Porsche 918 Spyder Concept
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http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1210_porsche_918_spyder_first_ride/
Green Hell: Porsche's Out to Change the Future of Clean Cars, One Lap at a Time
Porsche doesn't have to build this car. That's my first thought sitting shotgun in a Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid prototype hurtling down a road a mere stone's throw from the fabled Green Hell of the Nurburgring. The 918 is a risk -- a giant risk, in fact. Porsche is at the top of its game right now with the new 911 and Boxster, and as far as I can tell, no one out there with piles of disposable income is asking for a hybrid supercar. I would go so far as to say the situation is quite the opposite.
But aside from some misshapen headlights on the 996 series 911, Porsche is not in the habit of making mistakes. If this project turns out badly, it could do irreparable damage to the legendary German sports car manufacturer's reputation. If it turns out as planned, it will not only redefine hybrids as we know them, but the world of supercars as well.
To make this easier on everyone, let's skip the argument about the value and usefulness of your neighbor's hybrid and just agree they're here to stay, and most of us will be driving one in some form or another by the end of the decade. Stop the groaning; it doesn't have to be bad. The Prius is boring, but not because it's a hybrid. If the Prius were powered by a 300-hp V-6, it would still be boring. Hybrid technology itself isn't bad and can be used just as much for performance as for being green.
Ask 10 race fans their favorite images of endurance racing, and least six of them will say something about glowing cherry-red brake rotors in the twilight hours on the Mulsanne at Le Mans. But as much as we all love those rotors, they're a prime example of why we need hybrids. All that pretty red light beaming off the rotors is energy the car has lost and will never regain. Generally speaking, a hybrid captures a portion of that energy through brake regeneration, stores it in a battery, and dispenses it back through electric motors.
But the 918 isn't just about slapping a battery and electric motors onto a sports car. This is the most technologically advanced car Porsche has ever built, and it might be a greater leap today than the 959 was back in 1986. The technology, from drivetrain, to chassis, to aerodynamics, and especially its power delivery system, will find its way into future Porsche products. The 918 isn't about Porsche building a run of supercars and calling it a day. It's about developing new tech for the next generation.
Like most modern prototype race cars, the 918 is built around a composite monocoque -- essentially a high-tech bathtub. The tub is built from Resin Transfer Molded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic, or RTM CFRP. The dry carbon-fiber material is placed in a mold and the liquid matrix is pumped in while a vacuum pump simultaneously evacuates the air. This method minimizes voids -- areas where the fibers are not surrounded by resin -- and maximizes the fiber to matrix ratio. It isn't the most advanced method (Formula 1 uses a different process), but it is the best for mass production vehicles. The rear of the 918 uses an RTM subframe to mount the powertrain, and aluminum crash structures are mounted at both front and rear. The strength of the car comes completely from the monocoque. The two-piece removable carbon-fiber roof is simply to keep the sun off the driver and protect his or her undoubtedly well-coiffed hair.
It does seem like a shame to take the roof off the car, because Porsche did so much wind tunnel work. The 918 has three distinct aerodynamic modes. The first is an efficient mode that creates the least amount of drag by lowering the rear wing and closing off underbody ground effects tunnels. Sport mode creates the highest level of down force by raising the rear wing and increasing its angle of attack. It also utilizes flaps at the front of the car to feed air to the underbody of the car, creating downforce with a diffuser at the rear of the car. The last mode is for the highest top speed possible, and reduces the angle of attack on the rear wing but keeps it extended. Also in an effort to reduce drag, the side vents in the front fascia are able to open and close depending on cooling needs. In most conditions they will remain closed to push air around the car rather than through it. But the designers insisted they open when the car is at rest for aesthetic reasons.
Porsche has worked to keep the car's mass low and centralized. The 918 has the lowest seating position of any Porsche road car ever. The driver's most sensitive piece of feedback-gathering equipment is located fewer than 7 inches above terra firma -- think about that when you're pounding along at triple-digit speeds. The drivetrain is mounted as low as possible, which required flipping the gearset in the car's seven-speed PDK transmission. The engine uses a dry-sump oiling system, not only for more effective scavenging under high-g loading and less parasitic loss from crank splash through, but also to decrease the engine height.
Everything about the 918 is low and tight. Porsche engineers reinforced the idea of package density. Every cubic inch of the car's volume is utilized beneath its carbon-fiber skin. The 918 has a total of 55 different computers sending signals through nearly four miles of wiring. There are three different cooling circuits. The lowest temperature system is for the battery and electronics. The medium temperature system is for the electric motors, and the high temperature system for the gasoline engine. Additional cooling radiators are used for engine oil and transmission fluid. All of these systems are packaged as close to the center of the vehicle as possible to reduce the 918's polar moment of inertia. (The lower the polar moment of inertia an object has, the easier it is to rotate.) Porsche has positioned the 6 kW-hr battery directly behind the passenger compartment, along with the 18.5-gallon fuel tank.
The 4.6 liter V-8 is mounted as far forward as possible and is able to snug up closer than any other engine, thanks to its complete lack of drive belts. And that isn't all the engine has going for it. Based on the power plant from the RS Spyder LMP2 race car, the flat-crank V-8 churns out 580 hp and spins all the way up to a 9000 rpm redline. The most unusual feature is the "hot-V" configuration, which positions the exhaust ports in the valley of the V-8, so the exhaust blows out the top rather than out the sides. The original 918 concept used side exhausts, which were found to create unnecessary amounts of heat around the battery, so a top-mount exhaust was determined to be more thermally efficient. From the rear of the car, two pipes from the Inconel exhaust shoot up like something off the Batmobile.
