Porsche Personalization adds Power and Pizazz to Panamera

[OmarKareem]

Porsche has prided itself with developing a high-performance four-door which left no compromises to their legendary 911 sports car in performance and quality. As automotive press and the first owners got their hands on the Porsche Panamera late last year, the German sports car builder was satisfied that real-world reviews have validated their creation of the more passenger-friendly Porsche. A less turbulent launch than the Cayenne, Porsche has awarded sports car fans entering 2011 with a lower-priced, V-6 powered Panamera variant as well as a special factory opportunity to tune the vehicle. Under the Panamera Personalization Program, a new level of four-door Porsche excitement can be explored

Starting with the new Sport Design Package, the exterior enhancements comes as either the Porsche Exclusive or Porsche Tequipment upgrade available on any model of the Panamera lineup. Both upgrades add an unique front fascia, side skirts and rear diffuser for an individualized look from the stock Porsche Panamera. With the factory-approved body kit, set of light alloy 20-inch multi-spoke Panamera Sport wheels can be added with the Sport Design Package. Offered in the colours GT Silver Metallic and Black, the Porsche Exclusive-fitted Panameras can opt for the wheels to match the body colour

The crown to the Panamera Personalization Program is a Panamera Turbo Powerkit. Available only on the twin-turbocharged 4.8 liter V-8 powerplants, the package replaces the factory turbocharger units with two enhanced turbochargers equipped with titanium aluminum turbine blades. Coupled with performance-centered engine management, the Panamera Turbo Powerkit fitnesses an additional 40 horsepower bringing engine strength to 540 horsepower. Producing a peak of 553 foot pounds of torque (a 37 foot-pound improvement over Porsche’s production Panamera Turbo), a Sport Plus mode can elevate torque to an eye-popping 590 pounds feet. When the Sport Plus mode is combined with the Powerkit, acceleration picks up by 0.1 seconds from 0-62 miles per hour equating to a 3.9 second total time. Not really the punch some tuners would like to see from the 540 horsepower Porsche, the Powerkit does not reduce fuel economy which still maintains miles per gallon within 15 city and 23 highway

Along with releasing details of the package, Porsche was nice enough to provide a rather handy piece of information in the form of the American pricing. Spending at least $75,000 for the V-6-powered base Porsche Panamera or over $130,000 for a Panamera Turbo, buyers would have to add $4,590 for the Sport Design Package. The side skirts are offered separately at $1,390 in cases where the wallet is light. For the top-rated Porsche Panamera Turbo Powerkit, $21,730 must be added to the already priciest invoice