We love cars.
I don’t think that can be disputed, for a lot of us anyways.
Yes, we all have our favourite niches and corners of the car culture world, but as a whole, we love cars. It’s something we probably don’t realise or maybe something we don’t think about too often. It’s just a natural passion for automobiles.
We’re lucky too. Some people spend their whole lives looking for what we found so naturally. We take joy and excitement from the kind of things that most people would call curious at best. You can be mid-conversation with someone, when you hear a distinctive flat-four rumble past somewhere in the distance…
It’s definitely a Subaru. Wait, maybe a GT86 with unequal-length exhaust headers? No, definitely a Subaru, likely a WRX. Satisfied with your detective work as you watch an Impreza roll past the window, you immediately realise that you’ve completely missed the last 30 seconds of conversation and scramble to awkwardly catch up.
Cars excite us in ways that few other things in life do. It baffles me at times when we spend so much time arguing about them, focusing on our differences rather than celebrating what brought us together in the first place.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a stance and show car person, or a track-orientated and tenths-of-a-second-chasing guy or girl. In fact, who said you have to be one or the other? Why not be both?
The Art
A couple of years back, I visited the Louvre in Paris. The world renowned museum is home to some 35,000 objects of art and history, and also houses some of the works of the great masters. Arguably, it’s one of the most important buildings in the world, but there was nothing in there that evoked any sort of strong emotional reaction from me.
Did I respect and appreciate what I saw? Of course, but there wasn’t a single moment where I felt overwhelmed by the beauty or serenity of any particular piece. I am sort of embarrassed to admit to this. I feel there is some sort of cultural mandate that compels me to be blown away by the art in the Louvre, but I just wasn’t. What can I say?
I recently exploited an opportunity to spend a brief amount of time with what is arguably the pinnacle of modern production cars, the Porsche 918 Spyder. My time with the car would be limited. I couldn’t drive it, I didn’t want to touch it but I could spend my time with the car uninterrupted. It was akin to a personal viewing and something I could never have said no to.
I understand that for a lot of people, these hypercars are difficult to relate to. Some of us will never see one, let alone drive or own one, and as such we tend to brush them aside and keep our focus on the obtainable. I sort of felt this way beforehand too, if I’m being totally honest.
I guess I just wasn’t prepared for the impact that this car would have on me. Even now, some four weeks later, I’m still struggling for the correct words to describe how this car made me feel.
I wouldn’t say I wasted time, but I did spend probably the first 15-20 minutes just taking it all in. Camera down and just poring over every last detail on the car. It was a sensory overload. The consideration that went into every last detail is mind boggling.
Where as creating the likes of a 911 is clearly an evolutionary process, the 918 is a whole new thing. This brake light, for instance, simply did not exist until someone at Porsche decided it should. Not only that, but they created it with very deliberate thought for how it should interact with the rest of the car. It’s not just a brake light unit, it’s a design solution to a problem.
The exhausts, mounted high, are maybe a more interesting piece to wax lyrical about, but they evoke the same sort of response as countless other details on the car. It’s a car built with little compromise to perform to the very best of its abilities.
The interior has the same level of detail and love applied. Sitting in over the carbon fibre tub, you drop into the carbon fibre-backed seats. The touch and feel of everything inside the car is special. The leather strap door-pulls are a feature reserved for the Weissach Package.
In this case, the paint alone could have an entire feature dedicated to it. What Porsche calls ‘Liquid Metal’ is a process which requires nine coats, three manual stages of processing and a further three coats of clear to achieve. It’s also rumoured that one of the processes involves using magnets to arrange the metallic flakes so as to control their uniformity and their alignment.
It’s an almost incomprehensible level of control and attention to detail which borders on the obscene, but is exactly what makes a car like this or LaFerrari or P1 so special. This isn’t just automotive technology at its pinnacle, it’s absolute art.
The Future
As car lovers though, we face a future of uncertainty. There’s certainly more stigma attached to being an automotive enthusiast today than there ever has been before. Ironically, modern performance cars are kinder to the environment than they’ve ever been, but it likely will not be enough for the legislators and regulators who must be seen to be doing something to save the planet.