Mounted between the gas engine and the PDK transmission is a 125-hp electric motor that also serves as the car's main generator. This motor can function parallel with the gas engine or in combination with a front-mounted 115-hp electric motor to power the car. The rear motor drives the car through the transmission and uses all seven gears, as does the gas engine. The front motor is a direct drive unit with a single speed and an electric clutch to decouple when not in use. Since it's a single speed, the front motor is forced to decouple at high speeds. Porsche feels it isn't worth the weight and extra complexity to use a two or more speed transmission in front. Since the two motors are not mechanically coupled, Porsche has been playing with what it calls "stretch" in the driveline. When cornering at the limits, the car is able to intentionally drive the front and rear axles at different speeds and not just push torque around like in traditional all-wheel-drive systems. Apparently this new version of torque vectoring is still in the experimental phase but should bring some interesting results.
The 918's rear differential uses a more conventional torque vectoring system with an electronically controlled differential pushing power from side to side. The front end still uses braking force for vectoring with an open front differential. To complement the torque vectoring, the 918 employs electrically operated rear wheel steering. The engineers won't give exact numbers, but apparently the car dials in a few degrees at most, even at low speeds. It sounds as if this is an intelligent, variable alignment system more than what we would normally consider rear steer. Something similar to an active version of the Weisach Axle Porsche developed in the 1980s. Instead of having a fixed kinematic gain through the suspension's range of motion, the system can dial in toe as needed, regardless of suspension displacement.
Speaking of suspension, the 918 is using control arms in the front and rear. The production version will use the latest version of PASM for adjustable damping rates like other Porsche models. The cars present during this demonstration were equipped with standard dampers. During the test ride, the ride and handling mix seemed so well-sorted that I wonder if the PASM is even necessary.
The thrust from electric power only is impressive. It feels at least as fast as the base Boxster -- maybe faster. All the immediate torque from the electric motors will surely make this an absolute animal from 0 to 30 mph even if you are in Save the Planet mode. Pure electric driving wasn't nearly as quiet as I thought it would be. The gear whine reminded me of being in race cars with straight-cut gears. The tires make a decent hum, and because these are still test cars, the NVH attenuation is no where near finalized.
After the test driver told me about the joys of all-electric driving, and how this car qualifies to be driven around in London in "car-hating" zones, and how the birds are greener and the grass sings sweeter with a plug-in hybrid, a quick touch of the steering wheel-mounted control switches the car into sport mode. The V-8 fires up, shooting carbon into the atmosphere with beautiful explosions of gasoline and air. The sound is raucous and primal. Right now the 918 has just enough muffling to be street-legal, and that is questionable. Suddenly its acceleration is nearly 997 Turbo S-brutal.
The 918 is compliant over rougher sections of the twisty back roads, but with the low center gravity and resulting small roll couple, body roll is minimal. Without driving the car it's tough to comment on steering accuracy or linearity, but watching the steering wheel, it looked as though minimal inputs were required. Porsche has balanced the car with 57 percent of the weight biased over the rear axle. Although the weight is very centralized, that rear bias is noticeable, especially with the seating position farther forward than you might normally be accustomed to. The weight tends to favor the outside rear corner in turns and you feel the typical Porsche pull from behind your hips as the CG wants to rotate the car in turns. The front propulsion wasn't perceptible, but again, this was from the passenger seat. I have no doubt this will soon prove to be the fastest production Porsche ever.
After the ride, a Porsche test driver emerged from nowhere with a flash from his chrome yellow helmet with a mirrored gold visor. Apparently this was going to be his first time in the 918 around the Ring, and the engineers looked nervous about his performance. Porsche was hoping to run a 7:22 during the session. Those savvy in the ways of the Nordschleife will recognize that time as exactly what Porsche claims the 997 GT2RS will put down around the circuit. The 7:22 was conservative at best, and after a single warm-up lap, the prototype turned in a 7:14. That lap puts it into some pretty serious territory with cars that can barely be considered mass-production street cars.
Porsche says the 918 is currently about 80 percent complete. The only parameter that is finalized is its exterior design -- everything else has room to play. The engineers tell me they have room to add power and efficiency, and could even shave weight off the car. Right now, internal discussions center around whether the car is already fast enough, and if efficiency should be the focus. So far, Porsche says the car has registered a 78 mpg rating in European fuel economy testing. It is also apparently capable of a 3.0-second 0-60 mph time, which translated from Porsche to real-world is likely a couple of ticks lower. It will be interesting to see how the car develops from here. Porsche is already planning a Weissach Package that will shave nearly 80 pounds off its claimed 3747-pound weight. I hate to put Porsche on the spot, but when everything is said and done, it wouldn't surprise me if we see a 7:10 around the 'Ring, maybe lower.
While the 918 is clearly a big risk and a monumental undertaking, I am happier this car will be defining what a hybrid is and how its technology can be applied to future models. This is clearly about optimizing performance, which goes hand in hand with optimizing efficiency. Suddenly the prospect of a hybrid 911 isn't so scary.
Green Hell: Porsche's Out to Change the Future of Clean Cars, One Lap at a Time
Porsche doesn't have to build this car. That's my first thought sitting shotgun in a Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid prototype hurtling down a road a mere stone's throw from the fabled Green Hell of the Nurburgring. The 918 is a risk -- a giant risk, in fact. Porsche is at the top of its game right now with the new 911 and Boxster, and as far as I can tell, no one out there with piles of disposable income is asking for a hybrid supercar. I would go so far as to say the situation is quite the opposite.
