Porsche 918 Spyder takes on the Nurburgring

Porsche has taken their concept hybrid supercar – the 918 Spyder – to the Nurburgring to set a time – 7 minutes 14 seconds.

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The Porsche 918 Spyder, which will find itself in competition with the new McLaren P1 and Ferrari F70 when it arrives at the end of 2013, is taking a slightly different route to the competition with its more apparent hybrid halo.

But a hybrid halo doesn’t have to mean poor performance, a point Porsche has proved by taking the 918 Spyder to the Nurburgring to set a lap time.

The Porsche 918 Spyder can deliver a total of 759bhp from its race-derived V8 and two electric motors which, although less than the likely power available to the F70 of P1, is still a significant amount of get up and go.

Porsche took the 918 Spyder to the Nurburgring, equipped with road tyres from Michelin and the Weissach performance pack upgrade to set and time and, from a standing start single lap, managed to get the 918 Spyder round the ‘Ring in just 7 minutes 14 seconds, a time that beats the previous fastest Porsche lap record – 7m 18s – set by a 911 GT2 RS.

Dr. Frank Walliser, 918 Spyder project manager, said:

By turning in a fabulous time of 07:14 minutes, the 918 Spyder prototype has already fully confirmed the viability of its future concept after just a few months on the road.

All of which offers plenty of promise that the 918 Spyder will be a worthy successor to the Porsche Carrera GT when it finally hits the road at the end of 2013.

Porsche 918 Spyder Nurburgring Photos >>