918 [Official] Porsche 918 Spyder

[Sunny]

Porsche's own calculations. Can't disclose the source, but 918 hierarchy wise there is nobody over him.

?

 

[RS2000 4X4]

?

Exactly what I thought lol

 

[Bridster]

Just put a turbo on it. 200 hp/l?

We are talking about whether Porsche ran the engine at higher power during the Sport Auto/AMS test. Don't you think putting a turbo on it might be a slightly bit noticeable?

 

[PC Valkyrie]

So it is no surprise to me that this car is very fast in a straight line, and seems to have enormous skidpad/lane change grip. Is the 7:13 Ring time from Sport Auto a disappointment for anybody here?

And do people really think Porsche is "cheating" by providing a car that is not entirely stock? Where is that suggestion coming from?

 

[Rolf]

So it is no surprise to me that this car is very fast in a straight line, and seems to have enormous skidpad/lane change grip. Is the 7:13 Ring time from Sport Auto a disappointment for anybody here?

And do people really think Porsche is "cheating" by providing a car that is not entirely stock? Where is that suggestion coming from?

I am not disappointed in that ring time cause they said in the test they only had one lap with no traffic and two laps with traffic so the car can obviously go faster than that. I would reckon it can get close to 7min barrier or under as Porsche has already proven. The performance figures achieved in the AMS/AS tests are close to factory claims and also almost identical to the Motor Trend test figures so I think this car is not over spec or cheating!

 

[DeDe]

I highly doubt that HvS could be faster. He had two laps for practicing, five with almost full throttle but slight traffic and one without traffic. He had 7 laps to "get warm"...

 

[tristatez28lt1]

You got it.

 

[F40 LeMans]

The performance figures achieved in the AMS/AS tests are close to factory claims...

I'm not 100% completely sure of this simply because this 918 was faster to 300kph than Autocar's P1. An engine can be in spec for torque figures being it out of specs for power. Why not? This is not the first time. That particular combination will produce faster acceleration times at high speed being fast as claimed to the lower. 1sec faster to 300kph could be a lot of power at these levels. We must remember that the engine reflects its torque band characteristics to the asphalt through every single gear of the gearbox. Porsche initially claimed 0-300 kph 23"0 and is 19"9 now. How do you think they improved the time if not using more power?

 

[Rolf]

I'm not 100% completely sure of this simply because this 918 was faster to 300kph than Autocar's P1. An engine can be in spec for torque figures being it out of specs for power. Why not? This is not the first time. That particular combination will produce faster acceleration times at high speed being fast as claimed to the lower. 1sec faster to 300kph could be a lot of power at these levels. We must remember that the engine reflects its torque band characteristics to the asphalt through every single gear of the gearbox. Porsche initially claimed 0-300 kph 23"0 and is 19"9 now. How do you think they improved the time if not using more power?

The power output of the 918 did increase from the initial specs when the car was first shown to the public of about 795hp to 887hp and this resulted in the improvement in acceleration especially higher speeds. The acceleration to 300km/h is affected by the combination of huge power/torque, good aerodynamics and also depends on the test conditions (especially wind speed) and road surface. The test conditions for the 918 were not favourable as they had problems with high wind so one way it took 20sec and another way 18sec for 2 way average of 19.1sec. It was the same with the Autocar P1 test as they mentioned dampness on the track, perhaps it could have affected their acceleration times as well. The only way to find out once and for all which is faster is to get both cars together and measure their power and torque outputs to check how close they are to factory specs and then take them to the same stretch of road or track in really good weather conditions and then record the figures up to 300km/h. Should be fun!!!

 

[F40 LeMans]

The power output of the 918 did increase from the initial specs when the car was first shown to the public of about 795hp to 887hp and this resulted in the improvement in acceleration especially higher speeds. The acceleration to 300km/h is affected by the combination of huge power/torque, good aerodynamics and also depends on the test conditions (especially wind speed) and road surface. The test conditions for the 918 were not favourable as they had problems with high wind so one way it took 20sec and another way 18sec for 2 way average of 19.1sec. It was the same with the Autocar P1 test as they mentioned dampness on the track, perhaps it could have affected their acceleration times as well. The only way to find out once and for all which is faster is to get both cars together and measure their power and torque outputs to check how close they are to factory specs and then take them to the same stretch of road or track in really good weather conditions and then record the figures up to 300km/h. Should be fun!!!

Two points are not making sense to me in this theory. I'm not able to agree. First of all, a 918 Spyder that did 0-300 kph 20s against wind means it's anyway a fast car. A car that can do the official time on a windy day tell us that is fast. I don't think that Porsche claimed their factory official performance made during a windy day. I would have thought a worse 0-300 kph time than 20s in that windy condition. The second point is that dampness on track does not affect acceleration times unless they are during the start phases, and here, during that P1 road test, start phases seems not to been too much affected by eccessive wheelspin since the 0-120 mph time was close to claimed time, rather, temperature was better for power than the 918 test since low temperature is better for engine combustion. I'm saying these things because we connot be too abstract if there are bases. I agree that testing in the same day and same conditions should be better to compare.

