Porsche 918 Spyder in Dubai
We can now reveal, we saw it in April
By Shahzad Sheikh
[UPDATE February 11, 2013: The new Porsche 918 Spyder is available for order now, with production starting in autumn this year. The basic retail price for the 918 Spyder in the United Arab Emirates is AED3,294,000 (US$897,600)]
It was all a bit James Bond, from the mysterious locations, the seaplanes, the special agent types and the document we had to sign in blood that threatened us with a slow, excruciating and tortured death – or a 50,000 Euro fine – if we ever revealed anything, as we were bundled into a plane back at the end of April this year. Till now, we’ve kept schtum. But the embargo has just been lifted…
Okay, perhaps a slight exaggeration on that last bit and thankfully they left the blindfolds off. But after getting on a seaplane at Dubai creek, we followed the coastline for a bit before banking sharply and heading inland for about 30 minutes, eventually landing in an airfield near the E66.
From there it was more security personal types – actually they were mostly actors from a modelling agency – and a fast ride in Panamera (which reminds me, I need to ask them for a copy of the CDs playing in the car featuring soundtracks from 007 and Mission Impossible movies). Finally at our destination we had to go through airport-style security and check-in our side-arms, sorry, I mean our phones and any camera equipment, before being allowed in.
Eventually making it into the inner sanctum, we were introduced to overall 918 Spyder project manager Dr. Frank Steffen Walliser who told us that we would be seeing, not the new Macan, as all the journalists had been speculating, but the 918 Spyder.
Hang on, hadn’t we seen this already. The first concept was shown in Geneva 2010, and wasn’t it at the Dubai Motor Show last year? Nope that was a RSR racing version. This would be a chance to see a near-production version of the road-going car.
And in fact we were the first stop on world tour of 13 countries where Porsche was taking this special road show in a kit amounting to three containers – don’t worry, the faux special agents weren’t stored in there too. Plus it’s not even the real deal, in fact it’s a styling clay model with no interior.
What we did get is some more details of the car the most mind-blowing of which is the number 3.0. You’re probably thinking that’s the 0-100kph figure right? In fact it’s the combined fuel-consumption. Which is staggering considering this supercar will be powered by a 4.6-litre with an equivalent of 770bhp – yes this is of course a hybrid motor.
That’s 570bhp from the petrol engine and at 9000rpm plus a 90kW motor on the rear axle and an 80kW motor on the front axle – oh yeah, this is all-wheel drive, with a 7-speed PDK. Combined torque is 553lb ft.
So we are talking a 0-100kph time of under 3.0 seconds plus a 0-200 of 9.0 and a top speed of 325kph. They’ve even set themselves a real-world target of under 7 minutes and 22 seconds around the Nurburgring (the Carrera GT, essentially this car’s predecessor did it in 7:32).
Porsche 918 Spyder
It’s all about demonstrating technology and what Porsche can do (kind of what the 959 did back in the 1980s). ‘Spectacular solutions such as the full carbon fibre reinforced plastic body, fully adaptive aerodynamics, adaptive rear-axle steering and the upward-venting “top pipes” exhaust system are at the bleeding edge of automotive thought,’ explained Dr Walliser.
Oh yes, upward-venting top pipes – this hadn’t been seen before, the original concept having side-exiting pipes. They do look cool, and seem to be a comeback at McLaren (the MP4-12C’s exhaust outlets are at tail lamp level).
There are five driving modes: E-Power, Hybrid which is your normal position, Sport Hybrid for fast driving, Race Hybrid for track driving and Hot Lap if you want to set a timed run. In E-power the car can run up to 25km on electric power alone, up to speeds of 150kph. The batteries are liquid-cooled lithium-ion and the can be charged by plugging in about four hours.
At under 1700kg, it’ll certainly feel racy with the lower seating position of any production sports car. And the four-wheel steering and four-stage active wing and front diffusers will keep this sucked to the tarmac through corners.
918 of these will be built, production is expected to commence in September 2013 in Zuffenhausen, with deliveries beginning in early 2014 for our region. They’ll start at $900,000 each and if you’re balking at the price thinking it’s a bit steep, you’re right, but don’t balk too long because they’ve already taken deposits for 21 cars for this region – from a possible total of 60 earmarked for the Middle East.
Right I’ve spilled the beans, so now excuse me whilst I get taken away for interrogation. If anyone asks, tell them I was framed!
