Porsche Panamera news - Deep Pan' - 2008

If you go and buy the new issue of Top Gear magazine that’s out on Thursday you’ll be able to get the full scoop on Porsche’s new super-saloon, but to whet your appetite here’s a quick run down…

For a start, it’s a four-seater, because the Panamera’s low and wide set-up helps with agility, so Porsche couldn’t run a middle rear seat above the transmission tunnel.

Power trains start with tweaked V8 and V8 Turbos from the Cayenne – the latter being a 500bhp, four-wheel drive with a 7-speed PDK gearbox – and then there’s the S and 4S with a 400bhp 4.8-litre V8.

A year or so after this, there will also be a 300bhp version, and a Panamera 4 that gets a 3.6-litre V6. There won’t be a diesel however, as a hybrid version of the V6 will be inserted instead – the same one that’ll be put in the Cayenne. It’ll help economy by 20%.

The body is made of steel with aluminium doors and bonnet, and design boss Michael Mauer says it’s obviously Porsche in looks because it has no predecessor so has to stake out its turf immediately.

The interior has a high centre console with all-new buttons that look very expensive, in a Vertu phone kind of way, and you can opt for a burr walnut dash if you so desire. Which says a lot about the expected customer doesn’t it?

We’re looking forward to the Turbo version mind, cos, apart from anything else, the rear spoiler raises up and then opens a pair of wings to extend the width.

We like.