CHRIS HARRIS: Welcome to Leipzig for this 918 job.
This really is a fly on the wall-style thing, but it is a
hectic day.
It's a fair few journalists.
We haven't got much time in the car.
We've just had a presentation.
This is interesting.
I think we all suspected that when the P1 and the LaFerrari
were launched that Porsche would have to respond.
Well, they have just responded, because the claimed
power figures for this car are as follows.
From the internal combustion engine, 608 horsepower, and it
revs to over 9,000.
The total power figure though-- this is mindboggling,
excuse my pieces of paper--
887 horsepower from a dry weight of 1640 kilograms.
The 918 has come to meet the other two somewhat in terms of
performance.
I think we're going to mill around a bit.
We'll have a look at some of the technology in the car,
because there's some lovely use of materials as well as
some pioneering technologies in there that we
need to look at.
And then, hopefully, we'll get a ride with Walter who will
show us how to drive the circuit at Leipzig, and then
we get, I think, three laps.
How can you tell anything in three laps?
You probably can't.
But do you want to be the journalist that says, no, I
don't want to drive your car, because I only get three laps?
No, you don't.
A hectic day, but hopefully a fun one.
Some of the interesting stuff that's going on here.
The dashboard.
They felt the dashboard panel would be
too heavy in aluminium.
Say that to yourself.
Too heavy in aluminium.
Most sports car manufacturers boast about using aluminium.
So, what they've done is they've galvanized carbon
fiber with metal.
So, effectively, you've got this covering on carbon fiber.
It's a freakish thing, because you pick it up expecting the
weight of aluminium, and it weighs nothing.
It's like light titanium almost.
We've got a carbon fiber roll bar here, stabilizer bar.
I mean, this stuff is expensive.
It's also utterly beautiful to the touch.
This is interesting.
Obviously the car has a carbon tire, just like the Carrera GT
did 10 years ago and all the main rivals do as well.
But, our other support points, where you're hanging
components from anything-- engine, suspension, and a lot
of the electrical gubbins that goes into the car-- normally
those support brackets are made of aluminium.
So it's rather disappointing that you take a lovely light
carbon structure and then attach this rather ugly,
heavy, aluminium bit.
Porsche is using force carbon, so there's a bit there.
That's the equivalent to the aluminium.
There's definitely a weight reduction.
It's not as profound as with the dashboard, but it just
shows that they tried to peel weight
everywhere from this car.
Everywhere.
But then you look at the headline figure, 1640, and you
think, that's still quite a lump.
I find this side of the car quite confusing, because I
just keep saying to myself, well, take the bloody electric
motor out of it then.
Then it would weigh 1,100 kilograms, and we'd have 610
horsepower just from that lovely engine.
Electricity seems to spoil sports cars.
Anyhow, I'll get over that in a minute.
Let's go over here.
The battery cells are vast and, for me, very
controversial in a car of this type.
They're lithium ion with a nominal voltage of 385 volts,
peaking at 430 volts.
[GRUNTING]
CHRIS HARRIS: That's 18 cells.
This is, perhaps, here, the key paradox of the 918.
You have to lump these cells around, and in doing so, you
have to make incredible weight savings in other areas.
So central to my argument's always been, make the
incredible weight savings.
Don't lump these things around with you.
They make good dumbbells though.
And there are dozens of other cool things
going on in the 918.
The 4.6 liter v8 is completely beltless with
integrated oil pumps.
Power output is 608 horsepower, augmented by the
electric motors to make a total of 887 horsepower.
Peak torque is over 920 foot-pounds, and from idle to
7,000 RPM, there is never less than
590 foot-pounds available.
The top exit exhaust is pure inconel.
This is quite a strange event.
We're now waiting to have a go in the car, but before that,
there's a chance of a ride with Walter Rohrl
in a 4.0 liter RS.
Watch this now.
This is Walter demonstrating how to go around the circuit.
A strange choice of car and person when you're trying to
make your hybrid super car or hybrid car look really
interesting, because the 4.0 liter RS is pounding around
making a much better noise than a 918
Spyder at the moment.
I think we're going to get three laps at most.
It's soaking wet, and I'm led to believe that the car
behaves like two wheel drive when it oversteers.
If they think I'm oversteering their 20 million pound
development model, then I'm not going to.
I'm slightly concerned, but we're going to get three laps,
so that's better than nothing, isn't it?
Curb weight is now 1640 kilograms, which, given the
mass of the battery packs, is mighty impressive.
But it's still a lot heavier than either the LaFerrari or
the McLaren P1.
The optional Weissach package shaves 40
kilograms from that figure.
