Porsche 918 Spyder: Pre-production prototype revealed

Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype

Porsche has revealed the pre-production prototype of the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, successor to the Carrera GT.

The Porsche 918 Spyder – Porsche’s successor to the Carrera GT – is now entering the final stage of its development with the reveal of the Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype.

If you look through the camouflage Porsche has given the 918 – a camouflage inspired by the Porsche 917 Racing livery – you can see the changes Porsche has made to the original concept and what will, in all probability, be the final look for the 918.

Porsche has moved the exhaust outlets up to exit in separate bulkheads behind driver and passenger and away from the 918’s lithium ion batter pack, used to power its twin electric motors, and it looks like it’s stolen the tail lights from the new 911 (assuming they make production).

Power will come from a 4.6 litre V8 based on the RS Spyder’s 3.4 litre lump mated to a pair of electric motors. That plug-in powertrain – with a likely EV range of 15 miles – is enough to allow Porsche to game the official fuel consumption figures to come up with a figure of 94mpg and 70g/km; figures that are completely barking – but it’s all about the ‘Official’ figures to hit CO2 averages.

Porsche say the 918 Spyder will go in to production at the end of 2013 and cost £678k, with first customer cars in early 2014.