918 at Monterey

sean73T · #1 08-11-2010, 05:15 PM

I was very skeptical of this car after reading about it. Now after seeing it in person, and talking to people who are involved with the development of the car, I am extremely impressed and my doubts are gone.

Some of you may not know, but this car was built in 5 months. There is a working motor(3.4L racing V8) in the car. To get the car up on the display it was only driven in full electric mode which is quite loud. This car has been driven around quite a lot. After looking at the car, you can see a lot of road grime which you could only acquire through quite a lot of driving. There are a few cars out there which are, disguised Cayman/boxter mules, using the 918 chassis and drive train. So the car is already in testing. Many of you have speculated that this car will not out perform the CGT due to it's weight and HP. The HP is NOT final, Expect more. Also expect the weight to be down as well. Remember when word first came out of the CGT it only had 550HP, than for production it had 605, so expect more HP.

Random info I can think of-

The whole car is currently CF, yet when it goes into production, part of the front end will be aluminum for crash reasons.
The center console display is a touch screen, which is a first for Porsche.
If approved they will stick with the camera's for side view mirrors, the display for the mirrors is located in the instrument cluster.
There is talk of there being a hardtop version and a rag top version as well, He did not know of any RS version.
The rims are currently 22's, for production expect them to be smaller.
The car does use regenerative braking, as well as a plug in function to charge the hybrid system.
Production numbers for this car is unknown at this point, rumors are around 1000-1200.
The size of the motor will increase in displacement, say from 3.4L to 3.6L.
The transmission in this car is a PDK, and will most likely go into production as a PDK. There will not be an option for a 6spd on the car.
The back bumper will be changed for production because they are going to have to put a spot for the license plate somewhere.
And the tail pipes on the side are unknown on whether or not they will make it to production due to either aerodynamics or customers liking them.
And this prototype is also pretty cheap, it is only worth over $20mill

Porsche is HOPING to make it where, when the car is ready to be ordered, they will contact you. Ask you what dealer you would like to purchase the car through at MSRP. This will alleviate the hassle of dealers saying who gets them and who doesn't. They are unsure if they can do this in America due to certain laws.

And finally, if you are interested in the car and live on the East coast, Porsche will be bringing the car to Florida. If you are invited to the event GO. If you go, Porsche will contact you and tell you when anymore information is out. Also if you go, you will be given first dibs on the car. Porsche will also be asking you many questions because they want this car to be what customers want, this time around they want the 918 to be very customer friendly.

Pricing has yet to be known, but from what I could tell from the Porsche Reps response, it does seem like its gonna cost you quite a few body parts, if not your first and second child.

Now for the goodies, sorry for the crappy pics:

sean73T · #2 08-11-2010, 05:19 PM

More

sean73T · #3 08-11-2010, 05:24 PM

and More

GuessWho · #4 08-11-2010, 05:26 PM

Thanks for the write up!

DJ · #5 08-11-2010, 05:41 PM

Thank you Sean!!! Posted on the fbook page as well!

Chris G · #6 08-11-2010, 05:42 PM

I love it.

I wonder where specifically in FL this car will be displayed? I'd love to attend under media. It would definitely be worth my time.

easyc · #7 08-11-2010, 05:46 PM

Oh boy that is incredible.

ljg · #8 08-11-2010, 05:47 PM

SWEEEEEET! Thanks for the pics!

burnzie · #9 08-11-2010, 05:51 PM

Looks incredible, thank you so much for sharing!

sean73T · #10 08-11-2010, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris G »

I love it.

I wonder where specifically in FL this car will be displayed? I'd love to attend under media. It would definitely be worth my time.

The rep didn't mention where it is going to be showed in FL. No matter where, its an invite only event, especially for the media. So pull some strings now!