Visited Weissach (porsche development centre) this week to spec my car and i now realise how wrong so many have been to dismiss the 918. I have now seen THE FIRST full production car and it is astounding. The prototypes that have been shown in US and the middle east and the clay car shown at Goodwood in the UK are only a precursor of what is to come. The engineering and quality and finish of the car make the La fer and P1 and the other crop of hyper cars out there look mediocre. I have studied all three in the flesh closely. All the numbers we will be significantly better than those released to date. HP(795) WILL BE UP SUBSTANTIALLY(875?). Weight will be down. Ring time of <7m will happen. Its a targa, it will travel at 150 kms on electric alone and steers with all four wheels. This car will without doubt provide the incredible driving sensation. I was blown away! The only car not yet official is the 918 and it will become so in Frankfurt in September. Porsche have played a clever game here as most people think they know what this car is all about and its not in the mix. Well not only have they gained on the pack from what i saw but they have another six months to refine the car and enhance performance . Ferrari and Mac have fixed as of Geneva. I am in no way biased as i have ordered all 3 cars. But the big surprise will be the German car for sure.
It was a strange game played by Porsche as i know at least 2 owners who cancelled their 918 order to get a F150 instead. But it is good news to know the weight will be down!
I honestly admire the engineering talent at Porsche (i've owned more than one), but the ability to travel 150km (almost 100 miles) on electric alone is not a bragging point for a supercar/hypercar, in my humble (yet correct ) opinion. The reason is this : you have to allow for more energy storage, and therefore carry more weight in the battery pack ... for the ability to travel 100 miles on electric alone. When you couple this with the plug-in recharge port (the 918 has this, correct?), you are more of a "hybrid car", than a track/performance-focused "KERS car". What's the weight of the battery pack on the 918? In my view, the battery pack should be sized to provide adequate boost, and of course recharge capability, on one ... or, more than one ... selected track(s). Adding additional weight to also advertise the ability to travel 100 miles on "electric alone" is a marketing ploy, in my view, that may play well to the "green generation", but doesn't enhance its performance in the hypercar arena.
Waiting to see others' cards? Problems to sell all the carrs? Will they keep the original price? It could be a "bargain".
Too heavy because it carries too much electrics, evidently to trick the Euro fuel use cycle. I am more interested in the non hybrid 961.
I've been waiting (and hoping) that this would be the case. I am really interested in what Porsche can come up with even more so than McLaren and Ferrari. I can't really explain why, but I am. Should be spectacular. As a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a wealthy sports car enthusiast.
That is great to hear FXEFFECTS. Did they allude to a weight target? There is no question that the Porsche will provide an incredible driver experience. It will be like owning three different cars with all their operating modes. I am sure the build quality will be terrific following the same path as the CGT. Hard to find a better built vehicle that that. I also like the fact that they use CF sub frames fore and aft to hang their motor and suspension components from. Surprise to hear the motor power spec's as you have indicated but this sounds like Porsche's strategy to understate and then over build. Let's hope the weight is not to much to overcome when competing with the other two.
In the info pack on the 918 I received from Porsche the specs were very coyly presented as the power quoted for the engine alone is stated as being MORE than 580 horsepower. In the electric drives the front is quoted as being MORE than 116 horsepower while the rear is quoted as being MORE than 129 horsepower. The Nurburgring North Loop time is quoted as LESS than 7:22. I am seriously considering the car but told my Porsche rep for the 918 that I want to see hear and ride/drive the car first before putting down a deposit.
LaFerrari battery pack weight = 60kg (132 pounds) McLaren P1 battery pack weight = 95kg (210 pounds) Porsche 918 battery pack weight = ?? I'm guessing that the 918 battery packs weighs at least as much as the P1 pack, since both are designed to travel some distance on battery alone. Actually, the 918 battery pack probably weighs more, since its advertised distance (on electric alone) > P1. (Certainly, direct comparison is tricky because of cooling systems, electronics, etc ... but being able to drive xx miles on "electric alone" incurs a weight penalty beyond track-focused KERS, no doubt about it)
Porsche 960 is slated for 2017. It will have a inter cooled twin turbo boxer flat eight engine, according to the latest press. Designed to be a direct competitor with 458 replacement.
I think you have misread some of the info. The 918 can only cover up to 25 KM on electric power alone and not 150. The 150 Km/h figure is the max speed of the 918 in E-mode before the combustion engine kicks in.
I also met two potential customers for the 918 at the F150 invitation who canceled their order after a Nürburgring event last year because they were disappointed with the car (styling, sound appearance). I don't know what sense it makes to present a car in several steps. The information about how many they actually sold is another matter. Our local dealer says he sold his allocation and has no chance to get more cars, but there is also the rumour they have problems selling all 918 examples. I still hope the car will meet the expectations but at the moment would rather add a Carrera GT if I would be a Porsche affcionado as I think its a bargain compared with the 918.
918 continues the Carrera GT tradition of having a Le Mans race-derived engine(the CGT engine obviously never raced, but it was the original powerplant for the Le Mans car that was cancelled). Neither LaThing or P1 have that racing connection, AFAIK. Also, that V8 in the 918 is mindblowingly good. Rumor is it will have 640 hp in production spec. It weighs only 140 kilos!!!
I'm looking forward for a nice comparison, after driving! Don't think there are that many people owning the 3 most interesting supercars of the year 2013. Even in Germany Porsche doesn't divulge a lot of information about the 918 - sure the 918 will be the suprise.
I wonder how many 918 owners will value and utilize the "plug-in" feature, and travel 25 km on electric alone? The point is, almost no owners of the world's supercars ... Porsche included ... fully explore the performance limits of them. By the way, I track my Ferraris though sadly, i missed the most recent track day at COTA