Evo at Geneva show. Porsche 918 Spyder. OMG blog on Evo Community by Nick Trott

EVO AT GENEVA SHOW. PORSCHE 918 SPYDER. OMG

March 2, 2010 6:44 PM | Posted By: Nick Trott
Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 by 3 members | 13 Comments | 804 Views
Related Categories: News

The text came in late last night. I was having dinner with Jaguar's Ian Callum (oo, get me) in Geneva and the phone bleeped. It was from Harry Metcalfe, who was at a VW event in which Porsche sprung the surprise.

BLEEP! 'New Porsche hybrid supercar. 218bhp electric hybrid power. Mid-engined V8. 500bhp. 9,200rpm. PDK. 7min 30sec at the 'ring'

OMG.

How Porsche kept the 918 Spyder a secret is anyone's guess. A genuine shock is rare these days; bloggers bust embargoes and brochure shots of new cars leak out every week. That the Porsche 918 Spyder is utterly mind-bending, both in terms of looks and performance makes it even more astonishing. How did they keep the tech secret? Why didn't anyone see shots of the car testing on a race track (which it has, already)?

Tellingly, there were crestfallen expressions on the faces of some executives from rival sports car companies. The 918 made the other sports cars at the show look a bit silly. Even the Ferrari 599 hybrid - itself a deeply impressive piece of kit, could not match the 918 for sheer completeness.

The Spyder is not just the star of the show - it's the burning supernova.

Nick Trott

Editor

Evo

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COMMENTS

xtrax at 7:28 AM March 4, 2010

@djchocice: Immediate thought when I saw the the savage beauty of the 918 was - perfect testbed to revive the halcyon Le Mans munching days of the legendary 917 exactly 40 years since inaugural success. Only hope the technology debate and economy worries doesnt trivialise and make nonsense of all this boys own fantasy!

xtrax at 7:00 AM March 4, 2010

Velocity at 5:27 AM March 4, 2010

Nick - i'm afraid both this 918 and the Lotus hybrid is 'behind the curve'. Not surprising as the car biz conceives cars 3-5 years away from production and they were dreamt up when there was a peaking belief CO2 moved our climate (a cursory look at the Vostok ice-core record, the one Al Gore blew up to 60ft across the stage in his film of fictional climate). So the CO2 regs you mention will soon be toast as they are also concocted by administrators who take years to catch up with the world which has moved on. I'm still taking bets Nick if you think this will reach production? We've the infamous 'W' double dip about to hit which will knock us into a full blown depression. which will pull the rug from under the feet of any nonsense like this lardy, overly-complex, overly-expensive hybrid nonsense. Hybrids are toast, I'll bet on it

Nutty at 9:13 PM March 3, 2010

Love it, the CGT was always a winner and this looks like a worthy successor, styling looks great. ( ps love nicks put-down to that velocity chap below, enjoy the show - jealous not to be there).

Brucie at 5:11 PM March 3, 2010

An RS version in Kermit green please.

Holley at 5:03 PM March 3, 2010

The 918 looks like an amazing achievement. I would love to see this tech on more affordable cars aswell. Imagine a £45k hybrid Cayman with 400bhp or even a £20k hybrid Clio RS with 300bhp and no annual tax! Thanks for all the Geneva coverage, photos and updates have been fantastic.

Mark34bn at 1:57 PM March 3, 2010

I'm surprised Porsche managed to keep this one a secret aswell. It's good news that proper performance car manufacturers are starting to embrace the new 'green' tech to give more fun aswell as reduced emissions. Fast cars will be far more socially acceptable in the future if they're seen to be environmentally aware. Should keep the anti-car lobby at bay too...

Nick Trott at 10:58 AM March 3, 2010

Velocity. I fear you misunderstand the 918 - and every other hybrid supercar. Have a good look at the impending group Co2 regulations, how they are measured per car, and then perhaps revise the target of your vitriol. Also, are you aware that Lotus have unveiled a hybrid too at Geneva? In which case, for the sake of consistency, do your comments therefore apply to Lotus too? On another note, please edit your stereotypical comments relating to Turks and Germans. Not funny, necessary, relevant or appropriate. Regards, Nick Editor Evo

Velocity at 4:45 AM March 3, 2010

...make that "918".... or fat turkey.... Porsche are making wally cars for wallys to drive. Have Porsche nothing better to do than go bankrupt making fatuous cars! Stuttgart is an empire in terminal decline, come on Lotus fill the void, your chance is here as the Germans trip up on their hybrid folly

Velocity at 4:38 AM March 3, 2010

Don't know about the 916's "completeness" looks more like a complete turkey to me! Hybrid drive is another way of saying dual modes of power which by its very nature is twice as complex, twice as expensive and 100% more likely to have reliability issues. It's stupid with bells on. The 916 will never see production, I'm taking bets on that statement

Mosqueda at 1:16 AM March 3, 2010

I recall reading notes in Autoblog etc... about upcoming cars at Geneva and figured there'd be no "news". Guess I was wrong!

djchocice at 10:04 PM March 2, 2010

there are also a lot of rumours circulating that we could see a race version of the 918 at Le Mans as well, food for thought there ;)

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