Lorio, Joe
You lose if you sleep. The last Porsche 918 Spyder has been constructed; it is shown above receiving a final inspection. The company reports that all 918 units of the intended production run have been sold, with around 300 going to customers in the United States. Here are 15 things we learnt when we toured the production facility last fall, and you can see the assembling process here.
The 918 made its debut as a concept car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show and received approval later that year. On September 18 (9/18), 2013, Porsche’s hybrid supercar went into production. In contrast to hypercars like the McLaren P1 and the LaFerrari at the time, the gigantic Porsche was not a sellout. According to reports, Porsche customers were wary of the 918’s hybrid powertrain and $1 million price tag ($847,975 before extras in the U.S.).
But it’s clear that the automobile overcame those early reservations, perhaps as a result of its mind-bending performance. Porsche boasts that the 918’s 6:57 lap time at the Nurburgring (on street tires) is still the best among production cars. A 918 with the Weissach package, which reduced curb weight by around 100 pounds but raised the price by 10%, was used to do that.
For our part, we discovered the 918 to be the fastest vehicle we’ve ever tested, reaching 60 mph in just 2.2 seconds, even surpassing a Bugatti Veyron. Additionally, it ran the quarter-mile in 9.8 seconds and recorded a 0-to-100 mph pace of 4.9 seconds. After our first drive, we remarked, “Every time you floor it, you get a preview of your first (or next) facelift.” “The draw is constant.”
The vehicle’s combined power of two electric motors and a 605-hp 4.6-liter flat-crank V-8 (revving at 9150 rpm) is 887 hp and 944 lb-ft. That was a significant improvement over the previous Porsche supercar, the 2004–2006 Carrera GT, which had a mid-mounted, normally aspirated V-10 and produced 605 horsepower. The 444-hp 959 from the late 1980s, the first Porsche supercar, was a little step behind the Carrera GT.
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Infiniti 918 Spyder
Porsche is a German automaker that produces the Porsche 918 Spyder, a mid-engine plug-in hybrid hypercar in limited numbers. A 4.6 L (4,593 cc) naturally aspirated V8 engine powers the 918 Spyder, producing 447 kW (608 PS; 599 horsepower) at 8,700 RPM. Two electric motors contribute an extra 210 kW (286 PS; 282 hp), bringing the total output to 652 kW (875 hp) and 1,280 Nm (944 lbft) of torque. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s five-cycle tests, the 6.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack in the 918 Spyder provides an all-electric range of 19 km (12 mi).
The first batch of deliveries were supposed to commence on December 1, 2013, with a starting price of EUR781,000 (US$845,000 or GBPS711,000). Production started on September 18, 2013. In December 2014, all 918 Spyder models were sold out, and production ceased in June 2015.
At the 80th Geneva Motor Show in March 2010, the 918 Spyder made its debut as a concept car. Following 2,000 interest statements, the Porsche AG Supervisory Board authorized series development of the 918 Spyder on July 28, 2010. The Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013 saw the introduction of the production model. At the 2011 North American International Auto Show, Porsche also debuted the RSR racing version of the 918, which blends hybrid technology originally utilized in the 997 GT3 R Hybrid with 918 Spyder appearance. The 918 RSR, however, was never put into production. After the 2014 Panamera S E-Hybrid, the 918 Spyder was Porsche’s second plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Limited Manufacturing
The Porsche 918 was intended to be a limited-edition hypercar from the beginning. The Porsche is still a very expensive and uncommon car in modern times, with only 918 units ever rolling off the German assembly line.
The 918 units were manufactured between September 2013 and June 2015. The hypercar was available as a 2-door coupe and a 2-door targa-top roadster. The brand has two iconic models that were only slightly different from one another.
Even the Weissach Package is an option.
After a 21-month run during which a total of 918 units were produced, Porsche ended manufacture of the 918 Spyder in June 2015. As a result, finding one that hasn’t been used at all two years later is a rare opportunity. Additionally, the Weissach Package was selected by the original owner of this 2015 model year vehicle, making it even more unique given that only roughly 25% of all 918s have this optional package.
In the US, how many Porsche 918s are there?
The final product made its debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. For the 2014 model year, the 918 Spyder was designed in Weissach and manufactured in Zuffenhausen in a small batch. Delivery should start in December 2013, with production for the 2014 model year beginning on September 18, 2013. In June 2014, sales started in the US. The 918 Spyder’s starting price in Europe was EUR781,000 and in the United States it was US$845,000. The 918 Spyder qualified for a federal tax credit of up to US$3,667 based on the size of its battery.
The United States placed the most orders, 297 units, followed by China and Germany, each with about 100 orders, and Canada, with 35 units.
In the first nine months of 2014, 105 units were registered globally, according to JATO Dynamics. With 202 units shipped as of May 2015, the United States is the market in the lead. 9 units in total, 6 in the Netherlands, 5 in Canada, 4 in Sweden, 3 in Brazil, and 1 in South Africa were registered as of October 2014[update].
