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The car that Porsche once said it would never build is doing endurance tests on the Nurburgring race circuit in Germany in preparation for its expected unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show next March.
The four-seater Panamera coupe is pictured here on its way to the circuit's main entrance.
The exclusive NZ Herald photos were taken this week by German spy agency Automedia, which described the prototype test car as being almost "production-ready".
The Panamera picks up trademark design elements from the evolutionary rear-engined Porsche 911 and mid-engined Boxster, both two-door flyers. But the four-door will have its engine in the front, a first for Porsche since the V8-powered 928 of 1978-95.
Panamera buyers are likely to have three direct-injection engine options: an entry-level 225kW 3.5-litre V6; a 260kW 4.8-litre V8; and a 415kW twin-turbo 4.8-litre V8.
The boosted model will be aimed mostly at the $259,900 Mercedes-Benz/AMG CLS 63, among others.
The twin-turbo Porsche V8 has around 40kW more muscle than the 6.2-litre V8 in the CLS 63, a power advantage that Porsche will highlight in the marketplace.
But should AMG up the output ante, Porsche is likely to retaliate with another Panamera engine option: the 520kW V10 unit from the limited-edition Carrera GT.
Porsche has said the Panamera will be a true sportscar, but with four full seats, easy access to the rear and a luggage compartment of around 450 litres.
It aims to sell 20,000 units in 2009, its first year of production. Thereafter, Porsche is looking at sales of 100,000 a year.
Meanwhile, the Porsche they call the "widowmaker" will be back on the market in New Zealand next year, bristling with technology that makes it the fastest production-line 911 model ever built.
The 1440kg GT2 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine producing 390kW (530bhp) at 6500 rpm and 680Nm of torque at between 2200 and 4500 rpm.
This unit, equipped with variable turbine technology, drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Porsche says the GT2 sprints from zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 329km/h (204mph).
It says the car has logged average town and around fuel use in tests in Germany of 12.5 litres/100 km (22.6mpg).
Porsche says that for the first time it has combined a turbocharged engine with an expansion-type intake manifold, described as "a genuine revolution on turbocharged power units".
The company says the technology uses the principle of oscillating air in the intake manifold during the cooler expansion phase, therefore keeping the temperature of the fuel/air mixture lower than in the 911 Turbo and increasing all-round efficiency.
The 911 GT2 is also the first Porsche homologated for the road to feature a rear silencer and tailpipes made of lightweight titanium, which reduces weight of exhaust components to 9kg, or 50 per cent less than a stainless steel system.
Included as standard is the electronically controlled Porsche Active Suspension Management system. This is stability technology designed to help the careless driver from sticking the car in the trees. The previous GT2 didn't have it, one of the reasons why it was dubbed the "widowmaker."
The GT2 is expected to land here in March, priced at around $475,000, or roughly $250,000 more than the standard 911.
