Dialog window has ended. Rear spoilers on each are retractable. The second edition of the GTS and Turbo cars extends further out.
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Is the supersaloon still Porsche’s ugly duckling despite the company’s unveiling of an all-new Panamera with the most awesome switchblade rear wing ever?
To say the Porsche Panamera isn’t particularly attractive would be an understatement. The same vehicle that Jeremy Clarkson described as “horrible comparable to a genital wart”
When it was first unveiled in 2009, the extended body of Porsche’s saloon resembled a hippopotamus in a crouch. Thus, there was undoubtedly opportunity for improvement in the new model that was unveiled this week.
While we would once more question its merits as a stylish vehicle, there is no denying that it features the most incredible rear wing design you will ever see.
The brand-new supersaloon is Porsche’s response to a four-door family vehicle. However, the front of the vehicle has a 540 horsepower twin-turbo V8, and the rear has a secret rear wing that deploys as it would in a Transformers movie.
A secret unfolding rear spoiler was previously a feature of the previous generation model, but Porsche’s upgrade has elevated it to new heights with a greater scale and Swiss Army Knife-like action.
The retractable wing of the supersaloon rises and extends like something out of an Iron Man or Transformers movie from a concealed panel on the rear lip above the tail lights.
Additionally, it is both functional and beautifully designed. It only functions in the 542bhp Turbo model and deploys like a robotic razorblade when the vehicle hits 80 mph. The additional downforce it produces forces the vehicle’s back wheels onto the pavement, allowing the driver to unleash all 542 of its roaring horses.
This is not a delicate design, but it is a resolved one that is imposing, robust, and well-detailed.
Although the Panamera has always been well-liked, its design hasn’t always been praised. Because it was built on the MSB platform, which was initially shared with the Bentley Continental and Flying Spur, this second-generation vehicle has a more appealing appearance, not just because of its more aesthetically acceptable proportions. With its sleek, rounded curves and full-width rear light bar, the second-generation Panamera served as a blueprint for many of Porsche’s later models, much like the inside.
All models come standard with a retractable rear wing, but GTS and Turbo S models enhance this to a three-piece folding design that is equally fun to observe in the rearview mirror as it is for drivers behind you.
Three basic style options are available, with the regular 4 and 4S versions sporting a straightforward, unadorned appearance. The front apertures on Turbo S versions are larger, and the standard double-bar running lights are present, along with a more forceful rear valance. However, the GTS, which comes with the basic Sport Design pack and has tinted lights all around, has the most aggressive appearance. Hybrid models are similar to pure IC models aside from the charge-point cap, but they have acid green elements on the badging and brake calipers.
Sport Turismo models use the same concepts to create a long, low estate-like body, despite the irony that the boot space between the two is identical on paper. Additionally, the Turbo and GTS models get a little active roof spoiler, giving it the appearance of an Integrale with a demon’s tail pointed straight up.
The updates made during its 2022 redesign were fairly mild, including new lower bumpers, fresh wheel options, and new rear lights with a more three-dimensional light bar. With paint-to-sample exterior options, a huge selection of interior and detail options, including gold wheels, black or carbonfibre body design, and even a full variety of stripe and decal kits, Porsche will happily allow you completely customize your Panamera.
But generally, especially when compared to the electric Taycan, we can’t help but note how dated the Panamera is starting to appear. Even though the Taycan’s electric vehicle (EV) base gives it a significantly distinct appearance from the larger Panamera, Porsche hopes to capitalize on this difference when the Panamera receives its next significant update in the upcoming 12 months with its minimalist detailing and narrow lighting.
Dynamic Rear Wing of the Porsche Panamera
There are a few intriguing features in the rear wing that deploys on the new Porsche Panamera sedan: Depending on speed, it alters its angle of attack, and on the Panamera Turbo, which is faster, it unfolds with two extensions that glide out like a casino dealer dealing cards.
The same thing applies to Porsches, spit wads, and airplanes. The four forces of flight—lift, drag, push, and weight—are what control all of these solid objects as they travel through the air.
Anything that has enough thrust will try to fly, and the 500 horsepower Panamera Turbo weighs 4400 pounds. The Panamera’s body is flat below and curved above, like to a small airplane wing. The body naturally produces lift as air flows around it, which is sufficient at high speeds to diminish traction and affect directional stability. Before the model added a rear wing, certain early first-generation Audi TTs proved to be excellent lift generators and waggled into guardrails.
In order to generate negative lift, the Panamera raises an upside-down wing from its tail. However, the drag produced by a wing reduces fuel economy. Porsche’s solution: Only produce the necessary amount of negative lift for a particular speed.
Up until 56 mph, the Panamera’s rear window’s lower portion is where the wing is stored. The wing deploys on motorized struts at that speed, moving up and out of the body’s low-pressure boundary layer and into the heavier air a few inches above, where it can obtain a good bite. It begins with a leading edge that is a little bit higher and an attack angle of -3 degrees.