How will the Porsche 918 be replaced?
Looking forward to a new Porsche mid-engine flagship? Your wish might come true soon. Spike Feresten, a comedy writer and well-known Porsche aficionado, claims that a successor to the famed 918 Spyder might debut as early as August 2021 and might use the GT1 badge.
On an episode of his podcast, Spike’s Car Radio, that was released on June 16, 2021, Feresten stated, “I got a rumor from a source about a new Porsche that right now, if you’d like to, you can put a deposit down on a Porsche GT1.”
According to rumors, this will be revealed in August, Feresten said. A new Porsche GT1 mid-engined special vehicle is forthcoming and will continue the Carrera GT and 918’s legacy.
Feresten did not give credit to a specific source, merely stating that he learned of the information from a dealer insider who was taking deposits on the vehicle at the time. Feresten claimed that not even Jerry Seinfeld, a personal friend and Porsche expert, was aware of the existence of the vehicle.
Feresten added, “[Seinfeld] doesn’t know anything about it, and that kind of makes me mistrust the rumor.”
It won’t be the first time the business has utilized the GT1 moniker on one of its vehicles if you are familiar with mid-engine P-cars. Porsche’s 962 race car was replaced by the original 911 GT1, which raced at Le Mans until the late 1990s. There were also a few models that could travel on roads. There is therefore some background behind the name.
How uncommon are Porsche 918s?
Every vehicle collector believes that the scarcer something is, the better. Getting a rare model is what it’s all about, even though it’s nice to buy every new model that comes out. And this extremely rare Porsche 918 Spyder, of which fewer than 1,000 were ever produced, is currently anticipated to fetch over $1 million at an RM Sotheby’s auction.
The 918 Spyder, one of the rarest Porsche models the company has made in the past ten years, has been added to the auction house RM Sotheby’s inventory. Only 918 of the plug-in hybrid hypercars were made by the manufacturer, and lucky collector number 465 will be one of them. The 2015 918 Spyder is available from Tenenbaum Collection, and it comes with Porsche’s carbon fiber upgrade package, an Authentic Onyx Black interior, and Liquid Metal Chrome Blue paint, which raises the starting price of the car by $53,000.
The Porsche 918 Spyder’s 90-degree 4.6-liter V8 engine, which is based on the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 Le Mans prototype, is housed in a chassis that is almost entirely made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composite. Through Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch seven-speed transmission, the flat-plane engine produces 875 horsepower (887 PS) at 9,000 rpm and 994 lb-ft of torque (1334 Nm). With their assistance, the hypercar accelerates to 62 mph (100 kph) in just 2.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 214 mph.
With these numbers, the Porsche 918 Spyder was able to immediately compete with other mid-2010s hybrid icons like the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari. It outperformed those two vehicles by reaching 60 mph (96 kph) in less than 2.5 seconds, as opposed to 2.7 seconds for the P1 and LaFerrari.
In terms of the description, RM Sotheby’s states that the 918 Spyder “shows fewer than 1,400 kilometers at the time of cataloguing, thought to have had just two owners from new.”
The forthcoming Arizona auction on January 27 is projected to bring in between $1.2 and $1.4 million for the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder.
A Porsche 918 may still be purchased.
The last Porsche 918 for sale was sold in December 2014, with prices starting in the US at $845,000 in 2013. When a used Porsche 918 Spyder is available for purchase, the only places to go are private sellers or companies.
We have a small selection of Porsche 918 listings for sale, including coupe and spyder models, which vary based on stock.
A hybrid-electric drive system is used in the Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar to boost power and fuel economy. This hypercar combines serious speed and efficiency into one package with a combined output of 887 horsepower, 940 lb-ft of torque, and an estimated 67 mpg. In addition to the 4.6-liter V8’s 608 horsepower at 8,500 rpm, the two electric motors driving the front and rear wheels generate a combined total of 279 horsepower. As a limited-edition supercar and Porsche’s second plug-in hybrid, it was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010 with a production constraint of just 918 units commencing in 2013. In 2010, the Porsche 918’s spyder model also debuted and was built.
The two engines are combined with the lightning-quick Porsche PDK seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission, which produces extraordinary acceleration results such as 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds, 0-120 mph in 7.2 seconds, and a top speed of 210 mph.
When the car is moving, the 4.6-liter gas engine charges the lithium-ion batteries, and regenerative braking continues the process as you drive into curves. The batteries can be recharged while the car is parked over the course of two hours using a plug-in charger that is accessed through the B-pillar on the passenger side.
Anyone looking for the best of the best should search for a secondhand 918 Weissach Edition. Weight loss from the Weissach package is 99 lbs. This features lighter brakes, magnesium wheels, ceramic wheel bearings, and titanium chassis bolts. Eliminating paint in favor of a thin film covering on the body also reduces weight.