Porsche 918 Spyder hits 217mph on public roads (video)

The Porsche 918 Spyder – Porsche’s hybrid hypercar – has hit 350kph (217mph) on Australia’s Stuart Highway, taking just 40 seconds from 60-350kph.

As far as we can work out, there are currently just three places you can take a road car and drive as fast as you want: the German Autobahn, the Isle of Man and a single 200 mile stretch of road in Australia’s Northern Territories.

There used to be more – and all of Northern Territories was speed limit free at one time – but now the Autobahns of Germany and the Stuart Highway in Australia are really the only place you can hit properly high speeds (the Isle of Man’s road are too short and twisty for serious numbers).

All of which explains why Porsche has taken the 918 Spyder off to Australia rather than the Isle of Man to see what it can do on a public road that’s not a German Autobahn. And the numbers are significant.

As part of the stunt – which appears to have broken a world record – the 918 was driven 15 miles from Alice Springs on electric power only until it reached the de-restricted section of the Stuart Highway.

It then accelerated from 60kph (37mph) to 350kph (217mph) in a scant 40 seconds, albeit with the help of its not insignificant ICE engine contributing to the electric power. All of which proves nothing we didn’t already know – the 918 Spyder is a very quick hybrid.

Still, it was a bit of fun.

Video: Porsche 918 Spyder hits 350kph in Australia