For many years, the term ‘hybrid’ was met with derision by your typical petrolhead. The second generation Prius might not have been the first, but it almost definitely had the most impact and is probably the car that typifies what ‘hybrid’ meant to a lot of us; a soulless, boring car with little in the way of redeeming features, at least from an enthusiast’s standpoint. We were quick to point out its flaws and how the battery manufacturing process almost certainly contradicted its green credentials.
While we were crying foul of the Prius and its ilk, engineers the world over were figuring out how to incorporate these hybrid technologies to better benefit performance applications. What they’ve created, not just in the 918, is something marvellous.
With 608hp from its 4.6-litre V8, accentuated with a further 279hp care of electrical motors and batteries, this is a car that can deliver outrageous performance but still appeases the environmentalists. A sub-7-minute Nordschleife car with fuel economy ratings that have the potential to embarrass a diesel economy box? I have no words for that.
It will be said that anyone who can afford the nigh-on million dollar hypercars of this world won’t be too concerned with their fuel efficiency, but it’s not the point. The point is that we’re rapidly approaching an era where we can have performance and economy, rather than either or.
We can bury our heads in the sand and ignore the reality that’s fast approaching us, or we can become actively involved in ensuring that we have interesting cars to appease us for many more decades to come. Simply, we can pretend it’s not happening or we can steer the ship.
Whilst the 918 and the current crop of hybrid hypercars will forever remain unobtainable for you and I, they point towards what our future as automotive enthusiasts will likely represent.
Who knows, maybe someone will create the perfect synthetic carbon-neutral fuel tomorrow which completely removes our reliance on fossil fuels, and we won’t need to add electricity to our cars anyways and this will all look a bit silly.
In the meantime, we should become actively involved in shaping our own future. If you love cars and how they make you feel, you should pay heed to what’s happening right now in the automotive industry. There’s nothing to be gained by looking backwards or just hoping that your ’98 Integra Type R is the only car that you’ll ever need. Things are happening quickly; one cannot be oblivious to the change.
It’s not all hypercars either. There are cars out there now that you can walk into a showroom and buy at a relatively affordable price that share similar ideologies to the 918 & Co. Likely, it’s these ‘lesser’ cars that we will be looking at in years to come as viable performance options, if some of us are not doing so already. By the time you read this, I plan on being behind the wheel of one, as I want to commit to becoming a part of this movement.
If you love cars, for any reason, you need to get on-board or risk being left behind. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com
A special thanks to KH & AAP for allowing us time with the Porsche 918 Spyder.
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If you can do a write up on the Holy Trinity, it would be perfect. the current crop of hypercars are truly astounding and just leaves me with the question "what's next?" Give or take 10-15 years the tech on these current hypercars could appear in our daily drivers, and that's bloody amazing
Come on - stop that expacive shit - we need street cars
Paddy, you hooked me with the relatable cars and now this?!?! Oh how you have changed!
All valid points tho, i love the 918's approach to this hybrid tech (not that i'd refuse the other two); but even the i8 makes me very excited for what enthusiast cars of the future will be like. I like the idea of a very commuter friendly fuel efficient car but that let you hoon at respectable pace should the mood take you
StasKravtsoff Mind boggling how much people complain when this site pumps out various content at such a high rate. The 2016 start for Speedhunters has been incredible.
Excellent article, I completely agree with your thoughts. I love that this article is tagged "art". Like you said, the 918 is the pinnacle and that includes beauty.
While my love of 90's imports has not waned. I look forward to my daily driver having a KERs system one day.
Тонер - чётко!
I think its naive to "brush off" hyper cars, simply because they don't seem "relateable" to you. Being in the US and seeing auto-journalism from all over the world on this site, I am exposed to all types of vehicles that will never be realistic for me, like the (insert generic import variation, or 7 figure hyper-car like this); but, regardless of the price tag/availability, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in learning about their in's and out's.