 

[Observer1]

Two points are not making sense to me in this theory. I'm not able to agree. First of all, a 918 Spyder that did 0-300 kph 20s against wind means it's anyway a fast car. A car that can do the official time on a windy day tell us that is fast. I don't think that Porsche claimed their factory official performance made during a windy day. I would have thought a worse 0-300 kph time than 20s in that windy condition. The second point is that dampness on track does not affect acceleration times unless they are during the start phases, and here, during that P1 road test, start phases seems not to been too much affected by eccessive wheelspin since the 0-120 mph time was close to claimed time, rather, temperature was better for power than the 918 test since low temperature is better for engine combustion. I'm saying these things because we connot be too abstract if there are bases. I agree that testing in the same day and same conditions should be better to compare.

I am not sure whether the observations made by some, that the 918 tested acceleration figures appear to be faster than the official figures are sufficient grounds to suspect 'foul' play here. Usually, Porsche's official figures are rather on the conservative side to begin with.

 

[F40 LeMans]

I am not sure whether the observations made by some, that the 918 tested acceleration figures appear to be faster than the official figures are sufficient grounds to suspect 'foul' play here. Usually, Porsche's official figures are rather on the CONSERVATIVE side to begin with.

The Carrera GT as example, the previous Porsche supercar, was surely one car that Porsche not claimed on the conservative side. They claimed 0-200 kph 9"9 and 0-1km 19"9 and during their tests numbers were usually on the high side of 10's and 20's... European press never made better than factory claims..

As I said, this is just an example.

 

[Mafalda]

an answer to all
- This 918 seems in very "good form" and very very light (waiting for more Euro-reviews)
- 0-100 and 0-200 seem ok, but after 240 Kph seems too fast
- 317 Kph @ Ring is incredibly fast!! I repeat: the front engine (130ps) seems still alive also after the 265 Kph
- also, I think the hotlap 7'13" is beatble, because is not easy did a perfect lap on 21 km with a almost 900ps supercar. even so, the claimed 6'57" seems a bit far...
- about the P1, the track a bit wet is not a problem @ very high speed

 

[Observer1]

I take you points though I am still not sold on the 'conspiracy theories'...

Meanwhile, the video to go with the Motortrend report with the non-WS package prototype:

 

[Mafalda]

I take you points though I am still not sold on the 'conspiracy theories'...

Meanwhile, the video to go with the Motortrend report with the non-WS package prototype:

1. thanks for video
2. no cospiracy, just some doubts @ very high speed

 

[Bridster]

an answer to all
- This 918 seems in very "good form" and very very light (waiting for more Euro-reviews)
- 0-100 and 0-200 seem ok, but after 240 Kph seems too fast
- 317 Kph @ Ring is incredibly fast!! I repeat: the front engine (130ps) seems still alive also after the 265 Kph
- also, I think the hotlap 7'13" is beatble, because is not easy did a perfect lap on 21 km with a almost 900ps supercar. even so, the claimed 6'57" seems a bit far...
- about the P1, the track a bit wet is not a problem @ very high speed

But...

- The 918's claimed weight (1640 kg) was already DIN, which, as it turns out, is very close to "magazine weight".
- The 240-300 time is actually not that fast. It comes in at 8.6s (the 918 still at 764 PS with the front engine disconnected at 265 km/h), while for example the Aventador (700 PS) does 240-300 in about 10s.
- Again, with 764 PS it's perhaps not that surprising. What is surprising though is that they still had enough juice on the final straight. Porsche ran out of it on their official lap.
- The claimed 6:57 time doesn't really seem very far to me. If anything I am a bit surprised HvS was able to get that close. The factory lap times often differ as much or more to the Sport Auto ones (Gumpert Apollo, LFA Nurburgring Pack, GT-R, etc). And it is not every time factory spends this many resources on getting a good lap.

 

[Mafalda]

Ok if a 918 can 20s despite against wind, a LaFerrari can easly 15s
P.S. don't forget how the elettropower'd give its best @ low/mid rpm and speed: @ very high speed (you can read it in LaFe offcial website) is more important the engine, and the 918 has "only" 608ps
....and 317 Kph @ ring is a brutal speed ...with 764ps
we'll see..

 

[F40 LeMans]

I take you points though I am still not sold on the 'conspiracy theories'...

As mafalda said, just doubts, because today manufacturers come out with special factory cars, often fitted with special ECUs..

 

[Mafalda]

Right, not only from Maranello .. i remember the beautiful days of "how Ferrari spin", when almost all the members here talk about the rockets inside ferraris

 

[F40 LeMans]

- The 240-300 time is actually not that fast. It comes in at 8.6s (the 918 still at 764 PS with the front engine disconnected at 265 km/h), while for example the Aventador (700 PS) does 240-300 in about 10s.

The problem is that the Aventador did it in about 10s with a way more than 700 hp