Wednesday 16th May 2012

770hp and 94mpg for Porsche 918 Spyder

And you thought BMW's swirly camouflage looked funky?

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Porsche is clearly on a single-manufacturer mission to make the hybrid cool.

Photos of 'half finished' mule have been released

Not only has it previously released an early 918 Spyder technology demonstrator looking like something Frankenstein would have created for Mad Max, it's now revealed the first full prototype images. And the car in question is finished in camouflage that pays homage to the 1970 Le Mans winning 917k.

What other carmaker could get away with that? What other carmaker would even think of that? And given the accompanying press release refers to "prototypes" with paint schemes "harking back to historical Porsche 917 racing cars", we can only assume the 05 represented here is more than just a random number.

Go on Porsche, tell us: is there a Steve McQueen-spec Gulf-camo 918 out there testing, too?

Gulf inspired disguise is a canny touch

Aside from looking pretty, these new 918 pics confirm the car has entered the "trials" phase. As such, it seems Porsche has now settled for a mere 770hp from the 3.4-litre V8 and twin electric motor combination (up 52hp compared to the original 2010 Geneva concept...), and is still on track to achieve 94mpg.

The 918 is a plug-in hybrid, so the batteries can be pre-charged before you even turn a wheel, which ought to help marry these two seemingly incompatible performance parameters. In lab conditions, at least.

However, the Spyder also features a full carbon fibre reinforced plastic monocoque, "fully" adaptive aerodynamics, adaptive rear-axle steering and exhaust pipes that vent upwards in a banned-from-F1 stylee.

On sale next year - for real!

Weirdly, Porsche also says "the 918 Spyder is offering a glimpse of what Porsche Intelligent Performance may be capable of in the future." Which is either self-evident - as it's still a prototype - or just out of whack, as surely it's building this stuff now?

Anyhoo, semantics. Those of you lucky enough to have an outstanding order will no doubt be pleased to hear that development is entirely on schedule. Production is set to start in September 2013, and the first 918s should reach customers by the end of next year.

 

[E38Ross]

i think one of the most important things that needs answering (or maybe it has already) is how long it can produce 770bhp for. obviously, the electric motors produce fairly significant power and if you're on a hoon or on track (lets face it, it's not going to be used for commuting in reality!) how long will it produce that power for?

if it's for something like 20 miles that's pants....you're going to have a stupidly fast car and then half way through a lovely twisty road you're going to have a sudden drop in power?

or am i missing something?

looks lovely though. Looking forward to the next McLaren which is to have, what was it, around 800bhp?

[E38Ross]

kambites said:

They really need to do something about the way the combined fuel cycle deals with plug-in hybrids to get rid if ridiculous figures like this.

Nice looking car though.

i don't think they take into account the fuel involved in plugging it in. would a fully electric car get infinite mpg....suggesting it never runs out of fuel? in reality, you need to refuel it every 100 miles or less.

[E38Ross]

Some Gump said:

fk me.

So Porsche come up with an awesome looking thing with 770 brake, and you all bh that it might not get 94mpg at all times? Is this Priusheads?

I only get 20mpg to get 412 horse*, a mate gets 17mpg for his 500. If the 918 can get 770hp (even on short bursts) with anything over 15, it's ahead of the curve. 30mpg would have it better economy than a 2.7 boxster (228HP), ffs.

• average over 10k miles, a run to the evo triangle gives 11....

you've missed my point.

i'd like to know what mpg it gets when you take a long trip up to the evo triangle for instance, once it's run out of electricity! and how much power it produces.

lovely car though

[E38Ross]

kambites said:

It wont "run out of battery", it's a hybrid; unless you run it at V-Max for prolonged periods so it has no chance to use regenerative braking, I suppose.

I doubt anyone who can afford it will worry overly about fuel costs, either.

ah, thanks for that

[E38Ross]

How much is the enzo replacement rumoured to weigh? Any ideas on the mclaren?

[E38Ross]

Some Gump said:

aahhhhh!!

It's not "pandering to the eu rules", it's bringing current race technology to the road.

Do that in a F40 / F1 / whatever, and you're a hero. Do it with KERS / hybrid and it's wrong??

The hybrid is from Williams F1. As seen in a pretty damn sucessful GT3 hybrid, and coming soon to a Le Mans near you in Porsche's next attack on the worlds greatest race.

Yeah, it's totally gay. It's only there to attract company car drivers from their 320d ED's. Hell, I bet it can't even hit 94mpg round the nordschlife, what a heap of st. etc.

The tech is brilliant. It's in the wrong car though. I can't see 320d owners being able to afford this somehow.

[E38Ross]

freedman said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0f-l1eCD-Y

http://www.porsche.com/usa/aboutporsche/pressrelea...

from reading that, it seems to offer less performance than the WAY cheaper McLaren 12C though? if that's the case, won't the new McLaren due in another 2 or so years time(?) wipe the floor with this considering it's supposed to be considerably quicker than the 12C?

[E38Ross]

xitup - you know what i meant

what i mean is......we all know manufacturer claims for mpg due to the test cycle are rubbish, say a 60mpg diesel combined may actually get around 50mpg "in the real world", will this "in the real world" get 80mpg+ or will it get around 30mpg. i'd be shocked if this car were to be used for short trips too, more like weekend blasts etc, where a "normal" car may still get well over 50% the claimed mpg, would this get anywhere near 50%?

not having a dig....just curious questions!