But the 918 Spyder’s incredible strength doesn’t stop there. A 6.8 kWh lithium-ion battery powers the 129-hp front electric motor, 156-hp rear electric motor, and the engine as a whole. When everything beneath the hood is combined, this little powerhouse has 887 horsepower and 944 lb-ft of torque available.
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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.
Improved dynamic performance thanks to hybrid drive
Porsche hybrid drive technology combines efficiency with unmatched dynamic capability. With the Panamera S E-Hybrid, Porsche has already assumed this leading position in the creation of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Thanks to the 918 Spyder, Porsche is now expanding this role in the super sportscar market. The combustion engine and two electric motors must be used strategically while utilizing the unique advantages that each power source has to offer. Five driving modes are available for drivers to select from, allowing for the best control of a single or mixed drive using the 4.6-liter, eight-cylinder engine’s 447 kW (608 hp) and the two electric motors’ combined 210 kW. (286 hp). The vehicle’s range stretches from fully electric driving across distances of up to 30 kilometers to the racetrack-specific configuration. The 918 Spyder lives up to its promise of being a simple sports car for everyday usage while also being able to break records for the best racing drivers.
The innovative all-wheel drive system, which consists of a combined combustion engine and electric motor drive system on the rear axle and a second electric motor on the front axle, allows for the dynamic performance of the 918. Porsche’s motorsport research work for the popular 911 GT3 R hybrid served as the foundation for this idea. The additional front-wheel drive, which is individually controlled, enables the application of new driving techniques, particularly for exceptionally high yet secure speeds in bends. Additionally, the sophisticated Boost method offers a clever way to control the energy of the electric drive. The plan makes sure that in order to maximize acceleration during each burst of speed, the 918 Spyder’s unrestricted entire power can only be used by fully pushing the accelerator pedal.
Future Porsche sportscar generations will profit from the ground-breaking developments in this technological milestone. While impressively demonstrating the potential offered by plug-in technology for maximum performance and efficiency, the 918 Spyder exemplifies the typical Porsche character. In other words, the genetic code for the Porsche sportscar of the future is found in the 918 Spyder.
It is what?
a hybrid hypercar that is unique. Powered by two electric motors and a 4.6-liter race V8 engine spinning at 9,000 rpm, the vehicle has two seats and a structure made almost completely of carbon fiber. 875 horsepower, four wheel drive, and a staggering 944 lb-ft of torque, with more than half of that available at just 800 rpm. You did indeed read that correctly. The 918 Spyder is the only vehicle like it.
Not even the other two members of the “Holy Trinity,” the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari. With a 6.8kWh battery that is twice the size of the McLaren’s, 282bhp of e-thrust, and a 12-mile electric range, the plug-in Porsche is unquestionably the most hybrid of the three. It can reach 62 mph on electric power alone in just over six seconds.
When the engine is used, that amount is more than cut in half. The V8, which pulls out 600 horsepower and provides the 918 a 0-62 mph time of 2.6 seconds, a 0-124 mph time of 7.2 seconds, and a peak speed of 214 mph, is adapted from the RS Spyder Le Mans vehicle. Frank-Steffen Walliser, the man behind the 918 project, has called it “the best engine we [Porsche] have ever done” despite it being made almost entirely of titanium and aluminum and weighing only 135kg. It claims to get 81 mpg while emitting only 70 g/km of CO2.
While the front drive is entirely electric, the rear electric motor is positioned between the engine and the seven-speed double clutch gearbox. This powertrain cuts off above 165 mph, limiting the vehicle to rear-wheel drive only. Overall, the 918 shares virtually little with any other Porsche road car, including the V8, while having an aluminum double wishbone suspension identical to the RS Spyder racer and adaptive dampers as standard equipment. You can choose between four different drive modes on the steering wheel: electric, hybrid, sport, and race. The engine is always running in the latter two.
Before assembling the 918 production cars, Porsche built 25 prototypes and 25 pre-production cars over the course of three years beginning in 2010. It cost PS781,000 in the UK, tax included.
Under the carbon fiber body panels of Porsche’s second hybrid vehicle (the first was a Panamera), the parts are tightly packed. When the bodywork is stripped away, the 918 Spyder resembles a mechanical Gunter von Hagens exhibit: the skin may have been peeled away, but the underpinnings maintain the same shape. The bodywork doesn’t appear to be stretched or sparse.
The front is a little bit soft due to the recessed headlamps, while the back is more striking. In contrast to its McLaren and Ferrari contemporaries, the roof panels can be pulled out and stored under the bonnet, exposing occupants to the weather and the noise of that high-revving V8. The top exit exhausts are a great talking point.
Essential History of the Porsche 918 Spyder
Despite having a history of creating some of the quickest, fastest, and most extreme performance vehicles the world has ever seen, there are only a handful of real supercars that bear the Porsche crest. Modern 911 Turbos, GT3s, and GT2s unquestionably have supercar-level performance, but they have more in common with ultra-high-performance sports cars than supercars in terms of their whole attitude. Officially, the 959, Carrera GT, and most recently, the powerful Porsche 918 Spyder, are the only three pedestals in Porsche’s pantheon of supercars.
The 918 Spyder ranks among the most cutting-edge, technologically advanced cars the German automaker has ever made, much like the 959 did in the late 1980s. The 918 Spyder, which was first shown as a concept car in 2010 and went on sale for the 2013 model year, is regarded as the first hybrid hypercar and is partly responsible for the current wave of high-performance hybridization that is currently sweeping the industry.
The 918, which was built on a unique mid-engine chassis, included race-ready technology from the automaker’s substantial motorsports department. Much of the power in the 918 comes from a naturally aspirated 4.6-liter V-8 that is based on the 3.4-liter engine in the wildly successful Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 vehicle. Similar to how the 5.7-liter V-10 in the Carrera GT came from a doomed Le Mans Prototype effort. The front and rear dual electric motors each add 279 horsepower to the gasoline engine’s 608 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque, bringing the combined output to 887 horsepower and an astounding 944 lb-ft. The motors are powered by a 6.8 kWh battery, which enables an EPA-rated 12 miles of all-electric range.
Are Porsche 918 Spyders uncommon?
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 (344 kph).
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 Spyder is owned by who?
Today is racing driver Mark Webber’s 39th birthday, and he surprised himself with the most exquisite gift of all: a 918 Spyder.
The 918 Spyder carrying the number 605 is a real one-off model and has been customized precisely to the taste of its new owner: Mark Webber. It has red and white painting in the so-called “Salzburg Design,” a particular interior update, and is one of only 605 ever made.
It is so understandable why the Porsche works driver was so obviously excited to retrieve the super sports vehicle from Zuffenhausen. But you should see for yourself.
The Australian will reoccupy his seat in a different Porsche over the weekend. This time, he will compete with the team for victory in the WEC event at the Nurburgring while driving a 919 Hybrid.