Picture of The Day: Beautiful Succession

Photo credits: Porsche
From right to left: Porsche 917K, Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche 919 Hybrid. One of the most beautiful succession of numbers, for your viewing pleasure.

8:02 PM Read More +

Porsche Releases new 918 Spyder Photos

Just a new set of wallpapers released by Porsche to remind you how beautiful their latest hybrid sports car is. More pictures of it can be found here.

As a reminder, the Porsche 918 Spyder is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 combined with two electric motors to produce 887 Hp. It is able to run on electricity alone for 20 kilometers and has an estimated fuel consumption of 3 liters per 100 km (78 mpg) (when it's not driven like a race car). It can also go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.8 seconds and it can lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:57 once the hot lap mode is activated.

10:50 AM Read More +

Mark Webber Takes Maria Sharapova for A ride with the Porsche 918

Former Red Bull Racing driver has got a busy weekend ahead with the 6 Hours of Spa (Belgium) part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. But that didn't prevent him from taking the beautiful and successful Russian Tennis legend Maria Sharapova for a joyride with the Porsche 918 Spyder. Mark says he is really tempted to buy one, but we're pretty sure that if he climbs on the top march of the podium next June at Le Mans, Porsche won't charge him for their latest hybrid supercar.

It's good to see Mark enjoying his time at Porsche. We can't wait to follow the 6 hours of Spa. Don't forget that you still have access to the Live timing for free on the official FIAWEC website here (link only active during races).


[news source: Porsche]

4:55 PM Read More +

Testing The Sports Car of The Future [VIDEO]

Successful auto journalist is a very tiring job. You have to take some of the most exclusive, fastest and most technologically advanced road cars like the 887 Hp plug-in hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder, drive it around a test track and tell people how it feels. Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar Magazine had to endure this for a day. Here's what he had to say, video after the jump.

8:08 AM Read More +

The Porsche 918 Spyder Looks Absolutely Stunning in Yellow!

The Porsche 918 Spyder is a wonderful piece of technology. It is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 combined with two electric motors to produce 887 Hp. It is able to run on electricity alone for 20 kilometers and has an estimated fuel consumption of 3 liters per 100 km (78 mpg) (when it's not driven like a race car). It can also go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.8 seconds and it can lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:57 once the hot lap mode is activated.

Porsche describes its hybrid supercar as the sports car of the future. And we totally understand them, because with its astonishing performance numbers and its price tag of $845,000, it's definitely ahead of its time.

But that's not even the best part about the 918 Spyder because besides being one of the most technologically advanced road cars, it's also one of the most beautiful. Especially wearing this bright yellow that makes an awesome contrast with the rest of the carbon fiber body elements. More pictures of this stunning piece of technology in the gallery below.

4:14 PM Read More +

The Porsche 918 Spyder's driving Modes Explained

Here's a summary of the driving modes of the Porsche 918 Spyder:

E: Electric power mode, the V8 engine is only used when needed
H: Hybrid mode, the electric motor is working along with the V8 engine in order to provide the most efficient fuel consumption.
S: Sport Hybrid mode, the V8 engine's full power is used and the electric motor provides the boost for a stronger acceleration.
R: Race hybrid mode, the boost of the electric motors is further increased.
Hot Lap mode: The V8 engine as well as the electric motor work together in order to achieve maximum performance.

But it would be better if you watch the video below for more details.

4:36 PM Read More +

6:57 for the Martini Supercar

The Porsche 918 Spyder is not only the cheapest compared to the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari, but it's also the least powerful. But that didn't stop the German hybrid supercar from achieving a sub-7 minutes time on the Green Hell. 6 minutes and 57 seconds to be precise. Now I'd like to know what Ferrari and McLaren have to say about this. Especially McLaren...

10:36 PM Read More +

The Porsche 918 Hybrid Spyder could Produce 875 Hp!

Porsche spent too much time developing its hybrid 918 supercar that the originally announced 700 Hp combined output is no longer as impressive as it was. And with the new hypercars from Ferrari and McLaren developing a combined output exceeding 900 Hp, it was time for the German sports car maker to make a riposte, which it did.

So don't you go and think that the Zuffenhausen engineers remained watching their Italian and British competitors with their arms crossed, they actually kept improving their hypbrid supercar and now the rumored output is set to exceed 875 Hp! That would fix things up and make the Porsche 918 a direct competitor to the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari.

Next thing for the three supercars makers: prepare LMP1 efforts for Le Mans based on their three hypercars. Porsche is already preparing its self for 2014. Your turn Ferrari and McLaren.. Let the battle begin!

10:43 AM Read More +

VIDEO: A closer look to the Porsche 918 Spyder with Jay Leno

In this episode Jay Leno discusses some of the key design elements of the Porsche 918 Spyder with the Design Chief Michael Mauer. Every single detail in this car is just a work of art. A screaming Porsche V8, 738Hp and a full electric all wheel drive. If this is the future, i'd like to be there when it happens.

3:17 PM Read More +

The most desirable Hybrid Spyder now has a sound... A good one

Finally we have the chance to see the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept alive and running. The 918 Spyder lived up to its concept styling so let's hope it would be same for the announced performance figures with a Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 7:20!

As a reminder, The 918 spyder uses the 500+ Hp V8 engine coming from the successful RS spyder race prototype. Unlike the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the electric motors which develop altogether 218 Hp drive both front and rear axles which offer the car an electric all-wheel drive with torque vectoring.

For a full description of the car go back to this post.

Countdown to Motion: Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Drives. from TangentVector on Vimeo.

4:30 PM Read More +

Porsche 918 Spyder concept

Porsche and Ferrari are clearly leading the way to a new generation of high performance hybrids. Nearly a couple of weeks ago, we saw the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid race car concept which had as a goal to introduce hybrid technology to endurance racing. But Porsche surprised us with a new hybrid concept this time for the road: the 918 Spyder. The "super sports car" is part of the new wave of hybrid technologies introduced by Porsche dubbed "Porsche Intelligent Performance". Even if the new Porsche 918 Spyder is presented as a concept, Porsche seems to have plans for its new "intelligent performance" technologies that go beyond a simple concept.

Technology

The 918 spyder uses the 500 Hp V8 engine coming from the successful RS spyder race prototype. Unlike the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the electric motors which develop altogether 218 Hp drive both front and rear axles which offer the car an electric all-wheel drive with torque vectoring.

If you want to run on pure electric power you can still do a little 25 Km (nearly 16 miles). Maybe that can be useful if you ran out of gas? Otherwise, i don't see why a performance oriented car needs that.


Styling



The styling is said to be inspired from the RS spyder and the legendary Porsche 917. While this kind of ressemblance does not seem very obvious, one thing is sure: the car does look like a Porsche and it does look really good.


Performance



The 918 Spyder weights less than 1490 KG and will sprint from 0 to 100KM/h (62 mph) in less than 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 320 KM/H (200 mph). The car is even planned to take the Nurbürgring challenge with a target time of less than 7:30 which is by the way faster than the Carrera GT. Impressive numbers, even for a non hybrid... is the new hybrid spyder capable of such a performance? Let's wait and see.

Other features



The 918 spyder uses what it seems to be little cameras instead of the classic rear view mirrors. There is no word yet from Porsche about the benefits of such a replacement.

The 918 Spyder is surely a surprising concept whith tons of new thechnologies. Until we see what it is really capable of, enjoy watching the gallery below.

11:12 PM Read More +