According to project chief Frank Walliser, the chassis
calibration is 80% finished for the complicated torque
vectoring system, and the power train is even closer to
final specification.
Active aerodynamics can open flaps in the front intakes and
alter the rear wing angle to improve drag or
downforce as required.
And we also have some claimed performance figures.
Sit tight, everyone.
0 to 62 in 2.8, 0 to 124 miles an hour in 7.9, and 0 to 186
in 23 seconds dead.
They look very brisk indeed, until you scrutinize the P1
and the LaFerrari.
The P1 and the LaFerrari are both sub 3 seconds to 62 miles
an hour, they're both sub 7 seconds to 124, and above
that, it looks bad, because the P1 is claimed to do 0 to
186 in 17 seconds, and the LaFerrari in 15.5.
That's 15.5 versus the Porche's 23 dead.
OK, so I'm going to talk you through this.
I'm in full electric mode, and I have--
What sort of performance do I have?
I feel like I have the performance of something like
a Cayenne diesel is what it feels.
Or maybe a Panamera diesel.
I put my foot flat down.
The engine comes on.
FRANK WALLISER: Too much.
CHRIS HARRIS: Too much.
So that's the kick.
OK.
How do I get it back to electric?
FRANK WALLISER: Just slow down.
CHRIS HARRIS: Slow down?
That's really clever.
OK.
So it's on the throttle.
FRANK WALLISER: Yes.
The idea was everything on the brake pedal, throttle--
CHRIS HARRIS: So you don't need to play with
the steering wheel?
FRANK WALLISER: No.
CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah, OK.
I get that.
I can see why, as an owner, you'd-- because if you drive
the car regularly, you'll get used to it.
OK, that's clever.
So, yeah.
I've got--
that's a good amount of performance.
You could take care of ordinary cars with that amount
of performance.
And what's the maximum speed?
FRANK WALLISER: 150 kilometers per hour.
CHRIS HARRIS: So just over 90, 95 miles an hour.
OK, this circuit is flat and a little bit featureless, but I
think we found a little bit of rhythm there.
Here's a little chicane here.
Brake pedal, that's interesting.
So it's a little bit Citroen in that you've got to get your
foot down a little bit.
So I click one more?
FRANK WALLISER: One click, then you're a hybrid.
CHRIS HARRIS: Now I'm hybrid.
FRANK WALLISER: [INAUDIBLE].
[CAR ENGINE REVVING]
CHRIS HARRIS: That's interesting.
FRANK WALLISER: This is only the combustion engine.
CHRIS HARRIS: This is just the combustion engine now.
FRANK WALLISER: Either combustion
engine or electric motors.
It's not combined.
CHRIS HARRIS: OK.
So, let's get up to--
car feels quite supple.
It's got a lot of mechanical grip.
Gearbox is quick, steering is nice.
Driving position feels unnatural to start with.
FRANK WALLISER: [INAUDIBLE].
CHRIS HARRIS: So now we have full engine power and we have
full electric power as well, yes?
It's sport mode.
FRANK WALLISER: Sport mode.
CHRIS HARRIS: Fourth gear.
That's a lot of performance.
It's a lot of performance.
The brake feel is a bit funny coming into
some of these turns.
For continuity's sake, we've had to
stop and change cameras.
So, it's now a little bit greasy, but
the performance is--
it's big.
It's bigger than I thought it would be as well.
The handling, well, that's interesting, because the car
doesn't feel anything like as heavy as the claimed weight.
It doesn't have the inertia at all.
Steering's very direct.
It's a very interesting car.
Very interesting car.
And the noise, well, miles better than when
I first drove it.
Miles better.
Now, this is the raciest mode of all.
The tire is really impressive.
It's a special Michelin that has a kind of energy
construction with a soft compound.
And I have to say, that's one of the most impressive things
about the car.
And also, it's interesting now.
I've got a little bit of spots of rain coming, so I can feel
the balance of the car.
The torque vectoring, the chassis working hard.
I mean, it's not a finished item yet, but wow.
And now flat out, listen to that.
Whoo!
Better stop a bit earlier, better stop a bit earlier.
I think we got the braking distance right then.
We tip it in, we clip an apex.
Oh, yes.
It's a mid-engine sports car.
I think the most complimentary thing I can say is that when
I'm pushing on, it doesn't feel like I'm driving a hybrid
sports car.
It feels like I'm driving a mid-engine sports car, because
I'm not aware of the electric charge coming through.
Oh, there's definitely stuff to be thinking about here.
Oh, Frank, I wanted to ask you some questions about the
chassis, because it's such a complicated chassis.
If we're in race mode and I exit a corner, I'm in the exit
phase, and I'm in full power in second gear,
8,000 RPM on the motor.
