Porsche Panamera ‘Lion’ Trying to Smash Nurburgring Record?

The last few months, a somewhat modified Porsche Panamera Turbo has been seen accelerating around the Nurburgring. From there came the signal of an upcoming refresh, but another appearance over a week ago has made us think that there’s something more to it.

our curiosity has become even more provoked following a report from GTspirit.com claiming that what Porsche has been doing is more than just normal testing, but rather an attempt to break a speed record at the Nurburgring, which is quite fascinating to hear.

According to the publication, Porsche has a small team tasked to work on the Panamera ‘Lion’. This model is built to show off the saloon’s potential on a racetrack. If this is indeed what they’re doing, then the process most likely involves laying down the fastest lap for a sedan on the Nurburgring.

The performance-oriented Panamera is said to weigh 550 pounds less than the standard model after having its internal panel, soundproofing material, sound system, and seats removed from the interior.

For the driver and passenger, there are a dedicated racing seat and a passenger seat derived from the 718 Cayman, respectively. The publication doesn’t say anything about the back seat, but since this car is very focused on performance, we think the back seat has been stripped as well.

The Panamera packs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that has been modified to make 750 horsepower. In addition, it rides on sticky road-legal Michelin tires. The vehicle is said to solely rely on its internal combustion engine for propulsion, meaning that this is not a hybrid machine.

Lastly, the report claims that Porsche has completed the best lap time of 7 minutes 11 seconds, which so far is still unofficial, of course, since Porsche still hasn’t confirmed this news. But if it’s legit, then the German carmaker might already have what it takes to break the sedan record.

Given the major interior overhaul and the power bump, though, we think it’s still too early for Porsche to smash any production record, except if the company makes a production version of this special Panamera in a limited number. But even if they do that, it would result in a very strange model with only two seats and zero interior features.

Source: GTspirit.com