Tuesday 17th August 2010

Video: Porsche 918 Spyder On The Road

Green supercar steps ever-closer to reality

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"There is no contradiction anymore between performance and this whole environmental discussion."

This is what Porsche AG design chief, Michael Mauer, says about the new 918 Spyder, which has recently been confirmed for production. It's hard to argue against his point really, especially when you have a car that's capable of 74mpg, 198mph and a 'ring time that beats the Carrera GT.

And to prove that the new green supercar is close to becoming a reality, Porsche decided to do this video of the car on the road in California, ahead of its appearance at last weekends Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. We particularly like the music. Very relaxing.

 

Countdown to Motion: Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Drives. from TangentVector on Vimeo. 

[mrclav]

Loving the design - not so sure about the engine noise when it started up though!

[Cactussed]

I wonder if you coudl graft that shape onto a Boxster...

[ToMBoMB]

Think it looks fantastic, and like above i think they should try change that exhaust note!

[evile]

It was announced Porsche is going to make a smaller entry level car. According to the article, it'll be based on VW's BlueSport concept. It was reported the Boxster, and I assume the Cayman, are going to get larger. Here's the Autocar article:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Porsche-...

The 918 Spyder concept isn't much bigger than the current Boxster. We could see some design cues from the 918 Spyder filter down to the Boxster and Cayman. The 918 Spyder is a great looking car, and I believe it would give Boxster and Cayman sales a shot in the arm.

Finally, I like the engine note. I've heard some complain the Carrera GT sounds better. I do love the engine note of the Carrera GT, but I hoped the 918 Spyder will sound different. Also, I hope they can keep the side exhausts. Either in dual or single exit like the Spyder RS race cars.

If you've ever heard the Spyder RS race car I'm sure there wouldn't be any compalints. However, Porsche is constrainted by sound and emmissions restrictions. The sound is going to be effected dramatically.

Edited by evile on Tuesday 17th August 12:14

[[AJ]]

I'm sure there will be a few audible tweaks before production. They'll never be able to match the sonic perfection that was the CGT V10 though. Still, there's not much I'd prefer as my steed right now, the 918 Spyder is top of my wish list!

[CraigW]

to my eyes thats the best looking car I have ever seen.

soundwise wasnt dissimilar to the 9ff GT9R

[Asterix]

Nice to see Porsche really nail it with this.

It was rare that they kept in underwraps until the launch. It worked! Blew everything else into the weeds.

[RDMcG]

Its mouthwateringly beautiful. What an amazing, amazing car.

[2fast748]

Love it (but don't like the square headlights!)

Surely if they can make it return 74mpg during tests they can make it quiet as well? (If you get what I mean ;-) )

[alexpa]

Sweet!

[Porsche997C4S]

What a Beautiful car, Porsche is just getting better and better. How long until other car manufacturers have to start copying them...

[LongLiveTazio]

The more I see the more excited I get. I reckon this could be one of the finest cars ever made and if the technology is right may become one of the most significant too, a kind of automotive crossroads between old and new.

I always felt the CGT was incomplete. This, however... I dunno, everything about it just seems to have a wow factor and exacting engineering, all in one of the most cohesive pieces of styling I've seen for a long time. Just great.

[Mr Gear]

Erm, now can I see it move under electric power please?

Remember Porsche: "pics or it didn't happen"

Edited by Mr Gear on Tuesday 17th August 13:39

[Big Lebowski]

Just wet my pants

[pagani1]

The 918 has to be the way forward for sports cars, however, having seen Mr. Horacio Pagani's next baby, there may be trouble ahead. I hope the baby Porsche keeps the 4 cylinder engine and is light enough to compare to an Elise, and is £20-25k, but I suspect not as if there is also an Audi and a VW version planned so what price will Veedub sell all of these versions for?. As the Boxster and Cayman are going to be growing in size(allegedly what will they do with the 911? Answers on a postcard.

[PascalBuyens]

I wouldn't want to be the guy who's driving that car at 2:20 !

It looks like his head is halfway up above the roll bars...

[Amizade]

lovely..... but the exhaust note sounds like the powerplant is suffering from emphysema

I pulled up to a bloke driving a CGT through Wandsworth one way system, he kindly obliged to press the loud pedal..... now that is an exhaust note

Edited by Amizade on Tuesday 17th August 14:02

[caine70]

Dodgy sound on start up, no? Looks good, though.

This is what it should sound like.

[jayfish]

PascalBuyens said:

I wouldn't want to be the guy who's driving that car at 2:20 !

It looks like his head is halfway up above the roll bars...

Probably hydraulic pop-ups upon roll-over.

[Or888t]

Awesome, what a peice of engineering.
Love how everyone keeps overlooking the fact that;
It has no roof what-so-ever
and surly this fact alone is going to compromise the design of the production model, quite a bit, isent it