Rumors: 2016 Porsche Panamera Spied Testing

At the Paris Auto Show in 2012, Porsche showed off the Sport Turismo Concept which was more or less a Panamera with a more wagon-like silhouette. The Sport Turismo Concept was met with high praise, along with an overall sense of curiosity regarding why Porsche didn’t design the Panamera that way to begin with. Most assumed that the Sport Turismo Concept served as a harbinger of what to expect from the second generation Panamera. However, if these spy photos are any indicator, the general aesthetic of the new Panamera lineup appears to be less sweeping than many had anticipated. But that doesn’t mean the Sport Turismo is out of the game.

The intrepid spy photographers at CAR snapped these images of the 2016 Panamera out testing with minimal camouflaging, showing that the second generation model will carry a much less altered appearance than many had expected, though the changes that are there seem to indicate a beneficial nip and tuck treatment is well underway.

The second generation Panamera is expected be available in three body styles – the standard five-door coupe, a long wheelbase version of the five-door coupe, and the SportTurismo shooting brake shape seen in the concept, which still provides some hope that at least some of the striking lines seen in 2012 might actually land in showrooms at some point.

Underpinning the new car is an all-new modular platform with more engineering flexibility that should – among other things – allow for diesel powertrains to play nice with all-wheel drive. Hybrid powertrains, including a pair of V6 and V6 diesel hybrid plugins with a total output of 434 hp and 366 hp respectively, are expected to be part of the expansion.

In terms of standard gas-powered engines, a 2.9-liter V6 making 420 horsepower, a 3.6-liter twin turbocharged V6 generating approximately 500hp and a range-topping 4.0-liter V8 should offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 horsepower are all swirling around the rumor mill.

We’ll have more on the 2016 Porsche Panamera as details roll out over the coming months.