But aside from some misshapen headlights on the 996 series 911, Porsche is not in the habit of making mistakes. If this project turns out badly, it could do irreparable damage to the legendary German sports car manufacturer's reputation. If it turns out as planned, it will not only redefine hybrids as we know them, but the world of supercars as well.
To make this easier on everyone, let's skip the argument about the value and usefulness of your neighbor's hybrid and just agree they're here to stay, and most of us will be driving one in some form or another by the end of the decade. Stop the groaning; it doesn't have to be bad. The Prius is boring, but not because it's a hybrid. If the Prius were powered by a 300-hp V-6, it would still be boring. Hybrid technology itself isn't bad and can be used just as much for performance as for being green.
Ask 10 race fans their favorite images of endurance racing, and least six of them will say something about glowing cherry-red brake rotors in the twilight hours on the Mulsanne at Le Mans. But as much as we all love those rotors, they're a prime example of why we need hybrids. All that pretty red light beaming off the rotors is energy the car has lost and will never regain. Generally speaking, a hybrid captures a portion of that energy through brake regeneration, stores it in a battery, and dispenses it back through electric motors.
But the 918 isn't just about slapping a battery and electric motors onto a sports car. This is the most technologically advanced car Porsche has ever built, and it might be a greater leap today than the 959 was back in 1986. The technology, from drivetrain, to chassis, to aerodynamics, and especially its power delivery system, will find its way into future Porsche products. The 918 isn't about Porsche building a run of supercars and calling it a day. It's about developing new tech for the next generation.
Like most modern prototype race cars, the 918 is built around a composite monocoque -- essentially a high-tech bathtub. The tub is built from Resin Transfer Molded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic, or RTM CFRP. The dry carbon-fiber material is placed in a mold and the liquid matrix is pumped in while a vacuum pump simultaneously evacuates the air. This method minimizes voids -- areas where the fibers are not surrounded by resin -- and maximizes the fiber to matrix ratio. It isn't the most advanced method (Formula 1 uses a different process), but it is the best for mass production vehicles. The rear of the 918 uses an RTM subframe to mount the powertrain, and aluminum crash structures are mounted at both front and rear. The strength of the car comes completely from the monocoque. The two-piece removable carbon-fiber roof is simply to keep the sun off the driver and protect his or her undoubtedly well-coiffed hair.
It does seem like a shame to take the roof off the car, because Porsche did so much wind tunnel work. The 918 has three distinct aerodynamic modes. The first is an efficient mode that creates the least amount of drag by lowering the rear wing and closing off underbody ground effects tunnels. Sport mode creates the highest level of down force by raising the rear wing and increasing its angle of attack. It also utilizes flaps at the front of the car to feed air to the underbody of the car, creating downforce with a diffuser at the rear of the car. The last mode is for the highest top speed possible, and reduces the angle of attack on the rear wing but keeps it extended. Also in an effort to reduce drag, the side vents in the front fascia are able to open and close depending on cooling needs. In most conditions they will remain closed to push air around the car rather than through it. But the designers insisted they open when the car is at rest for aesthetic reasons.
Porsche has worked to keep the car's mass low and centralized. The 918 has the lowest seating position of any Porsche road car ever. The driver's most sensitive piece of feedback-gathering equipment is located fewer than 7 inches above terra firma -- think about that when you're pounding along at triple-digit speeds. The drivetrain is mounted as low as possible, which required flipping the gearset in the car's seven-speed PDK transmission. The engine uses a dry-sump oiling system, not only for more effective scavenging under high-g loading and less parasitic loss from crank splash through, but also to decrease the engine height.
Everything about the 918 is low and tight. Porsche engineers reinforced the idea of package density. Every cubic inch of the car's volume is utilized beneath its carbon-fiber skin. The 918 has a total of 55 different computers sending signals through nearly four miles of wiring. There are three different cooling circuits. The lowest temperature system is for the battery and electronics. The medium temperature system is for the electric motors, and the high temperature system for the gasoline engine. Additional cooling radiators are used for engine oil and transmission fluid. All of these systems are packaged as close to the center of the vehicle as possible to reduce the 918's polar moment of inertia. (The lower the polar moment of inertia an object has, the easier it is to rotate.) Porsche has positioned the 6 kW-hr battery directly behind the passenger compartment, along with the 18.5-gallon fuel tank.
The 4.6 liter V-8 is mounted as far forward as possible and is able to snug up closer than any other engine, thanks to its complete lack of drive belts. And that isn't all the engine has going for it. Based on the power plant from the RS Spyder LMP2 race car, the flat-crank V-8 churns out 580 hp and spins all the way up to a 9000 rpm redline. The most unusual feature is the "hot-V" configuration, which positions the exhaust ports in the valley of the V-8, so the exhaust blows out the top rather than out the sides. The original 918 concept used side exhausts, which were found to create unnecessary amounts of heat around the battery, so a top-mount exhaust was determined to be more thermally efficient. From the rear of the car, two pipes from the Inconel exhaust shoot up like something off the Batmobile.
