While the last issue of Porsche’s 9:11 magazine focused on quality, the latest focuses on balance. To Porsche drivers, balance has always been important, as Porsche’s traditional sports cars are not intrinsically balanced in the same way as other, more conventional sports cars. To a Porsche driver, balance comes down to not just the balance of the machine and its eccentricities, but a dynamic partnership with their own skill. A classic 911 or 356 moving quickly requires a delicate balance of the driver and the car; the organic and the mechanical. That type of balance is just what this episode is about. That balanced ethos connects the Panamera E-Hybrid, to a 3D model, to a Bionic hand, and more broadly to Porsche’s position in our world.
The Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is a remarkable machine, and at the moment it represents the pinnacle of Porsche’s hybrid model range. This remarkable machine shows that extraordinary performance and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand, as Porsche showed with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid back in 2010. While the GT3 R’s Hybrid system proved to be a non-starter for production cars, it did pave the way for the hybrid revolution in modern Porsches.
Keen eyed viewers may recognize a certain yellow 928 in the Panamera segment, which we’ve seen before. We have also featured the digitally rendered 964, featured in the final segment, on the site previously.
9:11 takes the balance idea a step further, with Psychologist Bertolt Meyer and his bionic hand. Meyer was born without a left hand and forearm, and has used prosthetics for most of his life. To Meyer, the interface between man and machine is more personal than most. While virtually all of us are somewhat technologically integrated, via computers, smartphones, and wearable technology, Meyer needs to become one with the machine on a more personal level. To Meyer, finding a balance with technology in his everyday life has been an important part of dealing with his disability. While technology can help to deal with challenging situations, it is important to consider where it contributes to, and where it might dictate how we live our lives.
As with a Porsche, it is all about finding a balance.