2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: A Glimpse into the Future! - Ignition Ep. 109
This weeks Ignition
Transcript
00:00 Of all the supercars from the '80s,
00:02 there was nothing quite like the Porsche 959.
00:05 Built for Group B homologation, the car
00:08 was recognized as a technological masterpiece, one
00:11 of the most advanced cars of its time.
00:13 With 450 horsepower from its twin-turbo flat-six,
00:16 the performance was extraordinary for the era.
00:19 It would do close to 200 miles an hour.
00:22 But what remains most impressive today
00:24 is the accuracy of its vision for sports cars of the future.
00:28 In a time where most cars were carbureted,
00:30 where they had drum brakes, the 959's all-wheel drive system
00:34 could selectively change the torque split.
00:37 The driver from the cockpit could adjust damper stiffness
00:40 and ride height.
00:40 It even had a tire pressure monitoring system.
00:44 We take a lot of those features for granted
00:45 as they've become the new norm.
00:48 But it makes us ask the question, what
00:50 can we expect for the future?
00:52 And for that, we turn to the Porsche 918.
00:55 Though named after the legendary 917 racing car,
00:58 its hybrid system, its nearly 900 horsepower,
01:02 and its advanced all-wheel drive system
01:04 could show the future of sports cars, just like the 959 did.
01:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:11 [TIRES SCREECHING]
01:15 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:18 [TIRES SCREECHING]
01:37 Just how fast is the 918?
01:40 [TIRES SCREECHING]
01:43 Zero RPM torque and all-wheel drive
01:46 propels the 918 to 60 miles an hour in 2.4 seconds,
01:52 the quickest motor trend is ever recorded.
01:55 The quarter mile, 10 seconds flat at 145.2 miles an hour.
02:01 How does that compare to the McLaren P1?
02:04 Let's see.
02:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:08 [TIRES SCREECHING]
02:12 From 60 miles an hour, the 918's best braking performance
02:24 took just 94 feet, putting it among the quickest stopping
02:28 cars we've ever tested.
02:31 Generating an average 1.12 G laterally,
02:34 it's among the stickiest cars we've ever tested.
02:37 Combine that with a balanced chassis, the braking
02:40 performance, incredible straight-line acceleration,
02:43 and the car's ability to transfer torque
02:45 from wheel to wheel, and you get a result
02:47 that's the fastest figure eight lap time we've ever recorded,
02:51 and by a good margin.
02:53 At 22.2 seconds, the 918's lap is over half a second faster
02:58 than the previous leader.
03:00 And on a track where tenths make all the difference,
03:03 that lead is simply jaw-dropping.
03:07 The 918's performance is astounding today.
03:10 But like the 959, we're curious how history will view this car.
03:14 So let's turn back to the 959 with Randy Popst,
03:18 who remembers the sports car climate of the '80s well.
03:22 Randy, the 959 is an awesome car,
03:25 and it's a hugely important car for the '80s.
03:28 You were racing cars at that time.
03:29 You were driving cars a lot.
03:31 What does this car mean versus what you were driving?
03:35 Very antiques.
03:37 It was a whole other world.
03:39 The cars I was driving had no ABS.
03:42 My VW Golf Volkswagen Cup car?
03:45 85 horsepower.
03:47 It had CIS fuel injection.
03:50 No feedback.
03:52 Well, it had an oxygen sensor, but it was primitive.
03:55 It's crazy how advanced this car was for its time.
03:59 I mean, never mind the four-wheel drive system,
04:02 which was revolutionary.
04:03 I mean, this thing had tire pressure monitoring.
04:05 It had ABS.
04:06 It had sequential turbos.
04:08 One would spool up before the other.
04:10 I mean, titanium connecting rods in '85.
04:13 I mean, that's space-grade stuff.
04:15 Yeah, it's almost like it was a kind of space program level
04:18 development for a four-wheeled automobile.
04:22 And 350 horsepower.
04:24 That was more than double the standard 911,
04:27 thanks to those turbos.
04:28 That's really kind of mind-bending.
04:30 And today, I have to just consciously take myself back
04:35 to the world that it was then, because now we're used to it.
04:38 Today's cars have all got that kind of technology,
04:41 but not in the 1980--
04:43 what are we talking, '86?