Mounted between the gas engine and the PDK transmission is a 125-hp electric motor that also serves as the car's main generator. This motor can function parallel with the gas engine or in combination with a front-mounted 115-hp electric motor to power the car. The rear motor drives the car through the transmission and uses all seven gears, as does the gas engine. The front motor is a direct drive unit with a single speed and an electric clutch to decouple when not in use. Since it's a single speed, the front motor is forced to decouple at high speeds. Porsche feels it isn't worth the weight and extra complexity to use a two or more speed transmission in front. Since the two motors are not mechanically coupled, Porsche has been playing with what it calls "stretch" in the driveline. When cornering at the limits, the car is able to intentionally drive the front and rear axles at different speeds and not just push torque around like in traditional all-wheel-drive systems. Apparently this new version of torque vectoring is still in the experimental phase but should bring some interesting results.
The 918's rear differential uses a more conventional torque vectoring system with an electronically controlled differential pushing power from side to side. The front end still uses braking force for vectoring with an open front differential. To complement the torque vectoring, the 918 employs electrically operated rear wheel steering. The engineers won't give exact numbers, but apparently the car dials in a few degrees at most, even at low speeds. It sounds as if this is an intelligent, variable alignment system more than what we would normally consider rear steer. Something similar to an active version of the Weisach Axle Porsche developed in the 1980s. Instead of having a fixed kinematic gain through the suspension's range of motion, the system can dial in toe as needed, regardless of suspension displacement.
Speaking of suspension, the 918 is using control arms in the front and rear. The production version will use the latest version of PASM for adjustable damping rates like other Porsche models. The cars present during this demonstration were equipped with standard dampers. During the test ride, the ride and handling mix seemed so well-sorted that I wonder if the PASM is even necessary.
The thrust from electric power only is impressive. It feels at least as fast as the base Boxster -- maybe faster. All the immediate torque from the electric motors will surely make this an absolute animal from 0 to 30 mph even if you are in Save the Planet mode. Pure electric driving wasn't nearly as quiet as I thought it would be. The gear whine reminded me of being in race cars with straight-cut gears. The tires make a decent hum, and because these are still test cars, the NVH attenuation is no where near finalized.
After the test driver told me about the joys of all-electric driving, and how this car qualifies to be driven around in London in "car-hating" zones, and how the birds are greener and the grass sings sweeter with a plug-in hybrid, a quick touch of the steering wheel-mounted control switches the car into sport mode. The V-8 fires up, shooting carbon into the atmosphere with beautiful explosions of gasoline and air. The sound is raucous and primal. Right now the 918 has just enough muffling to be street-legal, and that is questionable. Suddenly its acceleration is nearly 997 Turbo S-brutal.
The 918 is compliant over rougher sections of the twisty back roads, but with the low center gravity and resulting small roll couple, body roll is minimal. Without driving the car it's tough to comment on steering accuracy or linearity, but watching the steering wheel, it looked as though minimal inputs were required. Porsche has balanced the car with 57 percent of the weight biased over the rear axle. Although the weight is very centralized, that rear bias is noticeable, especially with the seating position farther forward than you might normally be accustomed to. The weight tends to favor the outside rear corner in turns and you feel the typical Porsche pull from behind your hips as the CG wants to rotate the car in turns. The front propulsion wasn't perceptible, but again, this was from the passenger seat. I have no doubt this will soon prove to be the fastest production Porsche ever.
After the ride, a Porsche test driver emerged from nowhere with a flash from his chrome yellow helmet with a mirrored gold visor. Apparently this was going to be his first time in the 918 around the Ring, and the engineers looked nervous about his performance. Porsche was hoping to run a 7:22 during the session. Those savvy in the ways of the Nordschleife will recognize that time as exactly what Porsche claims the 997 GT2RS will put down around the circuit. The 7:22 was conservative at best, and after a single warm-up lap, the prototype turned in a 7:14. That lap puts it into some pretty serious territory with cars that can barely be considered mass-production street cars.
Porsche says the 918 is currently about 80 percent complete. The only parameter that is finalized is its exterior design -- everything else has room to play. The engineers tell me they have room to add power and efficiency, and could even shave weight off the car. Right now, internal discussions center around whether the car is already fast enough, and if efficiency should be the focus. So far, Porsche says the car has registered a 78 mpg rating in European fuel economy testing. It is also apparently capable of a 3.0-second 0-60 mph time, which translated from Porsche to real-world is likely a couple of ticks lower. It will be interesting to see how the car develops from here. Porsche is already planning a Weissach Package that will shave nearly 80 pounds off its claimed 3747-pound weight. I hate to put Porsche on the spot, but when everything is said and done, it wouldn't surprise me if we see a 7:10 around the 'Ring, maybe lower.
While the 918 is clearly a big risk and a monumental undertaking, I am happier this car will be defining what a hybrid is and how its technology can be applied to future models. This is clearly about optimizing performance, which goes hand in hand with optimizing efficiency. Suddenly the prospect of a hybrid 911 isn't so scary.
D
Deleted member 25
Guest
Are those the final headlights or that will be the ones with leds.
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Pretty sure not.
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Of course not. Those are cheap placeholders. We are looking at a work in progress here, and the fancy stuff hasn't been put on yet.
Zafiro
Supreme Roadmaster
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Porsche 918 Spyder technical details uncovered
The 784bhp Porsche 918 Spyder will cost from £625,400, while lightweight Weissach package-equipped cars will sell for a £58,000 premium.
The 918 Spyder will produce 572bhp from the engine and 241bhp from the electric motors .
