The new Porsche Panamera – getting up to speed with ContiSportContact 3
May 22nd, 2009The new Porsche Panamera will be launched with Continental tires. To this end the tire developers in Hanover adapted the ContiSportContact 3, Continental’s top tire line, to match the chassis of the new sports car and meet the specifications drawn up by Porsche in Zuffenhausen. This limited series of special tires for the Porsche will carry the designation ‘N0′ after the product name to distinguish them from the standard edition ContiSportContact 3. Size 255/45 ZR 19 (100Y) tires are fitted to the front axle of the Panamera, with 285/40 ZR 19 (103Y) on the rear.
Porsche Panamera is fitted with ContiSportContact 3 (Image: Porsche)
The alternative sizes 245/50 ZR 18 (100Y) and 275/45 ZR 18 (103Y) have also been approved by Porsche for the Panamera and carry the special designation ‘N0′.
The sports tires approved by Porsche have to meet the high demands made by Germany’s foremost sports car manufacturer. “Despite exacting requirements in terms of comfort and rolling resistance on the new Panamera, it was naturally important that these were not at the expense of the sporty handling characteristics of a Porsche” commented tire developer Uwe Kachel. “We spent long hours on computer simulations, carrying out trials on test beds and doing thousands of test miles on a range of tracks and racing circuits in Europe to match the tires as closely as possible to the car.”
