[sidindica]

article from leftlanenews

Porsche will use the Geneva Motor Show this week to showcase its 918 Spyder concept car. The plug-in hybrid combines a V8 power unit delivering more than 500 hp and three electric motors with overall output 160 kW (215 hp). Fuel efficiency is said to be 78.4 U.S. mpg.
The car is likely to see production eventually, though it’s not clear how close to the concept is to a finished product. There’s speculation the vehicle is intended as a successor to the Carrera GT supercar, but until we know about this beast, it’s hard to make that call.
The sprint to 62 mph is said to take just 3.2 seconds, and a top speed of 198 mph is sure to be ample for Autobahn cruising. Porsche says the car will lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife in under 7:30 — besting the Carrera GT.
Power from the V8 is transmitted to the rear wheels via a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox. Power from the electric motors is controlled by computer and sent directly to the front wheels.
There are several drive modes, offering different levels of performance and efficiency. E-Drive minimizes fuel consumption by using the batteries to power the car for up to 16 miles. Hybrid mode uses both electric and gas power for a blend of efficiency and longer range. Sport Hybrid adds Torque Vectoring for more performance-oriented driving. And, lastly, Race Hybrid maximizes both gas and electric output, without regard for efficiency.

[aargee]

Looks good, but somehow I find the missing Porsche's touch; give a look of Ferrari

[suhaas307]

Here are a few more pictures and a video!

YouTube - Porsche Intelligent Performance - The next spark

[Sahil]

No steering console has ever felt this inviting !

[Otomobil]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Here are a few more pictures and a video!

YouTube - Porsche Intelligent Performance - The next spark

Voila !

Exhaust on sides of the vehicle ! Breaking the Traditional Design Barrier !

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Jayabusa

So, which one came first?

Hmmm.. The similarity is rather striking right? Well, I'd have to say that the Koenigsegg came first. This new car is based on the CCX and CCXR and this 'zegg seems to be an evolution. But at the same time, the Porsche 918 Spyder seems to be based on the Carrera GT! Looks to me like the similarity is purely coincidental!

[theragingbull]

I'd pick the Koenig.
This is the future of supercars. Such cars will save the world when we run out of fossil fuels.

[Sudan_NFS]

Looks good as an concept, but for production ,I thing they need to change some bits to look more elegent and appeal to many.
I don't understand why having a hybrid(that too three motors) in a car which is of no use when using a V8 which is not going to minimize the emission.It's like including for name sake!.

[khanak]

Here you go, have your cake and eat it too. Porsche is looking to prove that the best of both worlds don't have to be mutually exclusive with the 918 Spyder concept scheduled to debut tomorrow at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. Looking a bit like a Carrera GT evolved, the 918 Spyder is powered by both a 500-horsepower V8 and a pair of electric motors (one for each axle) producing an additional 218 hp or 160kW. At full gallop, the concept can theoretically reach 62 mph in 3.2 seconds and nip 198 mph on the high end. On the flip side, Porsche says it can also achieve 78 miles per gallon and emit just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

How does a supercar have such range? Well, the 918 Spyder concept is a parallel hybrid just like your mom's Prius (well not just like). That means the two powertrains, gas and electric, can operate together or separately to motivate the wheels into motion. There are no less than four modes that configure the powertrains for anything from maximum efficiency to maximum performance and everything in between. The E-Drive mode means pure electric power, and the car can reportedly last up to 16 miles on electrons alone. Next up is Hybrid mode, which is just what it sounds like and would probably be the mode for everyday around town driving. The Sport Hybrid mode again uses both powertrains, but tips the needle a bit more towards performance with most power reaching the rear wheels. Finally, the Race Hybrid mode means all systems are go for the lowest lap times possible (Porsche says it can do the Nordschleife in less than 7:30 minutes). There's an even a push-to-pass button (if only it were that easy) that adds a bit of E-boost on the straights and, of course, regenerative braking is present and accounted for.

Lastly, take a good look at the interior because Porsche says it offers a glimpse at future interiors from the automaker. Sounds good enough to buy so far, right? Too bad, because it's just a concept. We'll bring you live shots of the 918 Spyder concept tomorrow after it debuts in Geneva, so sit tight.

Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept gets 78 mpg, hits 62 mph in 3.2 seconds — Autoblog

[Nitin]

Looks good. Kinda like the Tesla in some departments,IMO.
And with 78mpg, who'd complain?! Obviously people who can afford this car won't care about the mileage, but this ought to revolutionarize things!

[khanak]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Looks good. Kinda like the Tesla in some departments,IMO.
And with 78mpg, who'd complain?! Obviously people who can afford this car won't care about the mileage, but this ought to revolutionarize things!

I see a lot of the Carrera GT in the 918.

[Rehaan]

Oh man. Every manufacturer is pulling out their hybrid card this year! Fun times ahead!

This offering looks pretty wicked. Carrera GT meets Merc CLK-GTR!

cya
R

[shamik.bose]

The futuristic Porsche 918 has been driven. After being flown in from Germany, it was driven around a closed driving road by Porsche AG Design Chief Michael Mauer.
Full article here.

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid drives - first real video

Must say it looks gorgeous and is the perfect succesor to the Carrera GT, in body and in spirit! Well done, Porsche!

[DocG]

While it pays homage to the Carrera GT, which is great, it also looks a lot wilder and more aggressive to the old GTs passive styling.

Just what you need in a concept car, now as far as production is concerned and it's ability to give you 78+MPG, that'll have to be seen and real world tested. I highly doubt any owner will get close to that figure given that the idea of this car is to push it hard and close to the limit!

[suhaas307]

Looks like Porsche's 911 isn't going to be their flagship variant, anymore!

Porsche is mulling on introducing a brand new supercar that should be powered by a brand new Flat-8 lump, that should give the people at Maranello a bit of a scare!

Looks like the folks at Stuttgart realized that there is space for a bigger, more powerful sports-car than the 911, much like how the 959 occupied the space above the 911. But the new '961' has large shoes to fill, if Porsche is looking to carry on, where the 959 left off.

The good thing for Porsche, is that the parts bin would come in handy when they conceptualize this supercar.

The picture provided is just a rendering, but don't expect the car to look to different from the sketches.

Porsche targets ferrari buyers with its 959 Successor while Porsche CEO Matthias Müller has confirmed in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, that the company indeed has plans to build a new supercar to be placed between the 911 and the 918.

The Porsche CEO, Matthias Müller stated at that time: “It always irritated me that the (most expensive) 911 tops out at 250,000 euros ($360,000) and then the 918 continues starting at 750,000 euros ($1,080,000). In between, Ferrari cavorts around relatively comfortably and without any competition. That is where we need to be. There is still space for a larger sports car, one like the 959 that we built in the 1980s.”

Well, during the unveiling of the new Porsche 911/991, Wolfgang Hatz revealed that a flat-eight boxer engine is being considered for the future Ferrari rival.

This flat-eight isn’t destined to replace the turbocharged flat-six in the “mean” versions of the 911, but instead, the powerplant has a higher purpose – to be the power Porsche’s potential supercar. Considering Porsche’s major competitor, Ferrari, currently dominates the market in this price segment with its V8-powered sportscars, moving to a flat-8 would be the next logical step. Beside this, moving to a larger engine would also differentiate the new model from the new 911 and next-generation Cayman range.

Considering that the company has already created a turbocharged flat-four engine that will be dropped into a future entry level roadster, the new flat-8 engine shouldn’t be a problem for Porsche. In addition, this engine is modular, so it can be extended into the next-generation flat-6 and flat-8.

The CEO also said that a development of the Carrera GT’s ultra-compact transmission could be used for the new model. Such a transmission would free-up space for the use of the longer eight-cylinder engine.

“We could develop it, of course, One of the key issues is where we put the differential, but it is a possibility,” he said.

As a reminder, the german car maker also has a history with the flat-8 engine, considering that back in the late 1960’s, Porsche built an air-cooled 1.5L flat-8 for Formula One that extended to a 3.0 L version for the Porsche 908 in 1968. That engine was able to pump out 300 HP back then, making a competitor for the 458 Italia’s 570 HP V8 an attainable goal.

Stay tuned for more details.