It's been said time-and-time again, but the now-seemingly-impossible technology will eventually trickle down to everyday drivers; just look at the latest Ram truck ad. Self-monitoring magnetic-filled shocks? The F430 had that 2005? The WiFi that Chevy brags about? Wasn't Maybach doing that in like, 2004?
To me, there's a lot to learn from a car like this than just reading performance-numbers criteria and gawking at the price tag. The hand-stitched interior, materials used inside/out, the way electro/mechanic technology blends seamlessly, and the overall craftsmanship - THAT'S what makes these cars special to me, making this WAY more interesting than a 1000hp Supra, any day of the week.
This is definitely the direction that automakers are going...Tesla, Honda, and Toyota...This is already trickling down into the affordable street cars. Has anyone seen the new Hydrogen powered Toyota? The prius was a stepping stone to the direction they will eventually go.
If everyone thought about this from a purely physics standpoint - What are the most powerful forces in the universe known to man? Hydrogen/Helium Fusion (The natural nuclear process that powers our sun), and Electrical Energy (Lightning, Electromagnetic, etc.).
Now we just need to figure out how to harness these energies and install them into our cars, planes, boats, spacecraft, etc.. and we will have created the most powerful, fastest, longest lasting, most reliable, and GREENEST machines on Earth. Its definitely coming, but very slowly.
Those first few paragraphs were spot on. Its quite bafling how many people fail to understand your points about all the types of car enthusiasts, and that you can be more than one.
StasKravtsoff Did you mean expensive?? And also, some of the street cars featured are by no means cheap
Paolo Siega The funny thing is, the technology is available on attainable cars NOW. I'm driving one at the moment which I'll be sharing later this week.
StasKravtsoff It is, technically, a street car.
ethosVeritas_Z32 Hahaha, I was hoping no one would notice that. This is only part one of something I'm working on though, it'll all make sense soon enough.
ClayMR25 Glad you enjoyed it. I always thought I was a P1 kind of person until this. It's simply stunning in the carbon.
@Matt R Absolutely, I can see both sides of the coin and totally understand why someone can't relate to hypercars. But they're hugely important as they are ultimately showing us how the industry is going to move in the coming years.
jdmpwr Yup, I really want to learn more about hydrogen as a fuel source. It's my understanding that it retains the characteristics of petrol but with zero harmful emissions?
CharlesChris15 It's possibly the most annoying aspect of car culture.
Paddy McGrath jdmpwr : The problem stay the same that with battery and electricity. It's greener on emissions but making Hydrogen require electicity too.
That electricity must be produced somewhere and we are far from being 100% eco friendly on that part ...
Jocky Paddy McGrath jdmpwr True, but there are viable alternative methods of producing electricity which are growing in popularity all the time: wind, solar, etc.
Have you any reading material on the subject as a matter of interest?
RLX Hybrid?! What are you driving? Ahhhhh 1st gen Insight with a Jswap turbo rwd from SuperFastMinis.
Paddy, great write-up as usual. I completely agree with you, in that the cars which excite me most are the ones that tickle my fancy both from an engineering and artistic standpoint at the same time. Your highlight of the rear tail-lights was bang-on, as it's one detail I hadn't seen pointed out yet (haven't seen a 918 in the flesh myself either). But while I also haven't seen a P1 up close, while I definitely appreciate everything about the Porsche, it still can't knock the P1 off the top of my mental podium.
Having visited the Louvre, and the Musee d'Orsay, I found I wasn't greatly moved my most of the paintings, but rather it was the sculptures which were more captivating to me. So even as a photographer who appreciates art in 2D, it was the 3D objects which grabbed my attention in the flesh. Perhaps a parallel to why I appreciate cars!
Lastly, I love the look of your processing on these photos. I anticipate that some of that is down to the lighting of the location, but it certainly looks like a deliberate choice to keep the tones light and airy, and complimentary in color to the pale blue silver of the car's paint. Well done.
I haven't read a word of this article, I just couldn't stop scrolling down to check out all these jaw-dropping photo's! Undoubtly the best pictures of a 918 I have seen! Just wow! I'll start reading now!
