2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: A Glimpse into the Future! - Ignition Ep. 109 - video Dailymotion

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This weeks Ignition

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00:00 Of all the supercars from the '80s,

00:02 there was nothing quite like the Porsche 959.

00:05 Built for Group B homologation, the car

00:08 was recognized as a technological masterpiece, one

00:11 of the most advanced cars of its time.

00:13 With 450 horsepower from its twin-turbo flat-six,

00:16 the performance was extraordinary for the era.

00:19 It would do close to 200 miles an hour.

00:22 But what remains most impressive today

00:24 is the accuracy of its vision for sports cars of the future.

00:28 In a time where most cars were carbureted,

00:30 where they had drum brakes, the 959's all-wheel drive system

00:34 could selectively change the torque split.

00:37 The driver from the cockpit could adjust damper stiffness

00:40 and ride height.

00:40 It even had a tire pressure monitoring system.

00:44 We take a lot of those features for granted

00:45 as they've become the new norm.

00:48 But it makes us ask the question, what

00:50 can we expect for the future?

00:52 And for that, we turn to the Porsche 918.

00:55 Though named after the legendary 917 racing car,

00:58 its hybrid system, its nearly 900 horsepower,

01:02 and its advanced all-wheel drive system

01:04 could show the future of sports cars, just like the 959 did.

01:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:11 [TIRES SCREECHING]

01:15 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:18 [TIRES SCREECHING]

01:37 Just how fast is the 918?

01:40 [TIRES SCREECHING]

01:43 Zero RPM torque and all-wheel drive

01:46 propels the 918 to 60 miles an hour in 2.4 seconds,

01:52 the quickest motor trend is ever recorded.

01:55 The quarter mile, 10 seconds flat at 145.2 miles an hour.

02:01 How does that compare to the McLaren P1?

02:04 Let's see.

02:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:08 [TIRES SCREECHING]

02:12 From 60 miles an hour, the 918's best braking performance

02:24 took just 94 feet, putting it among the quickest stopping

02:28 cars we've ever tested.

02:31 Generating an average 1.12 G laterally,

02:34 it's among the stickiest cars we've ever tested.

02:37 Combine that with a balanced chassis, the braking

02:40 performance, incredible straight-line acceleration,

02:43 and the car's ability to transfer torque

02:45 from wheel to wheel, and you get a result

02:47 that's the fastest figure eight lap time we've ever recorded,

02:51 and by a good margin.

02:53 At 22.2 seconds, the 918's lap is over half a second faster

02:58 than the previous leader.

03:00 And on a track where tenths make all the difference,

03:03 that lead is simply jaw-dropping.

03:07 The 918's performance is astounding today.

03:10 But like the 959, we're curious how history will view this car.

03:14 So let's turn back to the 959 with Randy Popst,

03:18 who remembers the sports car climate of the '80s well.

03:22 Randy, the 959 is an awesome car,

03:25 and it's a hugely important car for the '80s.

03:28 You were racing cars at that time.

03:29 You were driving cars a lot.

03:31 What does this car mean versus what you were driving?

03:35 Very antiques.

03:37 It was a whole other world.

03:39 The cars I was driving had no ABS.

03:42 My VW Golf Volkswagen Cup car?

03:45 85 horsepower.

03:47 It had CIS fuel injection.

03:50 No feedback.

03:52 Well, it had an oxygen sensor, but it was primitive.

03:55 It's crazy how advanced this car was for its time.

03:59 I mean, never mind the four-wheel drive system,

04:02 which was revolutionary.

04:03 I mean, this thing had tire pressure monitoring.

04:05 It had ABS.

04:06 It had sequential turbos.

04:08 One would spool up before the other.

04:10 I mean, titanium connecting rods in '85.

04:13 I mean, that's space-grade stuff.

04:15 Yeah, it's almost like it was a kind of space program level

04:18 development for a four-wheeled automobile.

04:22 And 350 horsepower.

04:24 That was more than double the standard 911,

04:27 thanks to those turbos.

04:28 That's really kind of mind-bending.

04:30 And today, I have to just consciously take myself back

04:35 to the world that it was then, because now we're used to it.

04:38 Today's cars have all got that kind of technology,

04:41 but not in the 1980--

04:43 what are we talking, '86?

