Porsche 918 Spyder Sets New Production Car Record

The Porsche 918 Spyder not only had its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, but Porsche announced that the 887-horsepower hybrid car also clocked the fasted time ever for a production car on the famed Nürburgring.

The Porsche 918 Spyder sets a lap-time record at the Nurburgring. (Porsche Cars North America)

In a press release, Porsche says, “The Porsche 918 Spyder has conquered the 12.8-mile (20.6-kilometer) lap around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in less than seven minutes. Achieving a time of six minutes and 57 seconds, the super sports car equipped with a hybrid drive shaved 14 seconds off the previous Nurburgring record for a street-legal automobile, and 17 seconds from its run last September.”
That new time is nothing to sneeze at (not that anyone driving the 918 Spyder during its record-breaking lap would have time to sneeze). Autoblog notes that the Porsche’s time is “over four seconds faster than the Dodge Viper ACR that has held the record for street-legal production cars two years ago. It's also faster than the Gumpert Apollo, and just behind the barely-legal Radical SR8. And maybe best of all, it gives McLaren something to keep gunning for.”
The Porsche 918 Spyder got its lap time while traveling at an average speed of 111.5 miles per hour. Jalopnik notes that as impressive as the 918 Spyder’s time is, there are always questions when an automaker announces a record-breaking achievement. “There is no real standardization for what a 'Ring lap is, other than the distance,” Jalopnik writes. “We can assume Porsche cleared the 'Ring, waited for a nice day, and launched the car as many times as they needed.”
Porsche says the 918 Spyder is not only about going fast, however. The 918 Spyder is a hybrid, and can travel up to 19 miles on electric power alone. Depending on how it’s driven, it can get 85 to 95 miles per gallon, reports Yahoo! Autos. Buyers will need all the savings at the gas station they can get. The 918 Spyder starts at $845,000, Yahoo! Autos says.
While a car like the Porsche 918 Spyder is out of reach for most consumers, building high-tech super cars like this gives automakers practice in using new technology and materials. Who knows? Maybe in a few years everyday cars will be able to get fuel economy that’s close to the 918 Spyder’s, even if they aren’t posting record-breaking lap times.