What percentage of--
what have I got going where, in terms of if I had 880
horsepower available?
FRANK WALLISER: Roughly, a rough calculation is 15% to
20% of the total of--
CHRIS HARRIS: OK, cool.
That makes sense.
Is this new output that we've learned about today, is that a
response to what we saw in Geneva from Porsche--
from Ferrari and from McLaren?
FRANK WALLISER: No, this is not possible to do something
in two months.
It was always built in the car.
CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah.
FRANK WALLISER: Well, we are, maybe have some competitors,
and so I think it's better not to tell
everything in the beginning.
We tell the figures and the final
numbers when we are sure.
We when approved everything, this is now, and so we could
just tell now the final numbers.
Not [INAUDIBLE].
CHRIS HARRIS: I found lots about the car really
interesting and unexpected.
One thing that I suppose, given that this is a work in
progress, we have to accept that this is
not a finished car.
FRANK WALLISER: Not finished.
CHRIS HARRIS: Quite something to be able to drive it before
it's finished.
The braking feels like, this is something
that's going to be--
I'm sure you'll get it right, but at the moment, we have a
sort of slight step in the pedal.
FRANK WALLISER: Exactly.
CHRIS HARRIS: And is this a calibration thing, or is this
just actually physically getting the pedal to work?
FRANK WALLISER: No, it's not physical.
It's just calibration.
CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah.
FRANK WALLISER: This is the fine tuning we talked about.
What the car needs.
Here's now a problem with cars, wheels and everything,
tires in the latest specification.
Then you can work on the fine tuning, to have the linearity
that you need in a brake pedal.
Because at the moment, the step is not nice.
But we're working on it, and it will be done
for the final car.
CHRIS HARRIS: How many control units are there in this car?
How many individual boxes?
FRANK WALLISER: We count 55 in our architecture.
CHRIS HARRIS: 55?
FRANK WALLISER: 55.
Considering also the oral control unit, and the switch
for the headlights as a control unit.
CHRIS HARRIS: And are they control units used by Porsche
in other cars?
FRANK WALLISER: Yeah, yeah.
We have on the chassis side, we have some takeovers, like
in the doors.
We have, of course for the engine, it's new.
For the PDK, it's an existing control unit, but we're
developing on the software side, the power control units
are new, and the software battery management system.
There we have a linkage to the Panamera plug-in hybrid.
But there's also some new things like the control unit
for the aerodynamics.
CHRIS HARRIS: Which is entirely new.
FRANK WALLISER: Yeah.
CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah.
FRANK WALLISER: [INAUDIBLE].
CHRIS HARRIS: This is not a question
necessary, for you to answer.
And I'm not trying to wind you up.
Are there 918 people for this car?
It seems to me that I can understand the reasons why
Porsche is doing this project.
There's so much to learn.
There's so much technology that can be learned for future
sports cars.
From me, 918 is just too many.
FRANK WALLISER: It's 30% less than Carrera GT.
CHRIS HARRIS: It's three times as much.
FRANK WALLISER: We did a lot of analysis for the markets,
and if you compare to Carrera GT, ten years ago there was no
Chinese car market.
It has just grown up.
It's 50 million units.
Also super sports cars.
We have wealthy people there.
We have a total gross in the automotive market, I think 918
pieces is maybe not enough.
We will have, the demand will be higher, but we have to have
it limited, and, well, it's definitely for the first
buyers, a good choice.
No problem in selling these cars.
CHRIS HARRIS: You heard it there, boys and girls.
It's been a really interesting day, and to get access to it
so early has been fascinating.
FRANK WALLISER: Good to have you in the car.
CHRIS HARRIS: Cheating physics.
Cheating physics.
Cheers, man.
I'd be lying if I said a hybrid sports car which drives
the way the 918 currently drives isn't profoundly
impressive.
It's a very, very clever machine.
But even though I enjoyed driving
it, I'm still skeptical.
A Porsche hypercar should, for me, be the ultimate driving
experience.
End of.
It shouldn't be hampered by technology unnecessary for the
business of delivering the very best for the driver.
Every time I stepped from the car I was grinning madly.
Then a few minutes later, I was thinking, oh, what would
it be like without all those batteries.
You see, I see all of those intriguing weight-saving
solutions, but I want to feel them in the
1,100 kilogram package.
But the biggest worry for Porsche must be the McLaren
and the Ferrari.
They appear to have moved into a different performance
territory by adopting [INAUDIBLE]
technology to reduce weight.
In a marketplace dominated by ultimates, the 918, for all
its mind-boggling technology, risks being the slowest hybrid
hypercar in its class, and I think that's a
big problem for Porsche.
[MUSIC PLAYING]