Porsche Won’t Participate In Horsepower Wars

Porsche AG says it wants no part in the ever escalating horsepower race, and will instead focus on engineering the vehicle as one unit, taking into account the power, handling and fuel economy aspects to develop world beating vehicles.

“Our engineers are holding back on power – they are looking elsewhere now” for optimum performance, Alexander Schildt, manager-product planning for Porsche Cars North America, told Ward’s Auto. “We want our customers to be able to pull up in front of their children’s schools and not feel like they are causing climate change all by themselves.”

Schildt suggested that Porsche was deliberately holding back power on some engines. He invited journalists to compare the high horsepower being obtained by Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division, and noted that Porsche could easily attain that level, but capped the Panamera Turbo’s output in the low 500-horsepower range.

Reducing weight will become Porsche’s number one priority. With a federally mandated fuel economy target of 35 mpg for their entire fleet, and the need to stay on the edge of the performance envelope, lighter cars will allow Porsche to satisfy both requirements. “Take weight out of a car and it does magic for the handling,” said Schildt. “That’s how we will continue to satisfy our customers.” Schildt also said that hybrids will be a necessary part of Porsche’s future.

[Source: Ward’s Auto]