04:45 '85 to '87 era.

04:48 Back then, 200 horsepower was a lot of horsepower.

04:50 [LAUGHTER]

04:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:53 And what was really interesting is this wasn't a race car.

04:58 Like, the F40 was a race car.

05:00 This was a GT car that was built to essentially do everything.

05:05 That's why it had a snow and gravel mode.

05:07 That's why you have a granny gear, is to drive through mud.

05:10 This was a car that was intended to do everything at once.

05:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:16 An all-purpose weapon.

05:22 Yes.

05:23 What's really interesting about this car and the 918

05:26 is that they show the roadmap for the future.

05:30 Oh, yeah, I can see that.

05:32 This car showed the next 30 years of automobile development

05:36 really accurately.

05:38 And today's supercars have all this technology.

05:42 The 918 is taking it to the next step.

05:44 It is.

05:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:48 The 959 is old-school future tech.

05:56 And then here we have, in the 918, modern future tech.

06:01 What are your thoughts on this car?

06:03 New school.

06:04 New school.

06:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:07 I think this car is predicting the future.

06:10 The combination of the electric and gas

06:13 and the efficiency of making big power

06:18 and the efficiency of regenerating.

06:21 Yes.

06:22 Energy only changes form.

06:24 And what this car can do is change that energy back

06:26 into a usable form, send it right back

06:28 to the wheels again.

06:29 This car shows that hybrids have a lot of benefit

06:32 with fuel economy.

06:34 But they can also be really quick power adders.

06:37 They can be this rechargeable nitrous-like feeling

06:40 that gives you this really interesting control

06:43 in a lot of different ways over the axles, too.

06:45 Well, there's a gauge right on the right side of your dash

06:47 that says boost.

06:49 But it's not talking about turbos.

06:50 This car doesn't have turbos.

06:52 But it's electric boost.

06:54 That's great.

06:54 It's like video games, how each lap you get more boost.

06:58 When you brake hard, when you lift off the throttle,

07:01 the boost recharges, like it does in a video game.

07:03 It's crazy how cars are actually replicating that.

07:05 Does it?

07:06 Yeah.

07:06 I don't play video games.

07:07 Well, you drive cars.

07:09 [LAUGHS]

07:12 The boost is new.

07:13 And the boost is really effective.

07:14 And it's electric.

07:16 And it can be regenerated while we're driving.

07:19 Yes.

07:20 And then the technology combines the best of gas tech

07:25 with what we aspirated.

07:26 So you get that great direct linear response

07:30 from the engine.

07:31 You get the emotion of that exhaust note.

07:33 Yeah.

07:33 With the efficiency of having electric power.

07:36 Yeah, you drive a Tesla.

07:38 It's a fast car.

07:39 But there's zero noise.

07:40 It's so weird.

07:41 You don't get this.

07:42 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:44 Yeah.

07:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:48 [SCREAMS]

07:52 That's a beautiful thing.

07:53 [LAUGHS]

07:55 Wow.

07:55 So it still sounds like a supercar.

07:58 Yeah.

07:59 That sounds fantastic.

08:00 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:04 This car is an indication of a future

08:14 where you can have a 600 horsepower 9,000 RPM V8,

08:18 where you have 20 miles of all electric range, where you can

08:22 have the thrill of driving a sports car,

08:25 but also the economy.

08:26 If the future is like that, sign me up.

08:29 I think the future is going to be great.

08:32 Of course, we couldn't visit a racetrack

08:34 that's referred to as the fastest road in the West

08:37 with the Porsche 918 without lapping it.

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10:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:17 We looked and couldn't find a faster lap time

10:22 from a production car.

10:24 And that reality just begins to illustrate the new paradigm

10:28 we're seeing established for performance cars of the future.

10:31 They can be hybrids or provide extra power

10:34 to offset torque deficiencies or to simply be boost.

10:38 The cars themselves no longer have

10:39 to be difficult to drive quickly.

10:41 They can be balanced and friendly.

10:43 They can be laden with technology

10:45 but still feel utterly satisfying.

10:47 They can give you everything.

10:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:53 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:56 [ENGINE REVVING]

11:01 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

11:09 you

2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: A Glimpse into the Future! - Ignition Ep. 109

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