I enjoyed reading this article, Paddy. It bothers me why people moan on how we shouldn't talk about these cars simply because they are extremely expensive. They are NOT just things for the rich to tool around in, but rather examples of what today's engineering and technology are capable of achieving. Yeah, this piece of the future isn't cheap and chances are slim that anyone on this website will actually own one of these cars but why should that stop us from appreciating what it is?
To compare this to some expensively tuned supra or even the typical supercar like a Lamborghini would be naive. This vehicle is way more than that. It's enthusiasts using their talents and knowledge to build something beyond the capabilities of today's vehicles. This is otherwise known as progress and why condemn progress and be content with what we have now? As you said Paddy, appreciating such stagnation will only put you behind because tomorrow's technologies are only gonna surpass you whether you like it or not.
Just read it. Great article too! Thanks, Paddy!
ssvirk Yeah, there is definitely a sense of wanting to hold onto things but it's still going to happen regardless. You might as well be involved!
IsaacDC Really appreciate that. Thank you.
Steve Hayward Thanks, Steve.
I didn't have a whole heap of time to shoot the car, so chose that one location where I could take advantage of the wall behind car as a giant bounce and to provide good detail on the shadow side of the car. The colour is remarkable, can't remember ever shooting paint quite like it.
AM81 It's a stock production car, but that Insight sounds like fun!
My goodness, these are the best pics of a 918 that I've seen.
I have just one little question: is this a 918 Weissach or just a 'common' (if this car can be called common) 918?
@kalend0 It's a 918 with the Weissach Package
Thanks, Paddy McGrath! By the way, gorgeous pictures! I think they should have a +18 banner on them, because the car-porn levels are too high! hahahahaha
If you love cars, for any reason, you need to get on-board or risk being left behind. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
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bollocks!
You have no clue about cars if you think like that. But believe what the media is selling you, thats the best way to get ripped of your money and get the worst technique out there.
jdmpwr Whats wrong with you americans and your Tesla? No one cares about tesla. Their cars are overpriced and unreliable. The company lose money every year. Tesla is nobody in the car industry, but you people following these clowns like apple and talk about it like they are something special.
You guys fall to easy for marketing.
@JJ7V You're incredibly naive if you think otherwise.
Paddy McGrath : Except some old chemistry memories and some articles read after the debate in Belgium about" going out or not" of nuclear not a lot I'm a fraid.
But I'm not living in the best country for thinking about solar and/or wind fields :p.
And the truth is, even if I know that that's the futur of the car (like progressive disappearance of manual transmission), the older I grew the more I'm intersted in older cars where you could put your hands in :).
Looking at a Porsche 356 the 918 looks like the natural evolution the 911 should have taken flatter and fatter
@JJ7V Like it or not the car industry isn't driven by enthusiasts like us. It is driven by the average people who don't care about cars. Engine noise is just annoying and fuel costs are always to high. And politicians pander to them. I don't like what Paddy says any more than you, but it's happening.
If you really love motoring then you need to love cars like the 918 and BMW i8 because they are still for drivers. Teslas are for commuters, but the market loves them.
this was a great article but the pictures were even better... they are gorgeous
I see this tier of car as the terrestrial equivalent of air-superiority fighters: cutting-edge beyond cutting-edge, with materials engineering unlike any seen in automobiles, demonstrating capabilities in a manner entirely different from custom cars and lower-tier supercars.
Which begs me to ask: have we been desensitized?
Yes, it's a badass, promise of things to come, excitingly engineered, artfully made machine.
I see them at Cars and Coffee and Canepa Design. I take pictures of them, but I'm personally more interested in the cars "with soul".
I still don't follow. Is this a public announcement of some sort?
How am I supposed to join the movement and get on board?
Great article!
And really great pictures!
I completely agree with your point about not feeling any real emotion evoked from you at the Louvre, as I too felt the same way. But when I see great automobiles like the Bugatti Type 57 S Atlantic or the one in the article above, the 918, it brings out a deep feeling in me!
Keep writing these great articles!
