IN DETAIL
Inside the same-again bodywork the revised Panamera has acquired some ingenious engineering, including a new Active Ride system.
Porsche’s new third-gen Panamera, which arrives in 2024, may be evolutionary on the outside, but there’s some serious tech underneath.
Active Ride is Porsche’s new active suspension system that’ll be available on top-end Panameras like the new Turbo E-Hybrid and its hotter Turbo S variant. Christoph Bittner, Porsche’s director for vehicle dynamic systems, also tells us that the system will likely make it onto other models in Porsche’s range in the future.
‘It started with the idea: what could be the next step above PDCC [Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control]? This was roughly six years ago,’ Bittner tells us. ‘We knew about the weaknesses of the PDCC or semi-active system, and the target was to find a way to eliminate this.’
Active Ride comprises a single-chamber air suspension unit and a two-valve damper that’s connected to an electro-hydraulic pump (compared to the regular two-chamber air suspension with a semi-active anti-roll bar). It reacts to changes in the road surface and what the driver is doing, allowing the suspension to tilt the car into bends.
It also combats hard acceleration or braking by applying extra pressure as required to level the car out. The hydraulics also instantly raise the car by 550mm when you pull the door handle, for easier access, and raises the body if the road is bumpy.
‘It’s a game changer,’ Thomas Friemuth, VP for the Panamera model line, tells CAR. ‘The basis for the system is getting rid of all things that make [the car] stiff. Stabilisers [anti-roll bars] always make the car stiff – now we have a basis which is smooth and as soft as possible,’ he adds.
IT REACTS TO DRIVER INPUTS AND CHANGES IN THE ROAD SURFACE , AND CAN TILT THE CAR INTO BENDS
