This is the Porsche 918 Spyder concept, a plug-in hybrid concept car that previews a Carrera GT replacement. Potential customers can sign a letter of interest at any Porsche dealership following the Geneva motor show, which essentially confirms the car for production.
Once Porsche officially gives the green light to the car, those who have signed the letter have 14 days to turn their interest into a deposit. The car has been launched under Porsche's new Porsche Intelligent Performance slogan, which it has given to all its hybrid models, including the 911 racer, Cayenne and the 918 itself.
The mid-engined two-seater achieves headline figures of 94mpg and 70g/km of CO2. It hits 62mph from a standstill in 3.2 seconds
See the Porsche 918 Spyder concept pictures
Matt Saunders blog: Porsche’s 918 Spyder in detail
The car is powered by an eight-cylinder engine "delivering more than 500bhp" and three electric motors with overall output of 160kW.
Porsche says the car is capable of a sub 7m 30s lap around the Nurburgring. It can also travel up to 25 kilometers on battery power alone.
During the car's launch, Michael Macht, CEO of Porsche AG, pointedly said that the company has never shown a concept car that it didn't go on to be put into production. He did add, however, that the company would wait to judge show opinion on the car before committing to making it. He also said Porsche now had hybrid models for the "road, the track and the future".
Porsche's R&D chief Wolfgang Durheimer said the Cayenne, 911 and 918 hybrid models in display at Geneva showed that "the hybrid era has begun for Porsche". He added that Porsche's parallel hybrid system "was the way to go" for its future models.
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Re: Porsche 918 Spyder eco concept
A lot of positive comments on the blog, but why no hardtop?, too much like a Ferrari 360?, i do like it,it makes a wonderful noise, but, in the space of 2 or 3 years we all of a sudden have powerful cars with ultra low Co2 and frankly dubious mpg!,why has this tech taken or indeed what reason can be given for delaying this tech for so long?
Re: Porsche 918 Spyder eco concept
I wonder if Clarkson has noticed this engineering masterpiece. Unlikely though, as he will be admiring himself in the nearest mirror.
Re: Porsche 918 Spyder eco concept
Not too sure about the styling, but at least it doesn't follow the usual Porsche philosophy of taking a random car shape and throwing '911 design cues' all over it.
Hope they build it, but tweak the styling a bit so it doesn't look like a Tesla tuned by a Japanese company.