2015 Porsche 918 Weissach Spyder

heroldius (65)in #cars • 6 years ago (edited)

At the Petersen Automotive Museum Auction at Los Angeles (8 December), RM Sotheby's will auction this beast, the Porsche 918 Weissach Spyder. Pure beauty...

History of Porsche 918

The Porsche 918 Spyder prototype was presented in March 2010 at the Geneva Motor Show. Huge success, Porsche received more than 2,000 purchase intentions and therefore, decided to launch the development in July 2010. In 2013, the final version is presented in Frankfurt with a design very close to the prototype. It was produced in 918 examples, all sold in November 2014.

The 918 Spyder is the evolution of the 959 (good post about the 959 by @alexs1320) and the Carrera GT with a hybrid powertrain (more about it on the Specification Section). The design was by Michael Mauer, design manager at Porsche and his team.

Specification

The Porsche 918 has 3 separate powertrains :

4.6 liter four-cam V8 producing 608 hp (based on the Porsche RS Spyder engine,
on the rear axle, 154 hp AC electric motor running in parallel with the gas engine,
on the front axle, an another electric motor producing 127 hp more.

So the 918 produces a 887 combined hp and reach 100kmh in just 2 seconds. Pure beast...
For the transmission, we have the famous seven speed PDK dual-clutch explanation on Autoweek.

On the wheel, a button allows the driver to select from different modes : E-Power (only electric), Hybrid (more electric), Sport Hybrid (the V8 is running with the electric engines as booster), Race Hybrid (the 3 engines run together), and Hot Lap drive (best performance).

This model comes with the optional Weissach package that makes the car lighter and faster. The car loses 36 kg thanks to the removal of several elements and magnesium alloy center-lock wheels.