Porsche has announced it will be taking orders on the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid which it hopes to produced in a limited run starting in 2013.
Porsche would like to begin production in September 2013 on a limited series of 918 units at its Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen plant in Germany.
Starting prices in Europe at €645,000, subject to VAT and country-specific charges.
In the United States pricing will start at $845,000.
In order to spur sales, Porsche is bundling the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid with the special edition 911 Turbo S. Only customers who order a 918 Spyder will also be able to get their hands on the limited series 911 Turbo S, in coupe or cabriolet form.
Details on the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid are still sketchy. Porsche says it will come with a mid-rear mounted V8 displacing "more than 4.0 liters" producing around 500 PS (368 kW / 493 bhp). Two electric motors, one on each axle, will add 160 kW / 218 PS to that output total and making the 918 Spyder an all-wheel drive supercar. Transmission will be the seven-speed double-clutch PDK.
The 918 Spyder will do the 0 to 96 km/h (60 mph) sprint in just 3.1 seconds and will have a top speed of 320 km/h (199 mph).
A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery provides the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid with a range of around 16 miles (26 km) in electric mode and with a top speed over a limited distance of 151 km/h (94 mph).
Consumption will be impressive for a car with over 700 horses. Porsche claims the 918 Spyder will sport a 3.0 liters/100 km fuel-economy rating and CO2 emissions of just 112 g/mile (70 g/km).
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Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The new A9 will have a modern design, two doors, and a large radiator grille with four rings. This the new flagship model for 2014 will be a Luxury Mobile based on the A8, but with an even higher quality interior. Two versions will give it a coupe with a fully retractable side windows and a convertible soft-top. The intention from the Ingolstadt brand is to top the Mercedes CL and SL attack. The A9 will be priced from 80,000 €
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New details on Porsche's junior SUV have emerged just after the company confirmed the Leipzig plant as the production site for the new car. German magazine AutoBild reported that Porsche will launch the compact SUV in a three-door body style adding that the Cajun will have a sporty character to differentiate it from the Audi Q5.
Porsche originally intended to launch the Cajun as a five-door model, but later decided it would be better to start off with a three-door variant since it doesn't want to affect the sales of the Q5, upon which the Cajun is based.
The Stuttgart automaker also feared that a five-door Cajun might threaten the Cayenne as well, so the company is said to have decided to give its smaller SUV a much more dynamic appearance. However, Porsche did not exclude a five-door version in the near future.
In order to hide the family relationship with the Audi Q5, the Cajun will have unique body panels and a coupe-like profile, wider and lower body, shorter wheelbase and smaller front/rear overhangs. According to AutoBild, the Porsche will offer room for four passengers.
On the technical side however, the Cajun will be similar with the Audi Q5, sharing components such as steering, transmission, axles and the four-wheel-drive system. The suspension, braking and dynamic control systems will be developed by Porsche, in order to give the car a much sportier handling.
The Cajun is rumored to be offered with four units at launch including a 2.0-liter turbo petrol with 240HP, a 3.0-liter turbo petrol V6 with 290HP, a 2.0-liter diesel with 190HP and a 3.0-liter diesel V6 with 265HP.
Porsche will later release performance upgrades for the diesels - with 204 and 300HP respectively – while the gasoline V6 unit could spawn a 350HP version. Further plans include a hybrid model, which will be technically identical to the Audi Q5 Hybrid. The Cajun is expected to be launched in late 2012 or early 2013.
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Friday, March 18, 2011
News from Ingolstadt suggest that Audi is about to expand their SUV lineup by adding a performance-oriented crossover to Rival BMW X6.
They might be bit late to the game, but they proved with the A7 – which arrived years after Mercedes CLS dominated the market – that they can still get a fair share. The new crossover is reportedly called the Q6 and will have the same coupe-like SUV shape as the BMW. Think of it as a jacked up A7!
The car won’t be using Q7 or Q5′s underpinning though, as it’s supposed to fill the gap between the two. So the four-wheel-drive platform of VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne would be good. It will also get the same range of V6 and V8 engines as the aforementioned cars.
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Thursday, March 17, 2011
Porsche announced a new version of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid for this year’s Nurburgring 24-hour race. It’s simply called GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 like a new software!
And like a new version of a software it features many upgrades. It gets more power, well the electric motor does, it’s lighter by 20 percent, and it also has slightly different looks and better aerodynamics.
To make sure the car won’t fail this time around on the ‘Ring, Porsche has revised the systems and made the world famous flywheel that propels the car’s hybrid system more efficient. You can still spot the flywheel in place of the front passenger seat spinning in its cocooned carbon fiber case! They’ve also lightened the car by 50 kg. These changes are not meant to make the car any faster, but more efficient.
That means the car can do more laps on one single tank of fuel than before and that means less time wasted in the pit.
The output of the car’s flat-six remains 470 bhp but the revised electric motors make 200 bhp which is only occasionally used for overtaking, gaining traction or in the corners when the situation gets a little tricky.
As you see in the picture below Porsche has also given this car a Formula 1-style steering wheel with all the data and buttons littered all over it. That’s to make it more ergonomic and easier for the driver to operate, thus making him more efficient at the job of driving.
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