The Hunchback of Stuttgart is getting its own 29 MPG, 300 HP, direct-injection V6. Hey, if high-output V6 engines are good enough for the Camaro and Mustang, they must be good enough for the Porsche Panamera, right? Wrong.
For 2010, the Panamera will get a putative poor-people option — a tweaked version of the Cayenne's direct-injection 3.6-liter V6 making 300 HP and 294 lb-ft of torque packaged with Porsche's PDK double clutch automatic. Only the PDK double clutch auto. In two-wheel-drive form it'll return 30.4 MPG and in the Panamera 4 with all-wheel drive expect 29.4 MPG (25 MPG in a combined Euro cycle). For those keeping track, and to point out how insane Porsche is for building a V6-engined version of the Panamera — and thus destroying the only positive of the large-rear-end four-door Porsche, here's how the Panamera breaks down against the latest crop of American pony-car V6s.
Porsche claims a curb weight of 3,814 lbs including a 66 lb reduction from the engine alone, but the total figure isn't specifically tied to the two- or all-wheel-drive model. Considering it's a Porsche, we're a bit disappointed with the output on this mill.
Let's face the facts — given the Panamera V6 starts at $74,900 and the V8-engined S starts a touch under $90,000 — what kind of person buys the V6? It's not like there's a slew of sorta-rich folks out there who want to look like they can drive a $90K car but only have $75K to spend. Is Porsche now building cars for the Jersey-bound wife of the one I-banker who didn't get a bonus this year? Wait, don't answer that. It'll just make us cry.