The Porsche Panamera Lion spotted at the Nürburgring could turn out to be an even more extreme variant than the Turbo

A unit of what is internally known as the Porsche Panamera Lion has been spotted during testing, a car that could correspond to a more radical variant

The alarms went off when one of the usual spotters at the Nürburgring Circuit uploaded a video to his YouTube channel showing a Porsche Panamera slightly different from the production model during testing.

Although at first glance it could be mistaken for a Porsche Panamera Turbo, a close inspection reveals different elements, not present on the production version that could affect and improve aerodynamic efficiency.

https://youtu.be/LW4Is9ZTcgI

But it is thanks to our colleagues at GTSpirit that the information about this special Porsche Panamera has been confirmed.

The king of the asphalt jungle

According to their sources, Porsche has put a small group of people to work on a version focused on track use of the Panamera Turbo. A car that, thanks to undergoing a weight-loss programme of close to 250 kg through the removal of superfluous elements and the inclusion of parts typical of the sportier versions of other models, such as the seats from the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.

The fitment of high-performance tyres, more typical of sports cars focused on track use or track days, such as the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres fitted to the spotted unit, would significantly improve performance on asphalt.

Although if any aspect of this Porsche Panamera seen at the Nürburgring Circuit is most impressive, it is its potential: keeping the 4-litre block, with 8 cylinders in a V configuration, the output rises to 750 CV.

This car has been internally nicknamed Porsche Panamera Lion and could end up being a special edition commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Porsche Panamera itself.

A car focused on track use yet registered and approved for road use. A similar bet to the one Porsche already made by handing over to its partner Manthey Racing to position the Porsche GT2 RS developed by this tuner, which achieved the record as the fastest road-legal car around the circuit, before the Lamborghini Aventador LP770-4 SVJ

As if it were the wildest and most visceral nature, the battle to claim the crowns in the different categories that the Nürburgring Circuit records among its lap records, this Porsche Panamera Lion would seek the record for the production 4-door car that spends the least time completing the nearly 21 km of the Nordschleife track.

A time that Porsche aims to set at 7 minutes and 10 seconds and which, according to those who saw that prototype there, could have been beaten or at least approached, since, unofficially, the stopwatch was reportedly stopped at 7:11.

In any case, the Porsche Panamera Turbo needed 7 minutes and 38 seconds, while its electric sibling, the Porsche Taycan Taycan, recorded 7:42, a time that could be improved by the Taycan Turbo S version, still unconfirmed.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackPorsche Panamera9 versions · from 134,887 €