I feel like this car will become the Prius of hypercars.

 

There were certaintly some positives within the review, I will say the exhaust sounded very good and they have improved on that quite a bit. The car is also very nice looking, the technology with the weight saving parts is very interesting as well. But, like he said what's the point of this extensive weight saving when you're basically adding bricks to the car which massively increase the weight of the car..

I feel like this is a very good car, but it's timing is just not favorable with the ferrari and Mclaren counterparts being simply put, better cars and sure to be more exciting to drive. I found it quite interseting that there are 918+ buyers for this car, and it speaks to the brand loyalty that Porsche exudes, but to what extent does brand loyalty extend? I'm a Porsche nut but if it was my pennies I would certaintly be heading to the ferrari dealership (that is if they would let me )

 

I agree with all of these posts.

What gets under my skin the most is the fact that with every press release coming from Porsche, McLaren and other supercar makers make a point to mention Consumption, CO2 levels & MPG's within the first two sentences.

Is there anyone at any of these companies actively trying to lobby the exemption for very low-volume cars like these? If not, I think their future is in doubt.

The heart & soul of any sports car is the engine. I think companies are beginning to forget about this. How much again do all of the batteries and hybrid tech add to 918? Imagine this: What if you DOUBLED the displacement of that 4.6L engine and kept all of it's features and specific output per liter? How much weight would that add? A much as the hybrid tech adds?Imagine what that would feel like. What it would sound like. The throttle response. Sure, your mileage would be less, but what about cylinder deactivation technologies? You could probably run it down the highway on 2 cylinders.

The petrol engine in the 918 is actually quite impressive. After watching this video, I like how the gas engine came alive through throttle application. But, as an owner I would be seriously concerned with engine longetivity after having the car "ignite" the gas engine from zero to high RPM's within (less than) seconds for addition power. At what price to the drivetrain.

I don't know...

Love the car, hate the politics. Chris Harris for President.

 

All of you are right, guys! And I agree with you in most of your well thought through points, but I wanna add some:
First of all it is sort of hypothetical to say that there are (more than) 918 buyers. So far the 918 is NOT sold out as a recent report mentioned...which is quite the opposite from LaFerrari.
I totally agree with you and with Chris Harris that at this point of time it looks like Porsche is gonna have a problem since supercars are about setting superlatives...and the 918 does not while the P1 and the LaFerrari do.
On the other hand I'm having a hard time believing that Porsche builds something that disappoints...has it ever?
AND how can we be so sure that the P1 and the LaFerrari actually deliver what they promise...no one got a chance to drive or get a ride in one of these so far, but we just believe what they claim. With Porsche it's different: they are being transparent and letting people drive their car during its development process and what we do is judge the car by what we see and read without it being finished yet...aren't we being a little unfair?

 

^ Good point. We haven't heard or seen much of anything about the way these cars drive. But I think we know very much what to expect, to me the laferrari can be nothing but an exceptional drive I mean Ferrari rarely ever disappoints. The mclaren has just as much upside IMO, I think we have just come to know the modern super car and with the specifications that these cars offer it's safe to assume they will be absolute knockouts on the track

 

Agreed with maxtheone. Great point!

I really hope Porsche will still deliver. My favorite super car will always be the Carrera GT.

A 650-700hp (wishful) V8 at about 1100 kg's + all the active aero and the special sticky tires, would have been the true soul of the car.

 

Personally, I'm starting to get a little irritated with everyone grousing about the 918 Spyder being a hybrid. I know, I know, everybody's entitled to their opinion and they're entitled to express it...but so am I.

I think everyone complaining about the 918 Spyder is missing the point of the car. It's a supercar, not a street-legal race car. Supercars aren't necessarily about the rawest driving experience—they're about being loud (visually and sonically), fast, and outrageous. And they're also a chance for car companies to show off the technologies they plan on using in the future.

Porsche is basically using the 918 Spyder as a development program for the technologies of tomorrow's "ordinary" Porsches. Yes, it's silly to demand that a limited run of less than 1,000 supercars conform to emissions standards when Ford sells 650,000 F-Series pickups every year in the U.S. alone. But Porsche isn't developing performance hybrid technology just for the 918 918 Spyder owners; it's for the hundreds of thousands of people who will buy Panameras and Cayennes and 911s and Caymans and Boxsters in the next decade. And on that scale, saving fuel and cutting down on emissions starts to make sense. Supercars aren't just sports cars for the super-rich. They're proving grounds for the sports cars of tomorrow for everyone. Just ask the 959.

This isn't to say I'm one of those people who thinks people who want a "raw driving experience" are Luddites who need to join the modern day, mind you. I'm still pissed that Porsche isn't offering a stick shift on the new GT3 and Turbo. Two of my favorite cars are the new Shelby GT500 and the Scion FR-S, specifically because they're so raw, direct and uncultured. I love a pure sports car that minimizes the distance between vehicle and driver.

But that's not what an $845,000 Porsche should be. That's what the GT2 and GT3 and Cayman R and Boxster Spyder should be, but not the 918 Spyder. It should be what it is—a technological wünderwagen that advances the state of automotive performance by any and every means available. That includes lightweight construction, advanced materials, clever packaging, active aerodynamics—and yes, even batteries and electric motors.

Because there are some distinct performance benefits to electric motors. They fill in the lower end of a high-revving engine's torque curve astoundingly well—which is what LaFerrari and the P1 use them for, as well. They provide instant supplementary power without the lag of a turbocharger or a supercharger. They can be recharged by the act of driving itself, unlike nitrous oxide, and can save wear and tear on the brakes by absorbing and reusing some of that stopping energy.

Porsche has built a car that weighs 3,700 pounds, yet can still lap the Nordschleife in about seven minutes flat, if Walter Röhrl is to be believed. That's astounding. They've made a single car that can drive 15 miles without using a drop of gasoline and blast from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds on the way to a 211 mph top speed. If Porsche stripped all the electric bits out of it, yes, it'd be a few hundred pounds lighter and a couple hundred grand cheaper—but it probably wouldn't be anywhere nearly as quick as it is. At which point, we'd be asking, "Why pay $500,000 for this car when a new 911 GT3 is just as fast and just as fun for a quarter of the price?"

The 918 Spyder is what it's supposed to be: a supercar. Supercars aren't supposed to be entirely logical. They're supposed to be wild, expensive, fast as hell...and futuristic. And that's just what the 918 Spyder is. So instead of griping and groaning about how we all wish it were actually just a fancy targa-top 911 GT3, why don't we take a breath and appreciate it for the amazing feat that it is.

Thanks for listening.

#endrant

 

I can't help but imagine how awesome it would be if they substituted the hybrid part with a twin turbo setup. Lighter and much more power potential to be had than just the extra 200 or so hp from the batteries and motors.

 

Now, I would like to see 918 Spider vs La Ferrari vs P1 racing on Nurburgring

 

In the end, I was smiling watching that video as Chris said he was every time he stepped out of it. Its cars with this performance that ignite my addiction and uncontrollable passion for cars. Most modded super cars these days hope to do a quarter mile in 10.5 seconds at 135mph. This does 124 in under 8 seconds, so probably a 8 second quarter, what would that feel like????