The 918 is such a beautiful car with the spoiler down, especially with the Weissach package - and yet you only see them with the spoiler up in photos.
Apart from that it's gread pictures and a great article. Liked it!
I agree, these "HYPErcars" are given a bit of a brush off because of their exclusivity but in my opinion it's mostly due to a misunderstanding. Most people see 1000+ HP,million $$+ price and think well that's no good to me. The thing is that it's very relevant as this tech will be seen through many "production" cars in the future. Look at the Porsche 959 for example: 4WD in a sports car... Now we're in the generation of sporty 4WD production cars.... My opinions aside, beautiful car in every way but I still think the P1 is more my taste
Great photos as per usual Paddy and some good food for thought!
t_schouwenaars Thank you
I find it hard to like any car with hybrid technology. For me I'd rather have a turbo charged car that easily equals the power of these hyper cars but saves 200+kg of weight. I just can't stand anything heavy, to me a Miata or s2000 is as enjoyable as you can get just because of the light weight and nimble feel. Im not saying these cars won't have that nice nimble feeling I so much enjoy, I'm just saying I think they could of been even better without the hybrid tech. Consider that a r35 or a Lamborghini TT can make all the power and more of a hybrid with far less weight and complexity, the only real advantage of the hybrid is its fuel economy and possibly smoother torque delivery, but to me if I had the money those factors just wouldn't worry me at all. I'd rather have raw power, turbo spool and a hyper car that weighs 1200-1300kg like a pagani rather than 1500+kg like these tanks. Don't get me wrong though I think these Hyper cars are great, I just don't think they the best they can be, that's all.
UWerqxTeam_MJ To a point, probably. I don't think it's possible to really appreciate a car like this unless you're in its presence.
Sp easy to make a car way quicker than them for a fraction of the price though. Even if I had they money I just wouldn't want one.
@SW1 I would consider it just as something to get people thinking, nothing more or less.
Soul is relative, IMO.
Ulu Juloo I'll try my best. Thank you.
flyingjolly Strange, don't think I realised that the spoiler retracts. I've never seen one retracted!
Lachys114 Thanks!
I'm a fan of the P1 too, stumbled upon them testing the prototype at the Nordschleife a few years back. It defies pretty much anything you thought you knew about cars.
What ever the future is it will be incorporated into older vehicles easily enough. The cars I love, skylines, evos, wrx etc are old but i mod them with modern turbos, breaks, suspension, aero, tyres, carbon parts etc.. If hybrids are the future rest assured someone will make a hybrid 1995 civic, with a modern turbo and literally everything the 918 has. You can even go to specialist places and make a cars chassi in carbon fibre and other extremely exotic materials... Name one thing on this car that I couldn't do to a civic? Brakes, seats, hybrid technology? If I pay enough someone will make it for me or I will buy a off the shelf item comparable with it.
Gary89 You make a strange argument.
You say that 'a r35 or a Lamborghini TT can make all the power and more of a hybrid with far less weight and complexity' but this 918 is 100kgs lighter than a GT-R and around 90kgs lighter than an Aventador. It also makes more power than both when all are stock. I wouldn't consider a GT-R to be non-complex either.
No doubt, batteries are heavy and it's something that manufacturers will need to overcome in years to come if hybrids are to become viable options for your typical performance car enthusiast. This is only the very early days of the technology, it still has a long way to go.
Sorry Paddy I didn't read all I just read about a quarter of this...Or even less...
I'm still learning English...
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Cars like this represent the limit of what we can reach today and show us the direction of further development.For a daily car I will say going hybrid is great cos I can spend less refilling my tank up.
But to a performance car? That is really hard to say.
It is clear that there will be more electric or hybrid motors running in the streets, and the dream will finally become the reality. But this won't be bad isn't it? Still we could enjoy the fun of driving though it may change...
That's it. Hope it can be understood by you all...