The wing changes to an angle of +5 degrees (leading edge down) in the 400-hp Panamera S and 4S at 99 mph and +14 degrees at 127 mph. The wing of the Turbo, which has slightly blockier aerodynamics, unfolds with two extensions at 56 mph, increasing its surface area and providing more negative lift. The wing of the Turbo similarly begins at -3 degrees before accelerating to +10 degrees at 127 mph. The wing produces downforce in addition to less lift when traveling at high speeds.
Porsche predicts that a Panamera wing will spend the majority of its time folded or at its default angle, which produces only a little amount of negative lift without significantly changing the drag coefficient. At greater speeds, maintaining a precise, controlled trajectory is more crucial than having good fuel efficiency; this is true for Porsches as well as spit wads.
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Has the Porsche 911 always have spoilers?
Although the Porsche 911 wasn’t the first road car to have a rear wing or spoiler, it did contribute to the widespread use of these aerodynamic additions on production cars, beginning in 1973 with the storied Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS.
The original Rennsport’s rear spoiler, or “burzel,” was inspired by a ducktail and built to control the back of this 210-horsepower sports car and give Zuffenhausen an edge on the track. It was later modified into the “Mary Stuart” version seen on the factory 911 Carrera RSRs at Le Mans.
The whale tail, which was featured on the new 911 Carrera 3.0 RS and the first Porsche 911 Turbo, superseded the ducktail a year later and established a silhouette that would become a Seventies icon.
The whale tail would continue to be a part of the 911 family until 1989, continuing to be a standard feature on Sport-spec 911 SCs and 3.2 Carreras. Its broad rubber edge was intended to protect pedestrians.
As part of the 3.3-litre upgrade, the 930 would transition to the “tea tray” style in 1984. The upgraded forced induction flat six’s intercooler can fit inside the new spoiler’s raised edges, which were specifically intended for that purpose.
The Porsche 964 Turbo S would switch back to the whale tail design popular in the 1970s, although the tea tray wing would remain on the 911 Turbo throughout the 964 generation thanks to the 964 Turbo 3.3 and 3.6.
The basic Carrera was equipped with an electronic decklid spoiler that would extend upward at high speeds everywhere in the 964 range. Since then, every model of 911 Carrera has had it, all the way up to the most recent 991.2.
The 964 Carrera RS 3.8 featured a single-plane component supported between two swept back endplates, making it the first production 911 with a wing.
This would start a new Rennsport tradition, with the 911 GT3 RS variants using wings with inboard struts inspired by motorsport after the 993 Carrera RS (although in Clubsport form) received a monstrous wing with air intakes.
Are rear spoilers standard on all Porsches?
Dialog window has ended. Rear spoilers on each are retractable. The second edition of the GTS and Turbo cars extends further out.
What Porsche models have spoilers?
The Turbo S now has three adjustable components: a front lip spoiler, a rear wing, and flaps in front of the front radiators, allowing for a wide range of aerodynamic changes.
- The most advanced active aerodynamics for the Porsche 911 are found in the new 2021 911 Turbo S.
- A front spoiler, a rear wing, and flaps in front of the front radiators are three movable components that work together to provide a variety of speed and mode-based combinations.
- There is also a new air-brake feature that, during emergency braking, maximizes downforce at the front and rear parts to reduce stopping distances.
Since introducing the now-famous pop-up rear spoiler on its core sports-car line more than 30 years ago, a feature that has persisted in every generation of the 911 since, Porsche has been experimenting with active aerodynamics on the 911.
However, the Porsche 911 Turbo S has three moving parts and far more flexibility. Flaps in front of the radiators on either side of the front end can open and close, the electrically controlled rear wing can extend by up to 3.9 inches, and the front lip spoiler, which is made up of three separate sections, is extended into various configurations by the force of compressed air from a small onboard compressor.
Based on pace and the mode chosen, this creates a wide range of possibilities. As an illustration, in Normal mode, the front flaps are open at low speeds, controlled according to cooling requirements between 43 and 93 mph, and then opened again over 93 mph. Up until 112 mph, the rear wing does not expand. When the vehicle is in Sport mode, both the front and rear wings extend at 75 mph. The rear wing on a sport plus vehicle extends higher, tilts forward to its maximum angle at 9 mph, and dials back its angle just beyond 160 mph. Sport mode is where the said high speed of 205 mph is reached, while Sport plus offers the most downforce (up to 375 pounds) but a somewhat slower top speed of 198 mph. The rear wing extends while the front spoiler remains stationary in Wet mode in an effort to increase the force applied to the rear tires for stability.
Additionally, a new air-brake feature that expands the front spoiler and rear wing to their maximum-downforce settings during extreme braking reduces stopping distances.
The device also modifies the wing slightly in one of seven different locations in response to minute factors, such as whether a coupe’s sunroof is open or a convertible’s top is folded. For instance, the first level of wing extension on coupes is 2.0 inches and on cabriolets it is 2.7 inches. According to Porsche, the control approach is also somewhat modified dependent on the optional equipment that is installed on a certain vehicle.