More info: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche-918-spyder-technical-details-uncovered
The 784bhp Porsche 918 Spyder will cost from £625,400, while lightweight Weissach package-equipped cars will sell for a £58,000 premium.
The 918 Spyder will produce 572bhp from the engine and 241bhp from the electric motors .
More info: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche-918-spyder-technical-details-uncovered
- Messages
- 8,621
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1210_porsche_918_spyder/
Frank Walliser looks like the perfect son-in-law. But as soon as the lanky, curly haired engineer climbs behind the wheel of his baby, the 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid supercar, the soft-spoken Walliser morphs into a real animal.
The first two warm-up laps on Porsche's Weissach test track lull the passenger into a false sense of security. Walliser keeps checking the gauges, apologizes for the broken glass on the touchscreen that covers the entire center console, flicks the switch that Ferrari calls the manettino through its positions, even makes a quick phone call to confirm that this particular V-8 is really limited to 6000 rpm. Within five minutes, we go through four of the five driving modes. E-power is eerily quiet in a car that one expects to trumpet and roar. Hybrid feels a little rough, because the 585-hp engine cuts in like a landmine and fades out like a tear in a film. Sport hybrid combines all three powerplants in a jam session that is as entertaining as it is erratic. Finally, there is race hybrid, which puts the electric motors on steroids and makes the dual-clutch transmission bang through the seven gears as though it were designed by Kalashnikoff.
One last smile, one final check, one more nod. Then Walliser drops his polite mask. No more hissing of the electric motors, no more lift-off coasting, no more part-time torque boosts.
Instead, the 4.6-liter V-8 and its two battery-fed assistants hammer their 795-hp message into our ears with a loud techno rhythm. "Eventually, the shift-up speed will be increased to 11,000 rpm," shouts Walliser. Is that a devilish grin on his face as we approach the next fast right-hander? Staring through the curved windshield with angst and awe, I am shocked to see my driver brake too late for the downhill S, accelerate too hard in second at the brow of the hill, turn too fast into the blind left-hander that follows. Too late, too hard, too fast? Wrong. When it comes to traction, grip, roadholding, handling, and performance, the 918 Spyder reigns supreme in its own universe. To prove the point, Walliser stops the vehicle abruptly at the beginning of the longest straight. With PSM (Porsche Stability Management) deactivated and the thumb switch on race hybrid, he floors the throttle and signs the tarmac with four black stripes that are about 1000 feet long. Two weeks later, a professional driver did the same thing on the 'Ring (it's on YouTube -- five or six seconds of top-notch goose-pimple material). The expected performance figures are: 0 to 62 mph in less than three seconds, a top speed of more than 200 mph, and a Nordschleife lap time of about 7 minutes, 10 seconds.
Even though his passenger's complexion is fast changing from reddish to sickbag-yellow to ashen, Walliser continues to drive the hell out of number 24, which is the second-to-last prototype. "We lengthened the wheelbase by 3.1 inches to increase cabin space, and we extended the rear overhang to improve stability," he says. "The drag coefficient is a decent 0.34, and the frontal area is commendably small. Thanks to the three-stage active aerodynamic system, we have downforce at all speeds and zero lift. Two adaptive ground-effects diffusers are incorporated in the nose tray, the substantial rear spoiler extends and adjusts its pitch, and a pair of motorized lateral radiator louvers also control the air flow. Add to this the low center of gravity and the nicely balanced 43/57 percent front/rear weight distribution, and you can imagine that this car pushes the envelope in the way it hugs the ground at any speed and on any type of surface."
Then, just to prove himself wrong, the part-time hooligan intentionally kicks out the tail through a second-gear kink, and the PSM electronics tighten the line again. "This is an incredibly quick car, yet it is putty in your hands -- always docile and benign," he adds.
A motorsports aficionado, Walliser was in charge of the RS Spyder program before adopting the 918. Not surprisingly, the monocoque of the road car was clearly inspired by the single-seater, and the high-revving normally aspirated engine was also handed down from the racing department. In fact, the V-8 was developed before the V-10 that powered the Carrera GT.
Weighing a mere 309 pounds, the compact 32-valve engine has no belt-driven auxiliaries; every component is fed directly by the 67.5-kW battery, which delivers in excess of 200kW. Consisting of eighteen modules and 324 individual cells, the energy pack sits in front of the engine and below the 18.5-gallon fuel tank. Other than the tub and the V-8, the liquid-cooled battery stack is the most expensive individual item in the 918. It can accelerate the 918 (in E-mode) to 62 mph in 8.0 seconds, reach a top speed of 94 mph, and cover at least fifteen miles between plug-ins.
The most complex street-legal Porsche ever, the 918 tips the scales at 3750 pounds, which is light for a hybrid but not exactly anorexic for a supercar. "The weight penalty over a hypothetical V-8-engined version is about 700 pounds," explains the chief engineer. "It is impossible to compensate for such a handicap completely, but by developing the rear-wheel steering system we shed a virtual 220 pounds. How come? Because thanks to RWS, the 918 is measurably faster on winding roads and on the racetrack. What also helped is that this car is not a conversion, not an evolution, not a hybrid edition of something that already existed. Instead, this is a purpose-designed vehicle that carries absolutely zero surplus body fat." Even the two electric motors have been trimmed down to the bare essentials. The one that drives the front wheels via a single-speed fixed-ratio transmission delivers 116 hp. For stability reasons, it is decoupled at 147 mph. The one in the back develops 129 hp and 184 lb-ft. It's sandwiched between the seven-speed PDK box and the comparatively petite V-8. Yes, the 918 can do front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive, plus torque vectoring.