Paddy McGrath flyingjolly that's what i'm talking about - it seems noone ever retracts the spoiler (at least for pictures)
http://www.motorward.com/wp-content/images/2015/07/Signal-Green-Porsche-918-Weissach-00-600x308.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KUyLLEk_lwE/U7LXpPJXN5I/AAAAAAAACFY/rMuqr6KLHYg/s1600/918+Profile.jpg
flyingjolly Paddy McGrath That is very sleek, definitely the first time I've seen it down.
Gary89 I know what you're saying but I doubt you could build, let's say a Supra JZA80, that would be as fast by every measure, reliable and usable everyday as a 918 or a P1.
The difficulty isn't really making the car quick but rather creating a package where everything works properly.
fang980805 No worries, I'm never going to come down on someone because English isn't their first language so don't ever be afraid to join the discussion.
When you consider that the cars I stated have no where near the use of light weight materials as used in the Porsche you can imagine how much weight could be lost. A r35 GTR made almost exclusively of carbon fibre including chassi and all exterior bodywork would be around 1300kg, I know this because that's the weight most time attack r35's sit at with 1200+hp and a full roll cage. A lambo galardo would be much the same with a tt set up and using a fully carbon chassi and shell. The pagani just featured is non hybrid and uses almost the same composites as the Porsche and is 1216kg (1350 when it's not as aggressively stripped out) The agera R is a meer 1360 kg also and both are as advanced as the Porsche but skip out on batteries.. If you going to go hybrid do as Ferrari do, they follow the f1 trend of minimal to no batteries and a capacitor that stores charge and releases it when needed. This idea is proven not only for cutting down fuel and emissions but keeping weight down.. Batteries are to primitive to be affective yet, you can make a lot faster cars without them. Electric turbos and a more advanced and cleaner fuel similar to e85 is the best outcome for the near future.
It will be hard to make a rwd car as fast as a awd Porsche but you could definitely come close with a good set up. A awd base such as a r35 could be made to match the Porsche in every way and so could a evo tbh but the evo would be a pig to drive and not as reliable. A Porsche or viper could also be made to be as capable with almost stock reliability but as a total package including not just performance but features and interior it would be hard to beat. I'm not trying to hate on this car at all, I just personally think there better ways to spend next to a million dollars. But yes I can see why people are in awe of them but they just don't do it for me. I'm more taken away buy a home built cars.
Gary89 Absolutely, if I happened upon $1M tomorrow, it definitely wouldn't be spunked on one car either. Totally appreciate your view.
Jocky Paddy McGrath The only issue with hydrogen is the limited amount of platinum to pass the hydrogen gas over; so it won't really make mass production.
Also, to make hydrogen the common method is to crack methane, so not sure why that gas isn't looked into, as cracking methane to create hydrogen is high cost.
as a car enthusiast with weirdo tree hugging hippy tendencies, it's nice to see someone else reminding everyone that there can indeed be a compromise between performance and eco-friendliness. these hypercars as well as what we're seeing at le mans these days are all prime examples of said compromise and its really important that we don't overlook them.
also those photos are damn sexy. never seen a 918 in the flesh but definitely my second favourite porsche so far (behind the 959 lmao)
BUGATTI VEYROON?
These photos are very brochure-esque. Well done! I remember seeing the initial concept of this car years ago and being completely bowled over by the clear wheels and green highlights with all the classic Porsche design cues, fantastic car. A family member has an infiniti saloon hybrid (I forget which as they don't really interest me) which has about the same power as a supercharged jag (the car he had before). It's obviously not in the same category as the 918 but hybrid performance cars are starting to become more common.
LOVE this article so much. I love articles like this which help unite the car community and help people appreciate the time, effort, and inspiration that went behind a car, regardless of whether it suits their tastes. A good reminder that the world will go on without the haters, so its easier to just embrace it.
Goddamn those pictures are seriously beautiful! Great job Paddy!
I actually believe hybrid supercars could work once Porsche showed the 918 Spyder Concept to the world back in 2010, based on what I've seen on average hybrid family vehicles. I mean, we all know how battery packs can help boost performance while emitting lower CO2 values and help reduce fuel consumption.
The worrying thing though however, is the cost of replacing those battery packs once the have reached the end of their lifespan.
