Porsche 918 Spyder Official Details Released

Porsche has finally released all of the details on the 918 Spyder, the German brand’s challenger to the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari, after months of leading our poor, performance-loving hearts on. The covers were lifted at the Volkswagen Group night, an enormous precursor to the Frankfurt Motor Show, and include a massive, 11,000-word press release that’s attached at the bottom of this page.

The 918 Spyder features a mid-mounted, dry-sump-lubricated, 4.6-liter V8 engine that generates 608 horsepower when left to its own devices. Combined with a trio of electric motors, which produce 286 hp, the total system horsepower for the 918 Spyder rests at 887 ponies. That’s less than the McLaren P1 (903 hp) and the LaFerrari (949 hp), but the Porsche is also likely to be a bit cheaper, starting at $845,000, while the McLaren will be in the seven-figure range for certain, and it will more than likely be joined by the LaFezza.

And that’s kind of the theme with the 918 Spyder – it’s a lot of everything, just not as much as the competition. The LaFerrari and P1 can hit 62 in under three seconds, 124 in under seven seconds, and be doing 186 in 15 and 17 seconds, respectively. The 918 Spyder counters with a 2.8-second jog to 62, a 7.7-second run to 124 and it will hit 186 in 22 seconds. We don’t know about you, but for over $150,000 less, we can take a few extra seconds to reach 186 mph.

We know it’s quick, but how is it as a hybrid? Quite good, by the looks of it. It’ll toodle along on electric power at speeds up to 93 mph and will get anywhere from 10 to 20 miles per charge (admittedly, not while doing 93 mph). It can be charged in four hours on a German 230-volt outlet, which means times should be similar on an American 220-volt plug. A DC fast charger, which is an optional extra with the 918, can recharge a drained battery in 25 minutes.

Click Here To Read Official Press Release.

Source: Porsche | Autoblog.com

This entry was posted on Monday, September 9th, 2013 at 1:41 pm. It is filed under Automotive, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.