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Porsche Testing Next-Gen Engines for 2017 Panamera

This next video shows Porsche engineers taking to the Nurburgring track in Germany behind the wheel of a Panamera sedan with ill-fitting exhaust. It's most likely a mule for the next generation of the car, expected to come out in early 2017. To be more precise, the prototype is likely an engine testbed.
2016/2017 Porsche Panamera Test Mule 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
This video was shot on March 27th by TouriClips and released today. It clearly shows a V6 model from the sound of things. When it's ready for production, the second generation of the luxury sports sedan is believed to be the recipient of brand new V6 and V8 engines.

We believe the V6 model will remain a 3-liter, since this is the ideal thermal efficiency for a 6-cylinder engine. Porsche has just launched such an engine on the 2014 Panamera, replacing the 4.8-liter V8 in S and 4S models. However, there could be a number of areas where improvements are to be made, like fuel injection, energy management and of course turbocharging.

The V8, on the other hand, could drop in size to 4.4-liters or even smaller. All mills will be common to the new MSB platform, which means they would be shared by other models as well. With this architecture, the company is hoped to drop about 200 pounds (90 kg). It's not a lot for something that weights the best part of 2 tons, but on luxury cars there's not a lot you do to heavy electric-everything seats or the other creature comforts.

Porsche has been working with the MSB platform since 2012 and it's currently believed to be unique to the brand. Audis will almost certainly never get it, but Bentley's next-generation Continental and Flying Spur models might if VW higher-ups decided so.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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