That's a pretty quick Prius...

[aim]

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/porsche-918-spyder/

 

My my my. The boys in Stuttgart have been mighty busy. It wasn’t enough that they built a super-sexy hybrid race car based on the 911 GT3 R. No, they had to build a plug-in hybrid supercar that might just displace the Audi e-tron as the object of our green car lust.

Porsche lifted the sheet on the 918 Spyder on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show and made some huge claims. A few things got our attention right off the bat — 500 horsepower, mid-engine V-8 and two electric motors. Oh … and 78.4 mpg.

We swoon.

As we said, Porsche’s making some big big claims with the 918 Spyder, saying it will do zero to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds, top out at 198 mph and lap the famed Nurburgring in 7.5 minutes, beating even the incredible Carrera GT. All that acceleration comes from the aforementioned V-8 and an electric motor at each end putting down a combined 218 horsepower. Porsche cites 500 horsepower for the car, and we’re guessing that includes the engine and motors combined. That engine, by the way, was pulled from the RS Spyder race-car parts bin and reworked for the 918.

Power from the engine and the rear motor hits the street through a seven-speed PDK gearbox. The front motor turns the front wheels through a fixed ratio. Juice for the motors is stored in a lithium-ion battery mounted behind the seats. No specs on the pack.

Porsche gave the car four modes. E-Drive is for tooling around under electricity alone, and you’ve got a range of 16 miles. Choose Hybrid Mode and you’re using gas and electricity as the circumstances dictate. Sport Hybrid mode tips the gas-electric equation in favor of performance, sending most of the power to the rear wheels and using torque vectoring to keep things under control. Flip the switch to Race Hybrid mode and everything is tuned to maximum performance. If the battery’s carrying enough juice, the motors provide a push-to-pass burst of energy at the touch of a button.

All the gadgetry sits in a carbon-composite monocoque, and Porsche made extensive use of magnesium and aluminum to keep things as light as possible – 3,285 pounds, which is impressive for a car hauling two electric motors, a battery and the related electronics.

People will either love the styling or hate it. We like the front three-quarter view, but the back end and wheels look better in the renderings than they do on the actual car. Whatever. Part of the point of a concept car is to get people talking, and this one definitely will.

A plug-in hybrid Porsche? A hybrid Ferrari? More electric Audis? An electric Mercedes AMG SLS? If this is the future of high-performance cars, we say bring it on.

Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/porsche-918-spyder/#ixzz0hCaprAGv

[SILNCR]

I Like!!!!

[dubbedup]

yummy! love them wheels...

[Guest]

Hell yeah! I'll have two thanks ;D

[QRAF]

Porsche 918 Spyder...Hybrid Concept? I'll take one...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9f5_1267603002

i put it in the video thread yesterday.

[Bumpty]

Yay for hybrids!

[newsuba]

Not all hybrids , most like the Prius, Honda Insight etc. are POS.

Lotus have a hybrid Evora...

http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/248770/official_lotus_evora_hybrid.html

And BMW the Vision...

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/29/frankfurt-preview-bmw-vision-efficientdynamics-concept-turbodi/

Both use a small petrol engine plus electric motors, that would make more sense than Porsche's big engine supplemented by electric motors ?

[aim]

 newsuba said:

Both use a small petrol engine plus electric motors, that would make more sense than Porsche's big engine supplemented by electric motors ?

Well it doesn't, because the Porsche has a large MPG and a faster 0-100 time... You'd have to drive them to compare the drive and experience though. But on paper the Porsche comes out on top, in nearly every aspect - except no mention of price yet... But I wouldn't expect it to be cheap

[Guest]

i think it'd be pretty cool (and useful) if porsche or anyone else who makes a similar v8 hybrid could use similar technology to the american v6 and v8's that disengage cylinders and run as 4 cylinder engines when the power is not needed. best of both worlds- hybrid with small and large petrol engine, at the same time.