The final Porsche 918 Spyder came off the assembly line in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Porsche’s super sports car reached its limited edition limit of 918 units and these lucky few have the technology now that you will see in your sports car soon. What does the 918 Spyder feature now that many cars will be seeing soon?
The sports car you drive in the future will benefit directly from innovations found in the innovative 918 Spyder. Those high-tech goodies will equate to performance and improved fuel mileage in one smart package like the new Porsche super sports car.
Porsche systematically developed the new 918 Spyder to be a performance hybrid with plug-in technology (PHEV). The first example was a concept car and was unveiled at the 2010 Geneva International Motor Show where it was met with overwhelming approval. Buyers are looking for both performance and efficiency. This car delivers both.
The future is here now
918 lucky owners will be driving a super sports car that will now provide the data for the advanced development of technologies for the sports cars of the future. They're five key technologies in the 918 Spyder that you’ll see in future sports cars.
The key technology on this limited edition sports car is a drive concept which combines a high-performance combustion engine with two electric motors. This operating strategy is one of the unique aspects of the 918 Spyder that sets it apart from other performance PHEVs.
Porsche says the system uses various requirements ranging from an efficiency-oriented driving profile to maximum performance. This provides important knowledge for future production developments.
Porsche developers defined a total of five different operating modes that will maximize the efficiency and performance of the drivetrain depending on the individual driving situation.
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| Silver Porsche 918 Spyder |
New technology comes from motorsports
Like many automakers, Porsche uses the data from their motorsports division to develop new performance technologies that go into their production vehicles that you drive everyday. This new Porsche system is activated by the driver using a "map switch" on the steering wheel. Porsche used this motorsports knowledge in developing the characteristic maps and the algorithm stored in them for controlling the three drive units and other systems. The German automaker says we can expect to see this knowledge applied in future hybrid drives.
The fourth technology in the 918 Spyder that will be seen in future sports cars is the cars thermal management concept that features five separate cooling circuits and the innovative hybrid cooling of the rear electric motor using air and water.
The final example with future implications: the Porsche 918 Spyder can convert more kinetic energy into electrical energy than other hybrid vehicles because of its intelligent control of generator functionality and conventional brakes. The large capacity regenerative power boosts efficiency and driving range.
The new super sports car from Porsche is incredibly fast too. The 918 Spyder’s hybrid system pumps out a total of 887 horsepower. The car set the lap record for street-legal vehicles with production tires on the North Loop of the Nurburgring with a time of 6 minutes 57 seconds in September 2013. The record has never been equaled by any production car since.
The last example of the new 918 Spyder rolled off the assembly line this week and the super sports car has the technologies that will be influence sports cars of the future you will be driving. Stay tuned.
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