steering wheel and PDK paddle shift.

Continue reading: SpeedART Panamera tuning: PS9-650 pics

If you thought about 60 years of Porsche legends and icons, you might not put the Panamera on your list just yet. This new Panamera US commercial suggests otherwise, with the ad celebrating 60 years of Porsche tradition and its world famous status, finishing with the Panamera. So far the model has showed signs of success so at least the commercial shouldn’t be a flop in the future if sales are disappointing. But maybe the “legend” message should be left for the 911 at this early stage…

Continue reading: Porsche Panamera commercial: 60 years of Porsche legends

From today the Porsche Panamera gets its own debut at the Porsche Museum in an exhibition called “Panamera Moment”. It takes its name from a book recently dedicated to the first Porsche sedan ever built.

In addition to the Panamera itself, documents and memorabilia are on display that trace its story from the initial idea, through the development process, road tests and finally the market debut. The exhibition focuses on the technological innovation of the model and includes multimedia aspects. The exhibition, with the space seen in the photo above, will conclude on February 28 next year.

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The Auto Trophy 2009 awards have been given by Auto Zeitung after reader surveys of about 105,000 participants. Obviously the local German cars were very successful, with Audi taking home a total of 40 percent of votes across all categories, but there have been a couple of surprises, too.

A special mention goes to the Opel Astra for its quality-price ratio, while the new BMW 1 Series won the best advertising campaign award. Across the categories, readers voted on 370 different models in total. In the small car category, the Volkswagen Polo won with 32.9 percent, while for imported small cars the Fiat 500 won with 20.6 percent. Among the mid-size range was the Volkswagen Golf 6, and for imported cars in this category, the Skoda Octavia won a divided contest, with 18.5 percent of votes.

The mid-size, top range cars featured some of the larger German models, with the Audi A5 Sportback winning with 27.2 percent of votes, and the Volvo V70 winning in the imported category. The luxury category was dominated by the Mercedes E-Class with 42.7 percent of votes, while the Jaguar XF took the title for imported vehicles. Among the flagship models, the Porsche Panamera won and the Aston Martin Rapide won in the imported category with 33.7 percent.

Continue reading: Auto Zeitung Auto Trophy: SLS AMG top supercar

The Car of the Year prizes have been dominated by the Germans with many being awarded one of Autobild’s “Golden Steering Wheel” awards. The Porsche Panamera won the luxury car category, beating the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes S Class, while the medium to large sedan category was won by the Audi A5 Sportback, followed by the BMW 5-Series GT and the Mercedes E Class.

Among the compact class, a nice win for the new Opel Astra, beating the Skoda Yeti, which came in second ahead of the Renault Megane. In its sector, the Renault Scenic emerged ahead of the Toyota Verso and Peugeot 5008, and among the small cars the Volkswagen Polo won over the Citroen C3 and Hyundai i20. The Toyota Prius took out the ecological prize, followed by the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion and the Mercedes S400 Hybrid.

The supercar category was dominated by the new Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing, followed by the Audi R8 Spider and the Aston Martin One-77. The finalists for overall COTY are the Citroën C3 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz E-class, Opel Astra, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Yeti, Toyota iQ and Volkswagen Polo. Take your bets now…

Continue reading: Golden Steering wheel car of the year prizes: SLS AMG supercar of the year

Porsche has created this new Panamera commercial for the US market, though the spot goes beyond promoting just the four-door Porsche. All of the company’s important models, from road versions to race versions, appear briefly in the video, showing that the Panamera fits right in with the Porsche philosophy and style. Meaning that Porsche’s “family tree” reputation precedes it. Who knows how the Americans will welcome the new Porsche Panamera?

Continue reading: Porsche Panamera US commercial

From the 911 Sport Classic to the 911 Turbo and GT3 RS, the Porsche stand at the Frankfurt motor show had so much on display we hardly knew where to look. New Porsche president Michael Macht made the presentation to the press, with plenty of space dedicated to the Panamera as well.

The 911 Turbo coupe and cabrio were on show, equipped with the new 3.8-litre twin turbo engine with direct injection and 500 hp. PDK transmission is included with the welcome modification of steering wheel paddles and program options of Sport, Sport Plus and Launch Control indicated. New features such as Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) have also been developed. The 911 Turbo can be recognised by the new titanium air intakes on the front bumper, LED lights, larger exhaust and new alloy wheels.

The 911 GT3 RS with the 3.8-litre was also presented, along with the GT3 Cup 2010 and the 911 Sport Classic. The GT3 RS has 15 hp more than the GT3, taking total power to 450 hp, thanks to modifications to the air intake system and a lighter weight of 1,370 kg. It has a new aerodynamic kit, lighter door panelling, roll bar, titanium exhaust, PASM electronic suspension system, Porsche Stability Management system and new alloy wheels. Maximum torque is 430 Nm at 6,750 rpm and the GT3 RS is only available with manual gearbox.

In addition to all this, from 2010, Porsche is introducing new optionals, in the form of a lithium ion battery for track use, which reduces weight by ten kilograms compared to the conventional lead battery. Front tyre mechanisms also allow for raising the wheelbase and a larger fuel tank of 90 litres is also available. For the real die-hard sports fans, you can forego air conditioning and the radio and while Porsche has a luxury name in terms of cup holders, get the Panamera. You won’t find any of them on the GT3 RS.

Continue reading: Porsche stand at Frankfurt: live pics of 911 Turbo, GT3 RS and Sport Classic

Rumours say that Volkswagen will abandon future models of the Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera, as they remove SUV and sedan models from the Porsche line-up in favour of others in the VW brand portfolio.

This would see Porsche go back to its sports-car roots to the delight of Porsche purists, wanting to see Volkswagen do the boring stuff best, while leaving sports cars to Porsche speciality. I should imagine it’s all unlikely to happen; as Motor Authority points out that following the logic, all sports cars from the Volkswagen and Audi range would be removed due to a subsequent overlap with Porsche.

With a seven year lifespan of most vehicles, we’re not going to see anything drastic anytime soon. And should the Panamera prove to be a sales success, the Volkswagen Group will hardly shoot itself in the foot by removing it from the list. And there’s the intriguing possibilities of collaborative projects between the two brands, including roadster and spyder models. All will be revealed sometime in the future…

Continue reading: Volkswagen to sideline Cayenne and Panamera models

With this Panamera station wagon render could it be that the Porsche Panamera is becoming even more niche? Or is it leaving its self-made niche to join other niches? While this is likely to be a “fake” render and we don’t think we’ll see this in production anytime soon, Theophilus Chin has tried his hand anyway.

While I’m more convinced of a Panamera cabriolet, this is just plain ugly, to give my two cents. Surely there are limits to increasing sales figures? We’ll trust that Porsche keeps to its sports tradition and leaves this Panamera station wagon in the realms of web renders.

Source | Theophilus Chin

Continue reading: Porsche Panamera station wagon

German tuner 9ff has released these pics of its Porsche Panamera Turbo Tuning, with an even more extreme version of an already-fast Porsche. Horse power versions come in 550 hp (760 Nm of torque), 600 hp (800 Nm) and 650 hp (850 Nm).

Features include new turbo charging and exhaust system and some aesthetic touch-ups, like them or not. 22-inch alloy wheels complete the package.

Continue reading: Porsche Panamera Turbo tuning by 9ff