FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Porsche 918 Spyder revealed

Porsche has formally unveiled the long-awaited hybrid hypercar that is quicker than its top-shelf 911 Turbo S supercar yet more efficient than a Toyota Prius: the 918 Spyder.

Although it was first revealed last week in a Twitter image taken at Pebble Beach last month, the final production version was officially revealed on the eve of its global public presentation at tomorrow’s Frankfurt motor show.

Porsche officials told Autocar the limited-edition petrol-electric two-seater -- of just 918 left-hand drive examples will be built over the next 18 months, starting in a week – has already attracted more interest than expected, with desposits taken for “more than two-thirds of the planned production volume”.

Autocar has also reported that Porsche is planning to produce an all-new 2+2-seat super-coupe based on an extended version of the 918’s carbon-fibre tub, featuring two small rear doors, two small rear seats and the same mid-mounted V8 – minus its plug-in hybrid capability.

Internally codenamed the 984 and expected to cost about half as much as the 918 (781,155 Euro, or $A1.113m) when it goes on sale later this decade, the new model is reportedly being created to boost profitability and disperse costs of the 918 project.

The 918, meantime, was first shown as a concept at the 2010 Geneva motor show and is based around a carbon-fibre tub supported by an aluminium, magnesium and titanium chassis and wrapped in composite plastic body panels -- including removable roof panels that can be stowed in the front of the car, transforming it from coupe to roadster.

As we’ve reported, the result is a kerb weight of 1634kg with an optional ‘Weissach’ performance package, which costs 853,155 Euro ($A1.215m) and cuts weight by 35kg via a number of lightweight components including magnesium wheels, and also offers aerodynamic additions such as bumper winglets to increase downforce.

Accelerating the brand-new hypercar to 100km/h in a claimed 2.8 seconds – three-tenths quicker than the new 911 Turbo S Coupe – is the combination of a mid-mounted dry-sump 447kW/530Nm 4.6-litre V8, a front-mounted 95kW electric motor and rear-mounted 115kW hybrid module.

The 918’s full parallel hybrid system delivers at least 800Nm between 800-5000rpm and features all-wheel drive, a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission, lithium-ion battery pack, idle-stop functionality, energy recuperation, four cooling circuits and five selectable drive modes.

The V8 can spin to 9150rpm but the 918 also features active suspension, active aerodynamics and rear-wheel steering from the 911.

Top speed is 340km/h and the 918’s Nürburgring-Nordschleife lap time of 7min 14sec puts it ahead of the likes of the Corvette ZR1 and Nissan GT-R, but even in full-electric mode it can hit 100km/h in under seven seconds and a 150km/h top speed.

Despite all this performance, Porsche lists the 918’s official combined fuel consumption at between 3.0 and 3.3L/100km, with CO2 emissions of 70-79g/km also undercutting the world’s best hybrid runabouts.

Here's the full run down on the latest news from Frankfurt motor show

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