In one year's time, the first customer car will roll off the assembly line. In the Zuffenhausen plant, Porsche is currently installing a brand-new manufacturing facility for project X2, which was kicked off in 2009. This high-tech vehicle will be assembled almost entirely by hand, and the company intends to build four units per day. The assembly time is an incredibly short forty hours, which is half that of the Carrera GT. In total, no more than 918 examples are going to be sold, priced at [euro]768,026 (just shy of $1 million) including tax. At this point, about 300 customers have put down a deposit. The relatively long list of options includes a 500-watt surround-sound system, a custom luggage kit, electric auxiliary heating, liquid-metal paint, a wall-mounted battery charger, and special RS wheels. At $91,000, the most expensive extra is the Weissach pack, which takes out 77 pounds of weight. Among the fifty-odd measures dedicated to do so are hollow-spoke wheels, thinner leather, a miniaturized A/C compressor, and an unpainted, shrink-wrapped body.
After an exciting morning on the track, we break for lunch and a tour of the normally top-secret prototype shop. In this brightly lit, clinically clean, intensive-care ward, the twenty-four mules and the two demo cars built for the marketing department are being attended to by a team of specialist mechanics. There is still a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning to be done. The V-8 needs to complete its high-load dyno tests; NVH is an issue at high revs and when the engine cuts in; and there are plenty of software updates waiting to be downloaded to the car's black boxes. Since most vehicles in the shop are partly dismantled, this is a perfect opportunity to zoom in on some of the clever engineering details, such as the front-wheel-drive assembly that packs motor and differential into one compact housing. Or the rear-wheel steering, which shrinks the turning circle and greatly enhances the directional stability above 125 mph. The suspension is totally devoid of rubber elements. The tires are special compound UHP Michelin Pilot Sport, 265/35ZR-20 in the front and 325/30ZR-21 in the rear.
Right now, the 4593-cc V-8 develops 585 hp at 8500 rpm, but Frank Walliser reckons that the rev level can be raised to 10,000 rpm. Presumably, that would not only boost the power output but also the maximum torque, which currently is 369 lb-ft at 6500 rpm. The dry sump lubrication employs four composite scavenger pumps to make the oil circulate fast enough. The con rods are made of titanium, the engine block is of thin-wall aluminum, and the lightweight crankshaft is forged from high-strength steel. The 918 sports a hybrid brake layout: assisted by a so-called iBooster, the two electric motors also function as powerful deceleration devices, feeding the recuperated energy back to the main battery. The carbon ceramic brakes feature six-pot calipers and sixteen-inch rotors (front) along with four-piston calipers and fifteen-inch discs (rear). The biggest challenge for the engineers was to create an intelligent electrohydraulic link that synchronizes both units and ensures a responsive and progressive pedal feel.
Time to head out onto the road. Unclipping the panels on both sides, the chief engineer takes only thirty seconds to convert the coupe into a Targa. The open roof makes it much easier to enter the cabin, to slide onto the carbon-fiber seat, and to attach the red racing harness. The door aperture is painfully small with the top in place, the wide sill is difficult to straddle, and the geometric shape of the dashboard compromises knee- and legroom. The visibility is good except to the rear, where the bulging top pipes and the big wing obstruct the view.
Weissach is not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but within fifteen minutes, one can reach relatively empty and open country roads, the kind of habitat that makes Porsche engineers grin and their passengers puke. Without warning, the chief aims his right index finger at the red dot in the center of the circular control pod. Then he floors the loud pedal and looks at me with a blend of triumph and pity. Pinned into the seat, I feel the forward thrust turn my stomach inside out and upside down. Still gaining momentum at a cartoon-movie rate, number 24 approaches a crest, but instead of getting airborne, the car simply stretches its legs and sucks itself back onto the blacktop. "Remember: always plenty of downforce. No lift, ever." Frank Walliser is clearly enjoying himself. "Concentrate on the steering. Around the straight-ahead position, it is quite relaxed and reassuring. But it speeds up nicely when you turn in." Which we do, generating the kind of g-force that can briefly separate neck and shoulders. "Only 2.3 turns lock-to-lock. And of course it's electromechanical, so it is powered by the battery." Yes, yes. Can we stop for a coffee, please?
We are back in race mode, still meandering at an absurd pace through the idyllic late summer green. The V-8 is revving hard through the gears, the PDK box operates in total attack mode, and whenever a long straight beckons the two electric motors briefly boost speed with a high-pitched hiss. Then, all of a sudden, the master lifts off, slows down, and shifts into E-mode. Game over? No. Just switching to a different kind of progress. Slower, smoother, almost silent compared to a minute ago. The mechanical noises have all but disappeared. Only the voices of the wind, the tires, and the brakes can be heard. If this is the future of mobility, could we please have more of it, and at more affordable prices? "Fixed price, fixed number of cars, fixed concept," says the driver, apologetically shrugging his shoulders. "There is, however, no doubt that the plug-in hybrid will soon filter through the ranks." After a pause, he adds with a slight undertone of regret: "But at Porsche, we are probably never going to do an application as extreme as this again."
Frank Walliser looks like the perfect son-in-law. But as soon as the lanky, curly haired engineer climbs behind the wheel of his baby, the 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid supercar, the soft-spoken Walliser morphs into a real animal.
