I know it's not ************, but was in Chicago so thought it might be interesting... F-in-L and I got an invitation to a 918 event yesterday at Autobahn in Joliet... Never been to the track before, but was a nice track layout, and I think we were only on a smaller portion of it.. Pretty cool facility and only 45min or so from downtown at 5:30 on a weekday... They had a model of the 919, just an empty shell on a cart, but was pretty cool to see and they had a 918 in the lobby and a few product managers who could answer real questions... Really good looking car in person, much more subtle than the p1, and I've yet to see a LaF in person... It was in a dark navy color, with black interior. On the track, we got a number of laps in a new turbo S, following the driving school instructor in a turbo.. They certainly didn't hold back, and really let us push the turbo. I had driven a turbo a few years back at the driving school, but this seemed a different experience.. We then rode for a lap in a 918, and drove another 3. I've never felt acceleration like that in my life, and I've been in a few fast cars on various tracks.. they didn't let us push the 918s nearly as hard, but it was a very impressive car.. noticed the weight under hard braking, but not bad, and was much more stable and balanced than the turbo s... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Did it this morning. You probably did not pay attention to it but the lead Turbo went at the same speed with 918 following, as before, when we followed in Turbo S. What felt like "not holding back" in the latter , felt like a walk in the park for 918. I'm still not convinced about all that hybrid tech though, overly complicated and weight penalty overcomes the additional power, IMO. Very easy car to drive, anyone can feel like a pro in it (car probably does 80% of work with all the electronic tech). Too easy, too accessible in my opinion, I'm afraid I could get used to all that power after a while if I don't have to work to get better in it. I'm keeping the CGT.....
One more thing but a significant one, the sound is underwhelming, at high rpms sound very agricultural.Definitely not that spine tingling scream CGT does at full song. On another note, incredibly, fantastically quick car, in real world will probably run circles around other hyper cars (Laferrari or P1) which may be faster only in ideal conditions in controlled enviroment. No skills required to be fast in that car, almost anyone can be a "hero". Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
absent - I agree with most of your comments - easy to drive, weight, more 'practical' (haha) than some others.. I think it sounded pretty incredible. I agree that it's not like a CGT, as that is probably my favorite exhaust note, but no slouch in that department. And we were noticeably slower in the 918 than the 991 - maybe similar speeds at the end of the straights, but throughout the lap the lead 991 for us was faster than the 918..
Did this yesterday. Felt that the 918 was "too easy to drive". I think it was said already anyone can drive this car street or track with no concern. To me it seemed the " computer " was controlling everything and I just needed to turn the wheel. Great handling but when I was done there was no "wow" factor.
