In the name of the P1, the 918 and the holy LaFerrari.
It’s the video we’d all been waiting for. After a bit over two weeks it’s racked up more than 1.2 million views. It’s Chris Harris in three of the most desirable cars ever made.
At almost one hour long the recipe couldn’t get any better. Throw in an empty and excellent Portimao racetrack and, well, yeah, the recipe does get better. And this video is great viewing, it really is.
But is it as good as you were hoping?
Porsche takes us inside the 918 Spyder assembly hall with this 11 minute video. There’s no voiceover. No overwhelming stats on performance or the number of parts used. Just the workers going about their job. It’s strangely hypnotic.
And what a car!
We don’t know much about this recent event at Porsche Centre Saskatchewan in Canada where a pair of Porsche 918 Spyders were unveiled in Gulf Racing colours, but we do know thse cars look damn hot!
The only question is, would you like your 918 in Gulf colours or Salzburg red?
[Source: VWvortex | Thanks to Paul for the tip]
It was Mark Webber’s birthday during the week. He turned 39 and, according to Porsche, he “gave himself” a new 918 Spyder.
You can see it pictured here in its sexy Salzburg red paint scheme, based on the 1970 Le Mans winning 917. Obviously, it looks sensational, we’re sure you’ll all agree.
Follow the link below for a brief video. And, if Mark bought himself a 918 for his 39th, how is he going to top that for his 40th?!
[Source: Porsche]
Meet Paul Bailey. He’s from the UK and owns a McLaren P1, a LaFerrari and a Porsche 918 Spyder. What a bastard!
In this video Bailey drives his P1 to pick up his new LaFerrari. Not content with taking delivery of one car for the day he shoots straight off to Porsche to collect his 918. Nice work if you can get it!
We’re treated to some of his thoughts on all three cars. This is not a balls out performance comparison that’s going to get him banned by over protective car makers (yet), but it’s still a worthwhile insight into the three best and most desirable hypercars of the moment.
[Source: The Supercar Driver]
The Porsche 918 Spyder, it’s natural playground is the 20.832km of ribbon-like tarmac at the Nürburgring. But what happens if you find yourself faced with snow and ice as far as the eye can see?
Don’t panic, just bung on snow tyres complete with 6mm spikes and let it rip!
Chris Harris and mates at Portimao with his favourite cars from 2014. There’s no agenda, no forced result to pick a winning car. It’s simply a recipe for fun. Enjoy!
[Thanks to Richard for the tip]
It’s the McLaren P1 versus the Porsche 918 Spyder. It’s Evo. It’s Angelsey. This needs no further introduction.
Suffice to say, like Jethro, I’d be prepared to sell my soul. And I suspect you would too.
Here’s a video shootout that’ll have you salivating. Autocar runs the fearsome McLaren P1 up against the amazing Porsche 918 Spyder. And for good measure they bring a Ducati 1199 along for a few laughs. Remember, it’s the superbike which gives its engine to the funky Volkswagen XL Sport.
Of course, there is a lot more to read from Autocar about the merits of these two hyperhybrids, including this bit:
Ultimately, the 918 handles, rides and steers like a big daddy version of every senior-level Porsche from the past 10 years, and that’s exactly how Porsche’s engineers wanted it to feel. Which is great, but…
The P1’s chassis, particularly its aerodynamic grip, really is something else again. At normal road speeds you rarely, if ever, notice what kind of sorcery is going on around you, because to get those wings to do their thing you need to be travelling at least somewhere close to three figures.
Naturally, Autocar wanted the LaFerrari to join in the fun too, but…
There was one simple reason for the absence of Ferrari’s rival hypercar here: Maranello was invited to provide a car for this test but declined. At the same time, Ferrari made it clear that were we to test a private example, we would not be invited back to Maranello any time soon.
[Source: Autocar]
Let’s state right off the bat that this clip from Drive, with Mike Spinelli as host, isn’t going to be the most exciting video featuring the Porsche 918 Spyder you will ever see. But at least the hyper hybrid doesn’t catch fire.
Spinelli puts Porsche’s claim that the 918 can do 12 miles (around 20km) in all-electric mode to the test, by driving from the top of Manhattan to the bottom.
[Thanks to John for the tip]
After the flaming GT3 fiasco the last Porsche needs is the sight of a 918 hyper-hybrid going up in smoke. Alas, that’s exactly what happened to this 918 Spyder in Toronto.
The incident took place at a petrol station and the cause of the inferno is unknown. Let’s hope it remains an isolated incident and that the car itself wasn’t the cause of the blaze.
There’s an amateur video of the 918 fire after the break and if you have sensitive ears nearby make sure you turn the volume down a little.
[Source: Jalopnik | Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
Let’s start your week with a run up the famed Goodwood hillclimb course, filmed aboard the Porsche 918 Spyder at the Festival of Speed on the weekend.
The brief clip Porsche has made with titled “Sounds of Goodwood 2014” is a nice little treat as well.
Mark Webber was at Goodwood on the weekend and was tasked with the chore of driving the Porsche 911 GT1-98, with any luck Porsche will have some footage of that soon as well.