The first two warm-up laps on Porsche's Weissach test track lull the passenger into a false sense of security. Walliser keeps checking the gauges, apologizes for the broken glass on the touchscreen that covers the entire center console, flicks the switch that Ferrari calls the manettino through its positions, even makes a quick phone call to confirm that this particular V-8 is really limited to 6000 rpm. Within five minutes, we go through four of the five driving modes. E-power is eerily quiet in a car that one expects to trumpet and roar. Hybrid feels a little rough, because the 585-hp engine cuts in like a landmine and fades out like a tear in a film. Sport hybrid combines all three powerplants in a jam session that is as entertaining as it is erratic. Finally, there is race hybrid, which puts the electric motors on steroids and makes the dual-clutch transmission bang through the seven gears as though it were designed by Kalashnikoff.
One last smile, one final check, one more nod. Then Walliser drops his polite mask. No more hissing of the electric motors, no more lift-off coasting, no more part-time torque boosts.
Instead, the 4.6-liter V-8 and its two battery-fed assistants hammer their 795-hp message into our ears with a loud techno rhythm. "Eventually, the shift-up speed will be increased to 11,000 rpm," shouts Walliser. Is that a devilish grin on his face as we approach the next fast right-hander? Staring through the curved windshield with angst and awe, I am shocked to see my driver brake too late for the downhill S, accelerate too hard in second at the brow of the hill, turn too fast into the blind left-hander that follows. Too late, too hard, too fast? Wrong. When it comes to traction, grip, roadholding, handling, and performance, the 918 Spyder reigns supreme in its own universe. To prove the point, Walliser stops the vehicle abruptly at the beginning of the longest straight. With PSM (Porsche Stability Management) deactivated and the thumb switch on race hybrid, he floors the throttle and signs the tarmac with four black stripes that are about 1000 feet long. Two weeks later, a professional driver did the same thing on the 'Ring (it's on YouTube -- five or six seconds of top-notch goose-pimple material). The expected performance figures are: 0 to 62 mph in less than three seconds, a top speed of more than 200 mph, and a Nordschleife lap time of about 7 minutes, 10 seconds.
Even though his passenger's complexion is fast changing from reddish to sickbag-yellow to ashen, Walliser continues to drive the hell out of number 24, which is the second-to-last prototype. "We lengthened the wheelbase by 3.1 inches to increase cabin space, and we extended the rear overhang to improve stability," he says. "The drag coefficient is a decent 0.34, and the frontal area is commendably small. Thanks to the three-stage active aerodynamic system, we have downforce at all speeds and zero lift. Two adaptive ground-effects diffusers are incorporated in the nose tray, the substantial rear spoiler extends and adjusts its pitch, and a pair of motorized lateral radiator louvers also control the air flow. Add to this the low center of gravity and the nicely balanced 43/57 percent front/rear weight distribution, and you can imagine that this car pushes the envelope in the way it hugs the ground at any speed and on any type of surface."
Then, just to prove himself wrong, the part-time hooligan intentionally kicks out the tail through a second-gear kink, and the PSM electronics tighten the line again. "This is an incredibly quick car, yet it is putty in your hands -- always docile and benign," he adds.
A motorsports aficionado, Walliser was in charge of the RS Spyder program before adopting the 918. Not surprisingly, the monocoque of the road car was clearly inspired by the single-seater, and the high-revving normally aspirated engine was also handed down from the racing department. In fact, the V-8 was developed before the V-10 that powered the Carrera GT.
Weighing a mere 309 pounds, the compact 32-valve engine has no belt-driven auxiliaries; every component is fed directly by the 67.5-kW battery, which delivers in excess of 200kW. Consisting of eighteen modules and 324 individual cells, the energy pack sits in front of the engine and below the 18.5-gallon fuel tank. Other than the tub and the V-8, the liquid-cooled battery stack is the most expensive individual item in the 918. It can accelerate the 918 (in E-mode) to 62 mph in 8.0 seconds, reach a top speed of 94 mph, and cover at least fifteen miles between plug-ins.
The most complex street-legal Porsche ever, the 918 tips the scales at 3750 pounds, which is light for a hybrid but not exactly anorexic for a supercar. "The weight penalty over a hypothetical V-8-engined version is about 700 pounds," explains the chief engineer. "It is impossible to compensate for such a handicap completely, but by developing the rear-wheel steering system we shed a virtual 220 pounds. How come? Because thanks to RWS, the 918 is measurably faster on winding roads and on the racetrack. What also helped is that this car is not a conversion, not an evolution, not a hybrid edition of something that already existed. Instead, this is a purpose-designed vehicle that carries absolutely zero surplus body fat." Even the two electric motors have been trimmed down to the bare essentials. The one that drives the front wheels via a single-speed fixed-ratio transmission delivers 116 hp. For stability reasons, it is decoupled at 147 mph. The one in the back develops 129 hp and 184 lb-ft. It's sandwiched between the seven-speed PDK box and the comparatively petite V-8. Yes, the 918 can do front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive, plus torque vectoring.
In one year's time, the first customer car will roll off the assembly line. In the Zuffenhausen plant, Porsche is currently installing a brand-new manufacturing facility for project X2, which was kicked off in 2009. This high-tech vehicle will be assembled almost entirely by hand, and the company intends to build four units per day. The assembly time is an incredibly short forty hours, which is half that of the Carrera GT. In total, no more than 918 examples are going to be sold, priced at [euro]768,026 (just shy of $1 million) including tax. At this point, about 300 customers have put down a deposit. The relatively long list of options includes a 500-watt surround-sound system, a custom luggage kit, electric auxiliary heating, liquid-metal paint, a wall-mounted battery charger, and special RS wheels. At $91,000, the most expensive extra is the Weissach pack, which takes out 77 pounds of weight. Among the fifty-odd measures dedicated to do so are hollow-spoke wheels, thinner leather, a miniaturized A/C compressor, and an unpainted, shrink-wrapped body.
