2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: The Future of the Hypercar! Ignition Ep. 100

MotorTrend

On this very special 100th episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 (ominous music)

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00:32 - Without question, the 918 exemplifies the absurdity

00:52 expected of a near million dollar hyper car.

00:55 Its tub and engine cradle are made of carbon fiber,

00:58 and it of course has adjustable aerodynamics, dampers,

01:01 comically large carbon ceramic brakes,

01:03 and no less than three power trains that, combined,

01:06 produce horsepower and torque figures

01:08 that need context to be understood.

01:10 It's an immensely complex car,

01:13 and the first question we need to answer

01:15 on this racetrack in Spain is, how does it drive?

01:18 And I think the quick answer is, very well.

01:25 (car engine revving)

01:28 Oh, RPM is a beautiful thing.

01:34 We are in full race mode,

01:39 with the traction stability control off,

01:42 and I'm just amazed.

01:45 The level of grip, the steering response,

01:50 the power application, the sound is phenomenal.

01:52 (car engine revving)

01:56 The most crucial thing about this car, I think,

02:05 is the way it'll hide all of its computers.

02:10 Technology, new technology, at least,

02:12 is best when you don't know it's there,

02:14 or if you realize it's there, it's there to help you.

02:17 That you can feel comfortable in a car

02:21 that costs this much and is this fast

02:24 is quite an accomplishment.

02:25 I'm not surprised at how fast this car is.

02:33 That makes sense when you're working

02:34 with close to 900 horsepower

02:36 and over 900 pound-feet of torque.

02:39 But it's the way that it gives you the speed,

02:42 that it gives you such easy access to the speed

02:47 that you don't have to worry about

02:48 or care about how you get it wrong or if you get it wrong.

02:52 And that's a very important thing

02:54 when you're pushing a car that costs nearly a million dollars.

02:57 The braking is impressive, too,

03:03 'cause the braking's accomplishing stopping the car,

03:06 but it's also doing a fair amount of regen, too.

03:09 And they tried to make a system

03:12 that would do both but feel linear and consistent.

03:18 And it seems like they have.

03:20 There's times when the braking feel

03:23 can be a little bit strange,

03:25 and I can't really decide what that is yet.

03:27 But overall, it's a really quality setup,

03:30 especially for a hybrid car.

03:32 To have a car with this kind of power

03:44 and these kinds of limits

03:45 and have it be approachable and friendly is unthinkable.

03:50 What planet is this?

04:10 What world is this where we can have this?

04:12 You can have everything.

04:14 You can have a naturally aspirated V8

04:16 that spins at 9150 RPM.

04:19 You can have 900 horsepower.

04:21 And you can have an electric mode, too,

04:23 that drives the car when you don't want to burn gas.

04:25 I mean, that's absurd.

04:27 And yet, here we are, experiencing it.

04:30 Simply, my mind was blown.

04:39 It wasn't just the speed,

04:40 but the 918's overall friendliness.

04:42 The power felt so linear,

04:44 and the traction was immense.

04:46 The feeling afterwards was that

04:49 I had just experienced the future.

04:51 It was surreal.

04:53 But before we get too far ahead of ourselves,

04:55 let's slow down and take the 918 piece by piece.

04:58 So this is what it's like starting up a 918

05:03 and driving it away.

05:04 And we're off on full electric power.

05:10 And you hear nothing aside from the chattering

05:12 of some very cold brakes.

05:14 And it can drive this way for under 20 miles,

05:24 so long as you left the house with a full battery.

05:26 But we're going to switch to hybrid now,

05:29 because those brakes don't sound very good.

05:30 Let's see if we can fire the engine.

05:32 That's pretty cool.

05:35 So now the 918's driving like a hybrid.

05:40 We have the rear motor and the engine

05:44 functioning in a very economical manner.

05:48 What's interesting is when the engine shuts off and turns on,

05:51 there isn't a lot of change in how the car drives.

05:55 Sure, it gets a lot quieter,

05:57 but you don't feel a sudden kick in your back.

05:59 You don't feel the engine come on and push the car forward.

06:02 You don't feel any drivetrain shock.

06:03 It just gets louder and more powerful.

06:10 That's pretty cool.

06:11 That's pretty cool.

06:12 Now, there's a lot of really interesting technology

06:15 in this car.

06:16 And that's what a hypercar needs to be.

06:19 A hypercar needs to be something that pushes the envelope

06:23 of what an automaker can do.

06:24 Now, some people have asked what the car would be like

06:28 if it just had a naturally aspirated engine,

06:30 if you had 600 or 700 horsepower rear drive

06:33 and so on and so forth.

06:34 And Porsche made that car.

06:36 It's called the Carrera GT.

06:38 And if you want a purist, back-to-basics driving car,

06:44 they still make that too.

06:45 It's called the GT3 or a base Cayman or Boxster.

06:49 The 918, though, is meant to be a showcase

06:53 of what this company can do, what kind of technology

06:55 they can throw in and the results they can get out of it.

06:57 Those results speak for themselves.

06:59 The fuel economy this is capable of,

07:01 its Nürburgring lap time, its acceleration.

07:05 It's a pretty complete package and very cool

07:08 in its own right.

07:11 And you can tell the engineers are super proud of it.

07:13 They point to the monocoque chassis.

07:15 They point to the wheel hubs and the axles and everything.

07:19 And they are just in love.

07:20 It's like they've just been let loose to go wild on this thing.

07:23 And the result is impressive, really impressive, really

07:25 incredible, given the short development time span.