Porsche did everything right with this car, I'm sure time will be kind on its lines also. Lovely shots, kind of dream-like(?)
I get that you were blown away by the 918 (who wouldn't be), but 'commit to becoming part of this movement'? What does this mean? You're going to buy a CR-Z? Is it the fuel economy that appeals?
I understand that the electric part of a hybrid has advantages in certain situations - regenerative braking, inching forward in traffic, adding an extra 100HP on demand to a compact IC engine. These things all improve the efficiency of a petrol vehicle, but against that, there is the effect of lugging around heavy batteries. Those batteries are also expensive, and wear out like a cellphone's do.
People will be happy to join the revolution, once the technology is cheap and good. At the moment, it seems like people really want electric cars to be a thing, but unfortunately battery technology is still not *that* much better than it ever was.
Some of your best work in here Paddy.
modell3000 It's getting better all the time. It's not there yet, but it's really not far off it.
Slappy_Pistons modell3000
Having a quick look at the energy density of different fuels on Wikipedia, petrol is 32.4 MJ/L, whereas the best rechargeable lithium ion batteries are 2.62 MJ/L. So gasoline has over 12x the energy density by volume.
By weight (MJ/kg), the figures are 44.4 vs 0.875, making petrol over 50x more energy dense. So batteries have some catching up to do (mind you, if cars ran on Uranium (1,539,842,000 MJ/L), a small stick would do for the life of the car!)
Added to that, you can fill a car tank in, say, 1 minute. By comparison, a BMW i8 takes 2 hours to get to 80% full, if using the Wallbox Pro (the top option).
Of course, batteries don't need to necessarily equal petrol, just be good enough, whilst offering other benefits (very simple drivetrain, no city pollution etc.).
Slappy_Pistons modell3000
Admittedly, there is more to it than the content of the fuel (below). Whereas an electric motor can turn electricity into movement with almost 100% efficiency, IC engines are between 10-50% efficient. Also, the weight of the engine block and its ancillaries is substantial - so I guess it's not just the weight of the fuel that counts.
I_AM_DAVE_COX Thanks, Dave.
modell3000 I see your points, but I'm going to elaborate further in an upcoming post.
Paddy McGrath Gary89 To be fair, the Porsche is a £700,000 car, 10x the cost of the Skyline. The Overtake Skyline Dino featured in 2014 was built out of carbon fibre, titanium etc. and saved 140kg.
It would be interesting to see what a non-hybrid version of the 918 would be like.
modell3000 Slappy_Pistons That is the salient difference. We cannot extract the energy from liquid petroleum fuels with much efficiency. That is why we are always trying to claw some of it back with turbos and heat energy extractors etc. Think of the amount of energy it takes to heat all the water in your cooling system and keep it hot as it goes though a radiator in 70mph wind as one examply alone. That is energy that we see no benefit from (unless its a cold day and you turn the heat on).
yotafan modell3000 Slappy_Pistons Though of course batteries are usually charged by burning fossil fuels, either directly by a hybrid's IC engine, or a power station via hundreds of miles of cabling. If we're only concerned with range, handling etc. rather than environmental issues, this could be ignored however.
Engine heat isn't useful in the summer, but I've been using it plenty recently. In an EV, you'd be dumping battery power into a blower heater.
Yea it definitely would. Unfortunately without forced induction I think it would be slower as a non hybrid most probably around a circuit also as the extra torque and power with the hybrid is impressive. But I think if you turned the Porsche instead of hybrid it would be faster as it would easily make similar torque and power figures will bring about 150kg lighter. Good thing about batteries is you can place them low in the chassi and pretty much where you want to get a good weight distribution but I'm still not convinced that would overcome the weight penalty. I think f1's idea of hybrid is great, but battery laden hybrids like this aren't optimal for the time being. Was the overtak skyline stripped out? I'm going off the time attack r35's I see but they pretty much gutted out. R35 is a bit of a unfair comparison though, the dimensions are pretty huge.
