It's not everyday one gets to come face to face with a Porsche 918 Spyder. As us mortals can only dream of ever getting within 15 feet of one, we couldn't help but brandish our cameras and put together a gallery of it when a unit was present at the launch of Porsche Malaysia's swanky new showroom in Sungai Besi.
Priced at an astronomical figure of US$845,000 (RM3,078,250), Stuttgart's answer to the LaFerrari and P1 may appear to be the most subtle-looking (and most beautiful to yours truly) of the trio but rest assured, the numbers the 918 puts down marks it out as one of the all-time greats.
For starters, the Porsche 918 Spyder possesses a total of 887 hp and 1,275 Nm of torque thanks to a combination of a naturally-aspirated (bless them Porsche engineers) 4.6 litre V8 engine and a pair of electric motors, juiced up by a 6.8 kWh lithium-ion battery. The century sprint gets done and dusted in only 2.8 seconds while v-max is quoted at 345 km/h.
The powertrain gets mated to a seven-speed PDK double-clutch gearbox with power going to all four corners. Drivers can opt from a choice of five different drive modes - E-Power, Hybrid, Sport Hybrid, Race Hybrid and Hot Lap. The latter completely exhausts the drivetrain to its maximum, allowing the driver to gun for a few time attack sessions before the batteries go completely flat.
Being a plug-in hybrid, the 918 Spyder is capable of an all-electric range of 32 km and a top speed of 150 km/h. Charging this beast takes about seven hours with the supplied Porsche Universal Charger on a regular 110-volt household AC socket - the optional DC Speed Charging Station cuts the time down to 25 minutes.
As for its looks, the 918 Spyder quite obviously draws most of its inspiration from its predecessor, the Carrera GT. It even carries over the 'Targa' concept of having removable roof panels, of which owners can store in the front luggage compartment, which measures in at 107 litres. I'll have mine in Liquid Metal Chrome Blue...
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