07:30 While the proportions may evoke memories of the Carrera GT,

07:33 the more you look at the 918, the more interesting it becomes.

07:37 You notice things like how big those side intakes are

07:40 or the intricacy in the mesh covering the engine.

07:42 Now, as good looking as the 918 is,

07:47 the only way to really appreciate

07:49 what's happening underneath is to look at it

07:51 without sheet metal.

07:52 And that's what we have here, a completely naked 918.

07:55 And this isn't just any naked one.

07:56 It's actually the first prototype, the first 918

07:58 chassis that was ever assembled.

08:00 Now, what do we have up front?

08:02 Well, there's the traction motor right there.

08:04 It makes about 134 horsepower just to the front wheels alone.

08:07 And the interesting thing is because there's

08:09 no mechanical connection in terms of power to the rear

08:12 axle, it gives Porsche some really interesting control

08:15 opportunities in terms of power delivery.

08:17 [TIRES SCREECHING]

08:20 They can control power left to right by using the brakes.

08:24 And it gives them some really interesting advantages

08:26 in terms of oversteer situations and understeer situations.

08:28 In an oversteer, they can sense that through wheel speed

08:31 sensors and so on and apply power to the front axle

08:34 to help pull you out of a corner.

08:36 And in understeer, they can apply braking pressure

08:39 to help the car turn when it's not.

08:41 [TIRES SCREECHING]

08:43 Now, from the back, the first thing you notice

08:45 is the just completely awesome exhaust system.

08:48 Now, why do they do that?

08:49 Well, it's because this 4.6 liter V8 is actually a hot V.

08:53 All the exhaust gases come out of the center of the V

08:55 and shoot straight up.

08:56 It really helps with heat evacuation.

08:58 And it's actually kind of cool sitting in the car,

09:00 looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the heat waves

09:02 right behind your head.

09:03 [ENGINE REVVING]

09:06 Now, that helps with heat evacuation

09:09 because the battery is somewhere down here.

09:13 That's sensitive to heat.

09:14 So you want to keep all the heat away from that.

09:16 And that's what they've done.

09:18 Further back, we have a rear steering system

09:19 similar to what you get in the 911 Turbo and the GT3.

09:23 And at low speeds, that helps with maneuverability.

09:25 And at high speeds, it helps with stability.

09:27 Also, the wheel base is slightly longer

09:30 than the concept car that debuted a couple of years ago.

09:33 And they had to do that for fitment issues.

09:35 And it actually ultimately helped

09:37 with stability and driving, so says Porsche.

09:40 On the rear, we have the 991 rear bumper

09:43 with all the fire extinguisher and fire suppression systems

09:46 that you have to have on a prototype car

09:48 because that's just cool.

09:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:52 There's one thing that we haven't talked about yet.

09:58 And that's what happens when you press a little red button

10:00 in the middle of the dial on the bottom right

10:02 of the steering wheel.

10:03 [ENGINE REVVING]

10:06 It activates hot lap mode, an excellently named feature

10:09 that devotes all the battery's resources

10:11 to making you go faster.

10:14 This is what it's like.

10:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:18 [ENGINE REVVING]

10:22 What's most impressive about the 918

10:43 is how it ties all of its systems together

10:45 and gives you the confidence you need

10:47 to reach for its limits.

10:49 [ENGINE REVVING]

10:53 You find you can always break deeper, harder,

10:55 and accelerate earlier.

10:57 The way this car accepts power out of corners

11:00 is just incredible.

11:01 [ENGINE REVVING]

11:04 The lightweight Wysock package 918

11:07 lapped the ring in under seven minutes.

11:10 Our standard car, though heavier, is no less thrilling.

11:15 Though it's easy to get to speed in the 918,

11:18 it wants a driving style that takes a little bit

11:20 to acclimate to.

11:22 It likes to be driven like a race car--

11:24 smoothly, accurately.

11:26 It doesn't want to slide.

11:29 This car was built by a team of people

11:31 who drive cars fast for a living,

11:33 but who enjoy the experience of doing it.

11:35 [ENGINE REVVING]

11:38 You know, first driving this car was sensory overload.

11:40 Now I feel at home.

11:42 And the trouble with driving this is,

11:44 how do you go back to anything that's not this?

11:46 [ENGINE REVVING]

11:48 [LAUGHTER]

11:51 [ENGINE REVVING]

11:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]

11:58 The 918 is easily the most impressive car I've ever

12:01 driven, and not just for its advanced powertrain, power,

12:05 or its incredible construction.

12:07 It's because the 918 doesn't drive like a technical exercise,

12:11 but like a fully formed, thoroughly developed,

12:14 and extremely thrilling machine.

12:16 It's as engaging on a technical and intellectual level

12:19 as it is from a purely instinctual one.

12:21 And the state of awe it leaves on you is long lasting.

12:25 I still can't shake the sensation of driving it,

12:28 but I don't really want to.

12:29 918-- pretty [BLEEP] awesome.

12:37 Are you recording?

12:40 This is a lot of car.

12:41 [LAUGHTER]

12:44 Wow.

12:46 Wow.

12:48 You know, if this is the future of hypercars, cool.

12:51 Future's going to be good.

12:53 Future's going to be a good thing if this

12:54 is the future of hypercars.

12:57 That was insane.

12:58 That was awesome.

13:00 Jesus.

13:01 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:04 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:08 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:12 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:15 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:20 [ENGINE REVVING]

13:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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