Gary89 Sure, if you just took the electric motors away the 918 would be slower, but it's reasonable to expect that adding a pair of turbos to the 5L V8 could get it back up to 875HP. Combined with losing 150kg, it could be quicker, depending on the circuit. Of course, electric motors produce instant torque, so they may have a greater affect on acceleration than their HP suggests.
The Overtake Skyline seemed to have a full (and luxurious) interior - http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/03/less-overtake-gt-r/. It is also a 2+2, so not really a fair comparison to a 2-seat hypercar.
Turbo v8 backed by a duel clutch or sequential can have a pretty crazy power delivery with no noticeable lag if you selecting the right gears, I think backed by the less weight that will not only improve acceleration but also braking distances and cornering it will be hard to beat but not impossible on certain tracks like you said. I think a hybrid would make a better daily though as the instant torque would make getting off the line and getting up to speed effortless.
For me I think it's to refined, I'd like a blood thirsty turbo v8, would be so raw and light. But patty said it right, in the future this will be the norm as batteries get more powerful and light, until then a prefer non hybrids.
Batteries don't need yo equal energy density of petrol because electric engines are much more eficcient than combustion engines, you have to have this in mind too
It depends on the energetic mix of the country you live on, in eu almost every country produce almost 20% of the electric energy trough renewable sources, so you could say 20% of the energy un tour batteries is clean, and this percentage is increasing every year.
lets all buy 918s, crz and a prius. clearly the best cars of the future lol.. the 918 is amazing but as an electric car it barely goes anywhere in electric mode (a couple miles at most) its still majority gas and its a 900k supercar.. not really practical for getting the kids from soccer practice.. a tesla is more of a look into the future if you like electric power
Gary89
It goes way past individual parts. You have to look at the overall picture instead of comparing these cars by the common nominators such as "both have brakes" and "both have seats" and then asking what the big deal is.
The thing you can not buy for your Civic is the amount of man-hours spent on design, research, engineering and testing to assure every aspect of the car, to the most minute detail, works perfectly with as little compromise as possible. That is where the high price tag is coming from on these machines on the pinnacle of automotive technology. It has to be done before you can put it all into your Civic.
Everything I'd put into my civic to upgrade it is been engineered and certified to work how it is advertised to. A Garrett turbo or endless brakes for example undergo countless hours of vigorous testing and engineering to come of with a no compromise design. Also if you consider time attack cars, pro class to be specific, you will see that some cars are designed and engineered even more than the 918.. Tilton interiors evo for example has literally hundreds of hours of wind tunnel testing and is engineered by some of the best minds in aero motive engineering to come up with a design that has no comprise on performance, then the car does hundreds if not thousands of hours worth of track testing and data analysis to come to the most optimal way in which everything comes together "works perfectly with as little compromise as possible".. I understand what you saying but as I said before, virtually any car in the world can be made to compete with a hyper car in every way. These rich boy cars are overpriced, you paying for exclusivity and a brand.
Gary89 Of course the brand, and especially what comes with it, is a big part of the price tag but bear in mind, all of that you mentioned in the previous post are about perfecting existing technology and on existing platforms instead of figuring out ways to implement future technology that isn't widely available yet. This is what I meant with my last sentence in my previous post. Also, in your last post there's a case of apples and oranges where you are comparing race cars to street cars. Street car has plenty of aspects that all need to have the same level of quality assurance as others while in race car development a lot of areas can be almost or completely omitted (interior comforts, sound insulation, ride quality to some extent, just to name a few).
I love modified and purpose-built cars as the next guy but I am also passionate about these hyper cars on the pinnacle of commercial automotive development and I seriously think the automotive world would be a lot duller place without them. And when it comes to comparison on performance alone vs price tag, I would be intrigued to see a modified street car with the same uncompromising overall package with the performance figures as the likes of the 918, P1, LaFerrari or the Agera.
out of the P1 and the Ferrari this is definitely the most beautifully understated car, that doesn't 'shout'.
And these pictures are on point Paddy! Nice work!!
"but it likely will not be enough for the legislators and regulators who must be seen to be doing something to save the planet." you sir called it out for what it is.