Well, as much surety as any chassis and stability control system can guarantee when taming 650kW-plus and 1280Nm.Ī key part of the recipe is the chassis design. Then as higher levels of commitment require, the front motor chimes in to provide the surety of all-wheel drive. Systems integrate the flow of power from the mid/low-mounted battery pack first to the motor sandwiched between the V8 and the seven-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox which powers the rear wheels. Were all commuter hybrids with one quarter the power so well integrated… The refinement of the processes via which the 608hp petrol engine joins the party is hard to relate. Roll through 150km/h in e-mode out of the pits at the Island and the engine kicks in but you hear and see it (via the tacho) rather than feel any lurches or impact. As a two-pedal car, all you need know and do is press the right one, and go! Hard. Porsche claims fuel economy is theoretically in the 3.0L/100km zone. In the former, Porsche claims, she’ll be able to do that for 31km, accelerate to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds and roll-on to a top speed of 150km/h. Technical tour de force is a hackneyed over-used and over-wrought phrase yet it’s exactly what this car is… Mattias’ favourite epithet is that in electric and hybrid modes even your grandmother could drive the 918. Indeed, the former easily recorded lap times in the 1:38sec range – within around scant seconds of the V8 Supercars and Porsche Carrera Cup lap records, and three seconds quicker than we timed one of the fastest road cars around there, the Mercedes-AMG SLS Black. Hoffsuemmer and Baird could likely set a production car record at the Island - with a figurative arm tied behind their backs. You have to back pedal on the main straight to make sure you don’t get too close to the race car.
#2015 PORSCHE 918 SPYDER DRIVERS#
Porsche’s own test drivers have lapped the Nurburgring in 6:57.Īt Phillip Island, even with yours truly tentatively guiding the car to the advice of global 918 Chief Instructor Mattias Hoffsuemmer (in the right-hand seat, the 918 is left-hand drive only), it keeps a Carrera Cup lead car guided by Porsche old hand Craig Baird squirming around on its slick rubber. It will accelerate to 100km/h in a maximum of 2.6 seconds 0-200 km/h comes up in the same time it takes a hot hatch to do the regulation sprint. Almost 900hp (652kW) delivered by a combination of two electric motors and a 4.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 that owes its existence to Porsche’s LMP2 sports car racing program. The raw numbers of the 918 are mind numbing. This is not a road test, it’s a stream of consciousness layman’s testament to the engineering nous that seems to burst from the seams of Weissach, Porsche’s R&D home base.
That our drive took place at one of the world’s great pieces of bitumen, the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, makes the experience even more surreal. It’s totally unintimidating to drive in its mildest modes and yet feels like a ticking air-fuel weapon when the blue touch paper is lit.Īfter all, how many road cars can you name that would justify a 911 Turbo and 911 GT3 as its warm-up acts? Oh, and a full-on Carrera Cup racer as its chase car. It’s beyond race-car fast but eco-car silent. It’s cliched but little prepares you for your first steer of a hypercar – especially one as revolutionary as Porsche’s 918 Spyder.Īt the same time it’s essentially raw and yet mechanically refined.
#2015 PORSCHE 918 SPYDER FULL#
Sold out, left-hand drive only and not able to be driven on the road Down Under, Porsche’s 1280Nm petrol-electric 918 Spyder super-hybrid is irrelevant… Unless you want to experience the full R&D might and expertise of Porsche and understand exactly where the future of performance cars is headed.
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