Porsche 918 Spyder heading for production

The 918 hybrid supercar concept – which made a surprise debut at last month’s Geneva Motor Show – would sit at the very top of Porsche’s range in terms of both performance and price.

Full Porsche 918 Spyder gallery:

Powered by a 500bhp V8 petrol engine and a pair of electric motors – one for the front wheels, the other supplementing the V8 – the 918 Spyder has a top speed of 198mph and a 0-62mph time of just 3.2 seconds.

Porsche also claims astonishingly low CO2 emissions of just 70g/km and fuel economy of 78mpg. Meanwhile it is said to be able to lap the Nurburgring in under 7minutes, 30seconds; faster than the Carrera GT it would succeed.

This wouldn’t be the first time that an extreme Porsche has made the leap from concept to production – the Carrera GT itself appeared as a prototype at the same motor show 10 years earlier, only to emerge virtually unchanged in production form in 2004.

If the 918 Spyder follows the same route, we can expect to see it in production by 2014. Which also happens to be when Ferrari plans to launch its hybrid supercar.

Still think that hybrids are dull?

By Owen Ready