Porsche 919 Hybrid and 2017 Panamera 4 E Hybrid In London – Video

 

The Porsche 919 Hybrid is a sports-prototype racing car constructed by the German car manufacturer Porsche for use in the Le Mans Prototype 1-Hybrid (LMP1-H) category of the FIA World Endurance Championship for factory-supported hybrid-powered cars. It is the first sports-prototype built by Porsche since the RS Spyder, the first sports-prototype built by Porsche to compete in a top category of sportscar racing since the Porsche 911 GT1-98 and Porsche LMP1-98 and the first sports-prototype to be raced by Porsche as a racing team since the Porsche 911 GT1-98 and Porsche LMP1-98. It utilises a 2.0 L four-cylinder turbocharged engine with a battery-based hybrid system.

 

 

To drive home the point of the performance and driving pleasure the 2017 Panamera 4 E Hybrid allegedly will offer, Porsche mentions its 918 hybrid supercar no less than five times in the brief press release announcing the latest Panamera derivative. This hybrid, Porsche insists, is fun.

Fitted with an Audi-sourced, Porsche-adapted 330-hp twin-turbo V-6 and a 136-hp electric motor, the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid produces a maximum 462 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. The torque is channeled to all four wheels through a ZF-sourced eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, derived from the gearbox used in conventionally powered Panamera models (and, down the road, in Bentleys that also will use the Panamera’s MSB modular architecture).

The hybrid Panamera can sprint to 62 mph in a claimed 4.6 seconds, and it tops out at 173 mph. That’s impressive, but it is slower than the regular Panamera 4S and the Europe-market Panamera 4S diesel, both of which are nominally less powerful than the E-Hybrid. Porsche says the new model needs the electric boost to reach top speed and it needs to be in Sport Plus mode. The company doesn’t say how long the E-Hybrid can maintain Vmax.