Just a couple of months remain before Porsche finally unveils the facelifted Panamera. But it won't be just a simple refresh. The executive sedan will premiere, among others, a new Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) gearbox. Here's the gist of it.
The all-new Porsche Panamera entered the last stages of development before the all-new Panamera could be deemed worthy of public launch. The marque is fine-tuning every little thing that might need attention before the sedan is released into the wild.
A fleet of prototypes is now in Barcelona, Spain. These cars will travel extensively in the next few weeks. Drivers will collect data, engineers will analyze it, and any needed fixes or adjustments will be performed before the vehicle gets the green light to reach customers.
Porsche is concentrating on the drivetrain because the executive sedan will debut a new PDK gearbox and a revamped chassis with active damper control. That matters a lot for the VW group because a variation of the new air suspension system will also be found on the next-gen Bentley Continental.
The German automaker is ensuring the upcoming Panamera will keep passengers comfortable on almost all road surfaces. The new suspension system should be capable of making even more adjustments every second to ensure an all-around smoother ride.
The high-end body system will be optional, but Porsche says it will be worth it because it encompasses new functions and allows the vehicle to transform from a lofty glider into a sporty machine. The sedan will feature a semi-active chassis with new two-valve shock absorbers as standard.
The German marque did not expand on what the new PDK will be able to do. We suspect that the enhanced hybridization led to electrification becoming a bigger part of how the redesigned gearbox will work.
Photo: Porsche
A new, more powerful electric motor is integrated into the transmission housing connected to a 25.9-kWh high-voltage battery. The 11-kW onboard charger ensures that customers will be able to replenish the energy storage unit faster than before. It should take around three hours at the most.
Porsche is preparing four E-Hybrid Panamera versions, and one will feature "a state-of-the-art focus on sustainable drivetrains and efficiency." That may sound exciting, but what got us going was the high-performance electrified model that will join the roster. We could see the powertrain from the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid crammed into the all-new Panamera.
The iconic brand says it's increasing the car's electrical performance while also focusing on driving dynamics. It underlined that testing happened mostly without turning on the internal combustion engine.
Before arriving in Barcelona, the 2024 Porsche Panamera visited the US for high- and low-altitude testing, Scandinavia to check the vehicle's behavior in cold environments, South Africa for challenging road conditions, and some parts of Asia to verify how it handles crowded urban areas, humid air, and getting stuck in traffic jams.
The 2024 Porsche Panamera will debut at the Porsche Festival in Dubai, on November 24.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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