Spied: 2009 Porsche Panamera vs 2010 Aston Martin Rapide

Porsche has been road-testing the '09 Panamera for a couple of years now. The latest photos show the newcomer being put through its pace alongside the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide in Germany.

Following its premier at the 2006 Detriot motorshow, the Aston Martin hasn't been spied for sometime now. Although at one point, the Rapide was put on hold after Ford had to sell it, we should see the super-coupe sometime in 2010.

Both cars will surpass 5 metres in length.

2009 Porsche Panamera:

Scheduled for an official presentation at the 2009 Geneva motorshow, here are two all-new four-door coupés testing at the Nürburgring race-track. Both, the fourth range from Porsche, known as the Panamera, and the all-new Aston Martin Rapide, are developed to rival the Mercedes CLS and the upcoming Audi A7.

Though the Panamera takes over design elements from the 911 range, there will be significant differences, too: While the first has always been to keep its rear-mounted boxer engine, the newcomer will have a choice of three front-mounted motors, though set back to the centre of the car as much as possible. The entry-level unit will be Volkswagen’s 3.5 litre V6 developing 300bhp, while Porsche’s own drivetrain will be a direct-injection V8 petrol engine, available in naturally-aspirated guise (350bhp) and with twin-turbo (560bhp). There's even talks on a hybrid variant. That should be enough to beat out the competition for a while. The Mercedes CLS 63AMG pumps out 514bhp.

The target for the Panamera is to be a true sportscar while at the same time be a family-car for every-day use with four full seats, easy access to the rear and a luggage compartment of around 450 litres. When it hits the road in 2009, Porsche hopes to be able to sell 20,000 units annually and hopes to shift over 100,000 cars per year.

2010 Aston Martin Rapide:

Following the Rapide concept shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit back in 2006, Aston Martin is now coming up with the real machine. Former owner, Ford had put the project on hold when they decided to sell the biggest pack of shares. After selling this to the group lead by David Richards, one of the first decisions was to revive the project and start developing the production version Rapide. Together with the body, the DB9 will provide its platform and its V12-engine. The latter will be tuned to 480bhp while it delivers 450bhp in the DB9. The car should be released in 2010.