Which is Faster?

Impressive car. Looks like he topped off at about 176 mph on the last strait.

Wow. That's a great video. The 918 look like quite a handful at certain times...and a whole lot of fun pretty much the entire time. It is certainly the best sounding hybrid I've heard.

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I wonder why there is no requirement to turn around and run the track in the opposite directions (and average the results) when establishing records like this?

Due to the rotation of the earth and being in the nothern Hemisphere it's only possible to go round one way.

Were anyone to actually go round the wrong way, there would be a either a time reversal resulting in negaive lap times or the whole track would screw itsef into the ground

Del

They also have those parking lot style angled tire damage spikes to prevent people from racing the wrong way.

Seriously?

because it isn't a speed test, its a time

Isn't a speed test really just a time test over a known distance....like this track?

Actually, the 918 is more docile than its predecessors with all the electronics to optimize the performance of the car.

In the case of the 918 those automated functions actually improve both lap times and drivability.

Compare the 918 'ring times (6:57) to that of the Carrera GT (7:28) and the GT is a handful for even an experienced race drivers like Walter Rohrl.

It definitely looks like fun.

Did anyone else notice there seemed to be an awful lot of steering input even in the high speed corners or is it just me?

I noticed.

That's how its done when you are driving on the edge.

actually that car has electric steering, no pumps or belts. if you watch the speedo you can see him enter curves/turns well in excess of 100 and as he gets deeper in the curve he pulls hard on the wheel to finish negotiating that part of the road and set up the next curve/turn.this can only be done with all wheels being powered (4 wheel drive) its a complete package of power, design and engineering. if you tried this driving style in a muscle car from the late 1960s the car just washes out the front end or it flips the car. I'm quite impressed with the tecnology.

The steering system is still mechanically connected to the front wheels, but electro-mechanically assisted. Basically, power assist, but using electric motors instead of a belt driven pump from the engine.

In addition to that, the rear wheels are part of a 4-wheel steering system that are also electro-mechanically controlled. The amount of actual movement is subtle, but makes a difference in how the car handles.

None of that has anything to do with the steering input seen on the steering wheel. I can show you many videos of professional drivers "sawing" their way around turns in any year vehicle you want.

Speed seen on the speedometer is in kilometers per hour.

The 4-wheel steering system is essentially the same thing available on the 2014 Porsche GT3 at about 1/5th the price of the Spyder, but only laps the Nurburgring in 7 minutes 25 seconds.

the Spyder reaches a 214-mph top speed. In electric mode it hits 93 mph before the gasoline engine fires.the Spyder hits 62 mph in 2.6 seconds, 124 mph in 7.2 seconds and 186 mph in 19.9 seconds. not too bad!! I think I approve of the tecnology

Just what I need for my commute!

Yes, and people to get out of your way like Bruce Almighty.

Here is an excellent Top Gear driving evaluation of the 918.

The lines of this car remind me of the first car I fell in love with as a teenager. At mechanic shop called 'Charlie's Porche', Charlie had a beautiful Porche 904 (beside a number of other wonderful machines) in the very first space in the garage. Absolutely beautiful car....looks somewhat like a Ferrari Dino.

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Not bad for 1964

Living up north my mechanic had a 904 in his shop and it is an amazing car. It was street legal, at least in that state, but no mufflers.

My friend who was with the owner driving through town recalls some lady pulling up next to them and screaming that they should be arrested for all the noise that engine made.

She did not know or probably care that it was a rare half-million dollar vintage car she was complaining about.

Another story in a Porsche magazines highlighted an enthusiast that built a replica version of the 904 from scratch. He was able to acquire the actual blueprints of the chassis and put that into a modern CAD program.

An FEA was performed as a safety check and the original design was found to be right at the edge of the structural limits of the chassis frame. Impressive work for the original engineers at Weissach considering everything was hand calculated in the 1960s.

Finally, What Porsche should have done 40+ years ago when they produced the 914. Check the wheel base between the 914 and the 918. Betcha they're very close.

My '73 914 has a 2001 LS1 engine in it and handles like my performance go cart did in the 80's but with 375HP. From Fredski's description the 918 certainly handles very similar to my 914 with electronic help.

UFG

The technology employed in the 918 is state of the art. 40 years ago nothing like that existed.

Shoehorning a large displacement engine into a light chassis is nothing new. Porsche did that the same year of the the 914's release with the venerable 917 with engines producing as little as 600 bhp to nearly 1600 bhp.

~30 years ago there was some remarkable tech used in the 959, but still not advanced as is used in the 918 today.