Porsche to race the 918 Spyder hybrid concept at the 24-hour of Nurburgring next year
It's no secret that Porsche is studying the possibility of putting the 918 Spyder hybrid car to production. The German automaker already has one successful hybrid system in the 911 GT3 R Hybrid racer and with its recent successes, the hybrid system has basically proven itself. With that, Porsche has now announced its intention to take the 918 Spyder racing at the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 2011.
Porsche engineers are already working on the car and one of their priorities is to get its top speed up to the 320km/h mark. Porsche claims that the 918 Spyder is able to lap around the Nordschleife track in under 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
The 918 Spyder hybrid concept made its premiere at the Geneva Motor Show this past March. It features a V8 engine with 493hp in addition to three electric motors churning out a total of 215hp. That adds up to 708hp and if the 918 Spyder does make it to production, it would be the most powerful road car Porsche has ever produced.
The electric all-wheel drive set-up provides the 1490 kg (3285 lbs) 918 Spyder with torque vectoring to keep it highly nimble. The 918 also features Porsche's PDK dual-clutch gearbox and an electric boost function.
All that power requires a lot of fuel, but this is a Porsche of the future so it boasts a fuel rating of 3-liters/100km and a CO2 emissions figure of only 70g/km. Suddenly the future of the supercar doesn't seem to bleak anymore.
