Porsche: 2009 Panamera and that's it! for 5 yrs

[MotoSook]

At the end of the press conference, the current CEO and president of Porsche, Dr Wendelin Wiedeking, stressed two points about the company. First, other than the introduction of the 4-door Panamera sedan in 2009, there will be no new Porsche models over the next five years.

Also, Dr Wiedeking claims that Porsche will never build a modern version of a classic model like Ford did with the GT or Chevy with the Camaro. I guess building the same model since 1964, the 911, allows Porsche to keep the retro card firmly in hand.



I don't know if this is news, but it looks like we'll be set for the next five years.

[Jim Richards]

Hmmm, so no Porsche mini-van or p/u truck? I'm aghast!

[Rick Lee]

I think it's outrageous that Porsche even calls their later water pumpers "911's". What can't they change and still call it a 911? I guess they might never put the engine upfront, but that's about it. I have a fantasy about them doing a retro real 911 with some modern engineering features and also BMW redoing the 2002 or 3.0CS.

[Jeff Higgins]

I think if Porsche made the Cayman their new flagship, putting all the power of a 911 in it in its various guises, racing it in GT classes around the world, etc. they could back out of the current 911 platform. Then re-introduce the 911 as their "bottom of the range" car, priced below the Boxster. Back-to-basics air cooled, no frills, ala the Lotus Esprit, but the Porsche interpretation of it. I would buy one tomorrow.

[pwd72s]

The bean counters rule Porsche. They'll do whatever they think makes a fast buck. For sure, it's not kindly ol' Ferry running the show these days.

[Jim Richards]

I keep hearing that air-cooled and clean emissions don't play together. If that's the case, we'll never see another aircooled Porsche and we'll have to eventually accept that fact. Oh well.

In my mind, the Cayman S is the retro 911, smaller and lighter than the bloated Carreras.

[HardDrive]

Air coolers are also quite loud. It would be near impossible to make one with acceptable noise levels for modern standards.

[VaSteve]

Someone recently told me that, yeah, noise emissions are part of the whole emissions picture. I personally wouldn't want cars to be too quiet, as a pedestrain that is.

[Eric P]

Originally posted by pwd72s
The bean counters rule Porsche. They'll do whatever they think makes a fast buck. For sure, it's not kindly ol' Ferry running the show these days.

Frankly, if the bean counters help Porsche make money and prevent them from being sold to Ford/Chrysler/GM/etc., so be it. Let the Bean Counters rule.

[pwd72s]

I have no choice but to let it be. Really, the only choice we have is whether to buy the product or not. When it comes to the new Porsches, I choose not. You may choose to...it's okay by me.

[Aerkuld]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
Hmmm, so no Porsche mini-van or p/u truck? I'm aghast!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

[Racerbvd]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
Hmmm, so no Porsche mini-van or p/u truck? I'm aghast!

[the]

Originally posted by Eric P
Frankly, if the bean counters help Porsche make money and prevent them from being sold to Ford/Chrysler/GM/etc., so be it. Let the Bean Counters rule.

Why?

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by Racerbvd

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! A Porsche p/u truck. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Icemaster]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
I keep hearing that air-cooled and clean emissions don't play together.

Why?

I'd really like to know why one can't make an air-cooled car that would meet todays emmissions standards.

As for too much noise, c'mon.....

[the]

Originally posted by Icemaster
Why?

I'd really like to know why one can't make an air-cooled car that would meet todays emmissions standards.

As for too much noise, c'mon.....

I'm sure there are a lot of technical reasons involving carefully controlling cylinder and combustion chamber temperatures, running at certain mixture levels, etc. that are incompatible with air-cooled and the very, very low emissions required today. Hopefully someone can explain the details.

But I remember reading an interview with Porsche or one of the top engineers back in the late 90s (I think it was in Panorama). As I recall he mentioned smog and noise, but also said a major reason was the need to go to 4 valve heads for power and efficiency. He said they couldn't run 4 valve aircooled heads, needed to be watercooled to work.

I think he did also mention noise. Remember, they can't make drastically different cars for all markets. Apparently there are several Euro countries that have very strict noise limits, and they expected those limits to get even stricter. Air cooled by nature is louder, with the fan noise and the lack of water jackets to insulate noise.

[drauz]

"For sure, it's not kindly ol' Ferry running the show these days."
I suggest you read his autobiography. He was a hard-nosed profit-oriented industrialist, as much as he was a driving and competition enthusiast. Rather than pine for the good old days, we might accept that the way PAG is today is at least partly due to the corporate culture imparted by Ferry, back in the day. You know, companies evolve, as does the world around them.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by drauz
"For sure, it's not kindly ol' Ferry running the show these days."
I suggest you read his autobiography. He was a hard-nosed profit-oriented industrialist, as much as he was a driving and competition enthusiast. Rather than pine for the good old days, we might accept that the way PAG is today is at least partly due to the corporate culture imparted by Ferry, back in the day. You know, companies evolve, as does the world around them.

drauz...it's called sarcasm? My biggest reason for pining for the good old days is because of the homogenization of today's cars...they all tend to look like rolling jelly beans with fat rear ends...all look alike to me. Check out the side view of a BMW, then an Accura...Hell, a Corvette is more distinctive than what passes for a 911 these days. Perhaps this is dictated by wind tunnel, perhaps because of fashion fads. I do miss the days when a Porsche looked like a Porsche, and a Chevy looked like a Chevy....

[drauz]

gotcha, good point, today's cars are homogenized and getting hybridized to boot. the Japanese build derivatives, as always, while the Euros thrash between new-for-the-sake-of-it (ala Bangle), retro without soul and some real efforts at creating desirable cars. Porsche? I think a 997 sitting next to a '65 901/911 reveals shared DNA. I don't mistake a 997 or Boxster/Cayman for another manufacturer's product. I like the GT, GT2 and GT3 for their design, performance and meaning. All I have to complain about is price, I guess. Maybe I'm self-brainwashed.

I miss the old days, too. That's why I own old Porsches. But in the dark days of the mid 70s to early 80's, I could not imagine the selection and performance levels now on the market - or the boring experience I have when driving many of them.

[EdT82SC]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
I think if Porsche made the Cayman their new flagship, putting all the power of a 911 in it in its various guises, racing it in GT classes around the world, etc. they could back out of the current 911 platform. Then re-introduce the 911 as their "bottom of the range" car, priced below the Boxster. Back-to-basics air cooled, no frills, ala the Lotus Esprit, but the Porsche interpretation of it. I would buy one tomorrow.

Nah. The profit is in luxury cars. There wouldn't be much volume in a stripped car. Maybe if they had a delete option for package for weight savings that might work.

I think they should offer all of their engine combinations on both platforms. So you want the twin turbo engine in the Cayman? No problem! Of course you don't get just the twin turbo engine on the twin turbo Cayman. There are lots of other spendy upgrades in brakes, suspension, wheels, stability management, etc.