Perhaps the most interesting Porsche since the Carrera GT. And there's a lot of competition for that accolade. Something with all-wheel drive, a mid-mounted V8 engine, a total power output of over 700 hp, a zero-to-60 mph time of less than 3.2 seconds, a top speed of 198 mph, oh, and a Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe seven-speed transmission sure sounds interesting enough, even if 218 of those horses come from three electric motors.
That's right, the Porsche 918 Spyder concept is a hybrid. And a plug-in one at that. Yet its makers claim this car has lapped the legendary Nordschleife in a faster time than the Carrera GT. The equally legendary Walter Röhrl clocked 7.28.7 in that instance, although Porsche doesn't state an exact figure for the 918. But the company does reckon this concept could return 78 mpg.
It has a battery pack of lithium-ion critters. Usually, this kind of battery tends to get rather hot and even explode sometimes, so Porsche has made a fluid cooling system for it. This is all well and good, one might think, for a concept car, but there's been a development. CEO Michael Macht has been quoted as saying: "There is no one inside Porsche who doesn't want to build the 918. The response has been marvelous." Admittedly, that isn't going as far as to say: "We'll make it." But it looks promising.