After an exciting morning on the track, we break for lunch and a tour of the normally top-secret prototype shop. In this brightly lit, clinically clean, intensive-care ward, the twenty-four mules and the two demo cars built for the marketing department are being attended to by a team of specialist mechanics. There is still a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning to be done. The V-8 needs to complete its high-load dyno tests; NVH is an issue at high revs and when the engine cuts in; and there are plenty of software updates waiting to be downloaded to the car's black boxes. Since most vehicles in the shop are partly dismantled, this is a perfect opportunity to zoom in on some of the clever engineering details, such as the front-wheel-drive assembly that packs motor and differential into one compact housing. Or the rear-wheel steering, which shrinks the turning circle and greatly enhances the directional stability above 125 mph. The suspension is totally devoid of rubber elements. The tires are special compound UHP Michelin Pilot Sport, 265/35ZR-20 in the front and 325/30ZR-21 in the rear.
Right now, the 4593-cc V-8 develops 585 hp at 8500 rpm, but Frank Walliser reckons that the rev level can be raised to 10,000 rpm. Presumably, that would not only boost the power output but also the maximum torque, which currently is 369 lb-ft at 6500 rpm. The dry sump lubrication employs four composite scavenger pumps to make the oil circulate fast enough. The con rods are made of titanium, the engine block is of thin-wall aluminum, and the lightweight crankshaft is forged from high-strength steel. The 918 sports a hybrid brake layout: assisted by a so-called iBooster, the two electric motors also function as powerful deceleration devices, feeding the recuperated energy back to the main battery. The carbon ceramic brakes feature six-pot calipers and sixteen-inch rotors (front) along with four-piston calipers and fifteen-inch discs (rear). The biggest challenge for the engineers was to create an intelligent electrohydraulic link that synchronizes both units and ensures a responsive and progressive pedal feel.
Time to head out onto the road. Unclipping the panels on both sides, the chief engineer takes only thirty seconds to convert the coupe into a Targa. The open roof makes it much easier to enter the cabin, to slide onto the carbon-fiber seat, and to attach the red racing harness. The door aperture is painfully small with the top in place, the wide sill is difficult to straddle, and the geometric shape of the dashboard compromises knee- and legroom. The visibility is good except to the rear, where the bulging top pipes and the big wing obstruct the view.
Weissach is not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but within fifteen minutes, one can reach relatively empty and open country roads, the kind of habitat that makes Porsche engineers grin and their passengers puke. Without warning, the chief aims his right index finger at the red dot in the center of the circular control pod. Then he floors the loud pedal and looks at me with a blend of triumph and pity. Pinned into the seat, I feel the forward thrust turn my stomach inside out and upside down. Still gaining momentum at a cartoon-movie rate, number 24 approaches a crest, but instead of getting airborne, the car simply stretches its legs and sucks itself back onto the blacktop. "Remember: always plenty of downforce. No lift, ever." Frank Walliser is clearly enjoying himself. "Concentrate on the steering. Around the straight-ahead position, it is quite relaxed and reassuring. But it speeds up nicely when you turn in." Which we do, generating the kind of g-force that can briefly separate neck and shoulders. "Only 2.3 turns lock-to-lock. And of course it's electromechanical, so it is powered by the battery." Yes, yes. Can we stop for a coffee, please?
We are back in race mode, still meandering at an absurd pace through the idyllic late summer green. The V-8 is revving hard through the gears, the PDK box operates in total attack mode, and whenever a long straight beckons the two electric motors briefly boost speed with a high-pitched hiss. Then, all of a sudden, the master lifts off, slows down, and shifts into E-mode. Game over? No. Just switching to a different kind of progress. Slower, smoother, almost silent compared to a minute ago. The mechanical noises have all but disappeared. Only the voices of the wind, the tires, and the brakes can be heard. If this is the future of mobility, could we please have more of it, and at more affordable prices? "Fixed price, fixed number of cars, fixed concept," says the driver, apologetically shrugging his shoulders. "There is, however, no doubt that the plug-in hybrid will soon filter through the ranks." After a pause, he adds with a slight undertone of regret: "But at Porsche, we are probably never going to do an application as extreme as this again."
paxah
Precision Tuner
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- 145
It seems that the production version photos have leaked through a chinese patent site. More here: Production Porsche 918 Spyder images leak out of Chinese patent office - Autoblog[/quote
Patents? haha
Here is the real deal, although when it goes on sale there might be minor tweaks made to it.
![257322_la[1].webp](https://www.germancarforum.com/attachments/257322_la-1-webp.14699/ "257322_la[1].webp")
paxah
Precision Tuner
- Messages
- 145
It was a pre-production 918, not the final version.
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Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer
specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs, and sedans,
headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Owned by
Volkswagen AG, it was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche.
In its early days, Porsche was contracted by the German government
to create a vehicle for the masses, which later became the Volkswagen
Beetle. In the late 1940s, Ferdinand's son Ferry Porsche began
building his car, which would result in the Porsche 356.
Official website: Porsche
Official website: Porsche
