Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

+1

The good side with hybrid is that you can keep H/R NA engines, like for example 918 Spyder, NSX MkII (if it comes),... The i8 however has a much smaller and turbocharged engine, but is rather a sportscar than a supercar, it also has four seats. And concerning the weight, the i8 seems to be the lightest at 1400 kg dry. However this could change until production, it could get heavier.

The downside of it is still the hybrid adds aot of weight, so a hybrid car and only be built from scratch as a hybrid, cannot be based on a normal car.


To see whether hybrid is really worth, in terms of performance, we should compare let us say a 918 Spyder against a 918 Spyder with all hybrid hardware deleted. Just this would shave off some 300 kg. And maybe without hybrid it will be slower on straight line and have no "turbo low range toruqe" but should feel better without the added weight.

I think I'd still prefere a 550 PS, 1375 kg 918 Spyder than a 740 PS, 1675 kg 918 Spyder Hybrid.

PS: Is it going to be a 3,4l V8 or a 4,6l V8?

Go James! Kick his ass!

I won't forget the days when the E60 M5 decuted. There were loud chants about sequential and dual clutch gearboxes being products of the devil and that the inventors of them should be burnt like witches. People who experienced those gearboxes though were quick to convert. Sure they don't replace the satisfaction of working gearbox discs and gears manually but the experience of being able to drive without worrying about gearing provided a different satisfaction that previously wasn't there.

Electric engines are the same. On the 9th this month me and two colleagues went gokarting. Both were a bit dissapointed to hear that the gokarts were we going to drive were electric. They were driven indoor on an 400m track with elevation changes. When we finally got to it, neither of them even uttered any word about engines. All they uttered was awesome. What an electrifying experience it was. The power deliver was the equivalent of a heroin shot, instant rush and gratification. Whenever I asked for power by pressing the accelerator pedal, it came instantly - every single time. The longest straight was probably about 40m but yet on my post-race telemetry print out it said that I managed to clock an amazing 91km/h top speed!

It was like being Clu in Tron Legacy The whining of the motor was like a washing machine starting the centrifugal cycle, and it was awesome every single time. Never did I have to care about gearing, warming up the engine or keeping it cool. My car's electric motor delivered maximum power instantly and had the surface been gripper, I would easily have reached 100km/h in that confined space. It would not have been possible with a similar sized petrol engine.

3.4l is too small, 4.6l is much more realistic because electric engine have one limitation that advancement in battery technology need to solve - and that is consumption at high speeds. The faster you drive the more energy the engine consumes. Therefore the size of the combustion engine in the 918 need to be sufficiently large enough to do 75% of the grunt work because the electric motors won't - unless both the driver and passenger seats are thrown out and replaced by human sized batteries.

You're right about the architecture of hybrid cars though. Ideally the idea should be there for the get go, and not be an additive. Tesla Motor have got it right with Model S. The car is built as an electric powered one from the ground up and subsequently the batteries are integrated into the car's floor.

Weight will do a certain extent always be felt, but judging by some sports car on the market the manufacturers care more about performance figures then they do about nimbleness.

Here's an idea of what the 918 might sound like:

[video=youtube_share;0bFShHZv4wk]http://youtu.be/0bFShHZv4wk?t=35s[/media]

Sounds like a RC car.

More like a washing machine. I love the sound at 40sec when the petrol engine is engaged.

Now we have driving vacuum cleaners. Soon we'll have driving washing machines.

It sounds like the i8 in Mission Impossible.

New details - An Exclusive Ride in the World's First Plug-In Hybrid Supercar | Autopia | Wired.com

Looks like it uses 'hot side inside' approach and the exhaust side is in the valley, but no turbos of course.

Here's a first drive of the car that I'm looking forward to reading at lunch time. This car is really happening. Can't wait to read all the details.


An Exclusive Ride in the World’s First Plug-In Hybrid Supercar





NARDO, Italy – There’s a digital clock mounted above the door of Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser’s office counting down the days until the launch of Porsche 918 Spyder. It’s a constant reminder of what Walliser and his team have been tasked with. They’re reinventing the supercar for the 21st century and we’ve traveled all the way to the high-security Nardo Test Track for an exclusive ride in the world’s first plug-in hybrid supercar.

More:
An Exclusive Ride in the World's First Plug-In Hybrid Supercar | Autopia | Wired.com

800.000 € is IMO too expensive and really not worth. Even the Carrera GT was not cheap, and after all is not the fastest. Comparing all these exclusive exotics, Bugatti Veyron, Mercedes SL 65 AMG BS, Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari 599 GTO, Maserati MC12, Aston Martin One-77, Aston Martin V12 Zagato, Alfa Romeo 8C, Lamborghini Aventador J, the Lexus LFA is a bargain, the "best bang for your buck".

^ your imo is not worth anything to Porsche or multi millionaires..

Makes things a lot more compact doesn't it?

Riding Shotgun in the 2014 Porsche 918 Hybrid

Then neither for the LFA. I don't say it won't sell, but "imo" the Aston Martin is not worth for multi millionaires, see it is not that successful. They are apparently not sold out yet.

Riding Shotgun in the 2014 Porsche 918 Hybrid

Oh my....I forgot all about this car. This car is going to cause some major bank accounts to be opened fully and unconditionally to Porsche.


M

It does but I'm wondering how they are going to counter the problems of extremely hot gasses flowing between the cylinder banks and possibly trading walls with fuel rigs and manifolds. Surely the chances of engine misfire will be low since the car will likely prefer high octane petrol but surely for cooling purposes it would be better to run the exhausts at the sides of the engine near any cooling ducts or vents.

Perhaps someone can shed some more light on this.

^

[video=youtube_share;kXAnGfsqyy4]http://youtu.be/kXAnGfsqyy4[/media]