The Next Panamera Turbo Will Lap the 'Ring Faster Than the Porsche Carrera GT
There's a lot of good news about the next-generation Porsche Panamera. The U.S. will get the wagon version (shown above is the 2012 Sport Turismo concept), which promises to both look amazing and be seriousy practical. And there's also a chance we'll get a coupe version that's sort of a 928 revival. But that's all just gravy, because according to Porsche's Panamera boss, the new sedan will be ridiculously fast.
During AutoCar's first-ride preview of the new Panamera, Gernot Dollner, Porsche's director of the Panamera model line, made the claim that the new Turbo would be quicker around the Nurburgring than the old Carrera GT-Porsche's supercar precursor to the 918 Spyder.
The current Panamera Turbo S is already one of the fastest sedans you can buy, but if Dollner's claim is accurate, the next-gen Panamera Turbo is going to be an absolute rocket.
The Carrera GT's Nurburgring lap record stands at just a shade under 7 minutes and 29 seconds, and Walter Rohrl reportedly did it in 7:28 flat. For comparison, that's faster than the Ferrari 458 Italia. For a full-size luxury sedan, that's absolutely ridiculous.
Obviously, we can't wait to drive it. This sounds like our kind of sports sedan.