04:45 '85 to '87 era.
04:48 Back then, 200 horsepower was a lot of horsepower.
04:50 [LAUGHTER]
04:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:53 And what was really interesting is this wasn't a race car.
04:58 Like, the F40 was a race car.
05:00 This was a GT car that was built to essentially do everything.
05:05 That's why it had a snow and gravel mode.
05:07 That's why you have a granny gear, is to drive through mud.
05:10 This was a car that was intended to do everything at once.
05:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:16 An all-purpose weapon.
05:22 Yes.
05:23 What's really interesting about this car and the 918
05:26 is that they show the roadmap for the future.
05:30 Oh, yeah, I can see that.
05:32 This car showed the next 30 years of automobile development
05:36 really accurately.
05:38 And today's supercars have all this technology.
05:42 The 918 is taking it to the next step.
05:44 It is.
05:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:48 The 959 is old-school future tech.
05:56 And then here we have, in the 918, modern future tech.
06:01 What are your thoughts on this car?
06:03 New school.
06:04 New school.
06:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:07 I think this car is predicting the future.
06:10 The combination of the electric and gas
06:13 and the efficiency of making big power
06:18 and the efficiency of regenerating.
06:21 Yes.
06:22 Energy only changes form.
06:24 And what this car can do is change that energy back
06:26 into a usable form, send it right back
06:28 to the wheels again.
06:29 This car shows that hybrids have a lot of benefit
06:32 with fuel economy.
06:34 But they can also be really quick power adders.
06:37 They can be this rechargeable nitrous-like feeling
06:40 that gives you this really interesting control
06:43 in a lot of different ways over the axles, too.
06:45 Well, there's a gauge right on the right side of your dash
06:47 that says boost.
06:49 But it's not talking about turbos.
06:50 This car doesn't have turbos.
06:52 But it's electric boost.
06:54 That's great.
06:54 It's like video games, how each lap you get more boost.
06:58 When you brake hard, when you lift off the throttle,
07:01 the boost recharges, like it does in a video game.
07:03 It's crazy how cars are actually replicating that.
07:05 Does it?
07:06 Yeah.
07:06 I don't play video games.
07:07 Well, you drive cars.
07:09 [LAUGHS]
07:12 The boost is new.
07:13 And the boost is really effective.
07:14 And it's electric.
07:16 And it can be regenerated while we're driving.
07:19 Yes.
07:20 And then the technology combines the best of gas tech
07:25 with what we aspirated.
07:26 So you get that great direct linear response
07:30 from the engine.
07:31 You get the emotion of that exhaust note.
07:33 Yeah.
07:33 With the efficiency of having electric power.
07:36 Yeah, you drive a Tesla.
07:38 It's a fast car.
07:39 But there's zero noise.
07:40 It's so weird.
07:41 You don't get this.
07:42 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:44 Yeah.
07:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:48 [SCREAMS]
07:52 That's a beautiful thing.
07:53 [LAUGHS]
07:55 Wow.
07:55 So it still sounds like a supercar.
07:58 Yeah.
07:59 That sounds fantastic.
08:00 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:04 This car is an indication of a future
08:14 where you can have a 600 horsepower 9,000 RPM V8,
08:18 where you have 20 miles of all electric range, where you can
08:22 have the thrill of driving a sports car,
08:25 but also the economy.
08:26 If the future is like that, sign me up.
08:29 I think the future is going to be great.
08:32 Of course, we couldn't visit a racetrack
08:34 that's referred to as the fastest road in the West
08:37 with the Porsche 918 without lapping it.
08:39 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:43 [METAL SQUEAKING]
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10:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:17 We looked and couldn't find a faster lap time
10:22 from a production car.
10:24 And that reality just begins to illustrate the new paradigm
10:28 we're seeing established for performance cars of the future.
10:31 They can be hybrids or provide extra power
10:34 to offset torque deficiencies or to simply be boost.
10:38 The cars themselves no longer have
10:39 to be difficult to drive quickly.
10:41 They can be balanced and friendly.
10:43 They can be laden with technology
10:45 but still feel utterly satisfying.
10:47 They can give you everything.
10:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:53 [TIRES SCREECHING]
10:56 [ENGINE REVVING]
11:01 [TIRES SCREECHING]
11:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:09 you