What's the most impressive car you have ever driven?
I get that question frequently and usually respond: the Porsche Carrera GT.
That's been around for ten years, but it's still ranked quite high on my list.
Hence this is a very special moment, because this is its successor: the Porsche 918 Spyder.
And it's electric! Look, I'm driving off!
This is THE new supercar. The new age of supercars has arrived.
887 ps in total! 600 thanks to a V8 behind my back, the rest is delivered by two electric motors.
This enables an average fuel consumption of 3 litres per 100 kilometres, which makes it eligible for low added taxes.
Today we don't care about that, because I want to find out how it feels and how it performs.
I can tell you it does 0 to 200 km/h in less than 6,1 seconds!
And 0 tot 300 km/h in less than 20 seconds!
So it's not really about fuel consumption, emissions or low taxes, but about the sensation.
As you can hear, the engine has kicked in. Everything comes together. Let's floor it.
There are four driving modes: E, for Electric, which I can easily engage through a button on the wheel.
H, for Hybrid, for city driving or touring, in which it shifts between electric driving up to 150 km/h and hybrid mode.
But this is the track, so I'll put it in S - you know what, let's go with R, for Race.
This enables for better aerodynamics, quicker gearshifts and mostly, more boost and more power.
Now you really forget you're in a hybrid, because the car feels like a pure, hardcore race car. It's amazing.
There's one more button left, the red button, which enables Hotlap mode.
This provides you with all the power and boost you can get for a limited time.
It also sharpens the response of the car.
That's how they lapped the Nürburgring in a record time of less than 7 minutes.
Despite the sheer power and the violent V8 rumble, because it really sounds amazing, the most impressive aspect is the handling.
There's a Porsche Turbo S driving in front of me, going flat-out.
There's a Porsche test driver behind the wheel, and I could almost keep up with one hand on the wheel.
You can carry so much speed into a corner.
Torque vectoring helps the rear wheels during turn-in, which allows for very stable handling while cornering.
Remarkably, if you want to get the most out of it, you should really grab it by its scruff, despite all the technology, and brake hard into corners.
On one hand it's a very accessible car, but if you want to experience its full potential, you have to go all-out and push it.
When you take it too easy, there's a bit of understeer.
It's a 4WD car after all, with electric motors on the front wheels, so there's a bit of understeer unless you really go for it.
What an amazing car!
If anyone asks me again, like I said before: what's the most sensational, violent car you have ever driven?
There's no shadow of a doubt: it's this Porsche 918 Spyder.
I'm very curious to see how Ferrari and McLaren will respond.