Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Car Review

Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid car Review by PING! Magazine

The 918 Spyder is Porsche’s future. The technique of the hybrid athlete will feed into the next generation of the 911, Boxster and co.

Porsche presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2013 its flagship project, the 918 Spyder. Just a little over three years ago that the board a rubber stamp series production of the hybrid athlete. Now is the successor to the Carrera GT take-off. The 918 Spyder will carry the genetic material for the Porsche sports car of the future itself. His genes in turn come directly from motorsport: monologue and all supporting structures made of CFRP. Similarly, most parts of the body, such as the two removable roof panels that bring together less than six and a half kilograms.

The template for the main drive of the 918 Spyder, a V8 engine with 608 hp, comes from the Le Mans prototype RS Spyder. The engine is about as strong as the V10 Carrera GT (612 hp). However, with 4.6 litres of V8 is a good litre less than the V10 of its predecessor and has the much higher output per litre. The speed is critical: Only at 9150 rotations per minute the crankshaft reaches its rev limiter. The Carrera GT is already closing in 8400 tours.

The V8 is supported by two electric motors. The system performance estimates Porsche with 887 horsepower. An electric motor (156 hp) acts together with the eight-cylinder engine to the rear axle, the second (129 hp) performs his duties at the front.

The resulting four-wheel drive without a direct drive connection between the axles to promote traction and also allow safe cornering and extreme speeds – even for drivers without motor sports training, such as Porsche says. The hybrid drive especially flaunts the experience of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid collected on the racetrack.

Top Pipes called the Porsche which opens up exhaust pipes, so has no other production vehicle.

Five different driving modes give the tone when engines trio. The default mode is called “E-Power”. Here ceased the V8 and only two electric motors are used for propulsion. In less than seven seconds, it goes like this, to 100 cases, a maximum of 150 km / h pure electric feasible. Between 16 and 32 km Porsche specifies the range in E mode. Thereafter, the liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery can be recharged in about four hours at the outlet.

The optional quick charger shortens the process to 25 minutes. In the other modes, “hybrid”, “sports hybrid” and “Race Hybrid” composed the electronic interaction of the three motors and the switching mode of the seven-speed PDK transmission of economically to fit Racetrack. The last ace up its sleeve is the mode of the 918 Spyder “Hot Lap”. Transmission, battery and motors are out here to their performance limits. The overall objective is the fastest possible lap time.

The rising centre console introduced in 2003, Porsche Carrera GT. Today, this cockpit layout is also in the 911 and Panamera again.

It also helps the new rear axle, the Porsche in the coming 911 Turbo sets in, which is also available at the IAA. At low speeds, the rear wheels to steer to three degrees with respect to the front direction. Porsche describes the effect as virtual wheelbase shortening. At high speeds, the rear wheels steer parallel to the front axle, which in turn correspond to a wheelbase extension.

Another special feature is the active aerodynamics. Adjustable louver to the vehicle body and in the flow channels beneath the vehicle and the adjustable rear wing are adapted to the five above-mentioned drive modes. Thus, either the minimized air resistance, or for a high contact pressure and the best possible cooling of the aggregates.

 It is great technique fireworks that ignite with the Porsche 918 Spyder. No wonder, the new super sports car is so glorious technology support such as the Carrera GTS (904), the first 911 Turbo or the Porsche 959 inherits. The price for this milestone is exactly 768 026 EUR. Thus, the 918 Spyder is a real bargain. Finally, the only two real competitors cost P1 McLaren and Ferrari LaFerrari over a million euros. Such prices are not illusory, because both P1 (375 copies) and LaFerrari (399 copies) are sold out even before its launch.

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Car Review