If you’re thinking, heck, my neighbor kid’s Dodge Challenger Hellcat pumps out 717 horsepower, remember that the Porsche 918 Spyder’s three electric motors – two at the rear and one up front – contribute another 284 ponies for a total output of 887 horsepower and 994 pound-feet of torque. The sound blasting from the top-exiting exhaust pipes is truly breathtaking, and so is the 608 horsepower output. With a flat-plane crankshaft (like a Ferrari V8) and titanium connecting rods, it will rev to 9,000 rpm. The mid-mounted 4.6-liter V8 is not related to anything in Porsche’s SUVs but is rather derived from the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 Le Mans prototypes. Porsche built the 918 Spyder around a mostly carbon fiber chassis, essentially a requirement in this exclusive group for strength and relatively low weight. (Source: RM Sotheby’s) 887 Total Horsepower The sound blasting from the 918 Spyder’s top-exiting exhaust pipes is truly breathtaking. The Artura is a notch or two below the others in absolute performance with its V6-plus-single electric motor, so we don’t expect this to be the ultimate application of McLaren’s plug-in technology.
McLaren, though, wins the low-price-of-entry trophy with the recently introduced Artura plug-in hybrid starting at $225,000.
In the meantime, plug-in hybrid hypercars offer the best of both worlds: a screaming internal combustion engine that, by itself could give whiplash-inducing performance, teamed with electric motors for greater off-the-line push.įerrari recently entered this space with the SF Stradale, a relative bargain compared to the Porsche 918 Spyder at about $507,000 to start. It is just a matter of time until those stats belong to battery electrics. This is largely an ego-driven niche, however, where ultimate acceleration and lowest Nürburgring lap times drive sales. If Rimac and Pininfarina have read the tea leaves correctly, the future of the supercar and hypercar is electric. (Source: RM Sotheby’s) Race of the Electrons The 918 Spyder’s active aerodynamic features contribute to high-speed stability. The RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island auction in late May sold this 2015 model for $1.182m, right around the middle of its of $1m-$1.25m pre-sale estimate.įor reference, Gooding & Company sold a black 2015 918 Spyder in its Geared Online auction in May for $1.144m. Getting a 918 Spyder when new was difficult, as just 918 of these hypercars were made. It’s possible that a future Porsche EV supercar could surpass the 918 Spyder, but time will tell. The 918 Spyder still stands as Porsche’s quickest and fastest car ever, and it may retain that mantle unless the marque decides to build another hybrid. Not coincidentally, Porsche chose to limit production to 918 cars, building them from 2013 to 2015. The production version followed three years later and was even more powerful than the concept promised. It’s already been more than a decade since Porsche first showed the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept at the Geneva Motor Show.
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