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Whirlwind tour for Porsche's technological and performance masterpiece918 Spyder heads to Australia

Australia.The most advanced Porsche road car ever built is coming to Australia.

The Porsche 918 Spyder will be the star car in a Porsche E-Mobility road show kicking off at the 2015 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park from March 12.

The 918 Spyder embodies the essence of Porsche: pedigree motor racing technology with excellent everyday usability, and maximum performance with minimum consumption. It is a super sports car for the next decade with a highly efficient and powerful hybrid drive.

A unique all-wheel drive concept with a combination of combustion engine and electric motor on the rear axle and a second electric motor on the front axle combines to give the 918 Spyder maximum power of 653 kW (887 horsepower) and overall fuel consumption of just 3.1 litres / 100 kms.

The million dollar road car will take centre stage in Porsche’s E-Mobility display that will also showcase the plug-in Cayenne S E-Hybrid just launched in Australia together with the plug-in Panamera S E-Hybrid.

Porsche is the only car company in the world to offer three unique plug-in Hybrids across three different model lines.

The trio of plug-in Hybrid models comprising the Porsche E-Mobility display will visit Official Porsche Centres on the eastern seaboard – beginning in Melbourne and then heading to Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast throughout March and the first half of April.

In keeping with the racing theme for the F1 Australian Grand Prix visitors will get the chance to inspect Porsche’s hybrid race car – the 919 Hybrid – which will also feature in the E-Mobility display. The 919 Hybrid marked Porsche’s return to Le Mans in 2014 and won the final race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Brazil late last year.

Australian driver Mark Webber is part of Porsche’s WEC racing programme having joined Porsche as a ‘works’ driver in 2014 after a distinguished F1 career.

New rules for the WEC challenge and reward manufacturers that eek the most performance with least amount of fuel in long-distance racing, of which the jewel in the crown is the 24 hour race of Le Mans.

“At Porsche it is all about intelligent performance,” says Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) Managing Director, Sam Curtis.

“Our E-mobility display will showcase road cars and race cars that are at the cutting edge of hybrid technology yet still keep the key Porsche elements of practicality and athletic sports driving.”

Although the 918 Spyder is left-hand drive only and therefore not eligible for sale in Australia, PCA has nevertheless managed to secure the exclusive ‘Salzburg’ design version of the 918 Spyder for display, resplendent in white with red racing stripes. The 918 Spyder can be driven in five modes – depending entirely on the driver’s mood and prevailing traffic conditions

When the 918 Spyder is started, the “E-Power" mode is the default operating mode as long as the battery is sufficiently charged. In ideal conditions, the 918 Spyder can cover over 30 kilometres on purely electric power. Even in pure electric mode, the 918 Spyder accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in less than seven seconds and can reach speeds of up to 150 km/h. In this mode, the combustion engine is only used when needed. If the battery’s charge state drops below a set minimum value, the 918 Spyder automatically switches to hybrid mode.

In “Hybrid" mode, the electric motors and combustion engine work alternately with a focus on maximum efficiency and minimum fuel consumption. The use of individual drive components is modified as a function of the current driving situation and the desired performance. The Hybrid mode is typically used for a fuel economy-oriented driving style.

In more dynamic driving the “Sport Hybrid" mode is required. The combustion engine now operates continuously and provides the main propulsive force. In addition, the electric motors provide support in the form of electric boosting or when the operating point of the combustion engine can be optimised for greater efficiency. The focus of this mode is on performance and a sporty driving style at top speed.

“Race Hybrid" is the mode for maximum performance and genuine sporty driving. The combustion engine is primarily used under high load, and charges the battery when the driver is not utilising its maximum output. Again, the electric motors provide additional support in the form of boosting. Furthermore, the gear-shifting programme of the PDK is set for even sportier driving. The electric motors are used up to the maximum power output to deliver the best possible performance for the race track. In this mode, the battery charge state is not kept constant, rather it fluctuates over the entire charge range. This increased output is balanced by the combustion engine charging the battery more intensively. Electric power is therefore available even with several very fast laps.

The “Hot Lap" button in the middle of the map switch releases the final reserves of the 918 Spyder and can only be activated in “Race Hybrid" mode. Similar to a qualifying set-up, this pushes the traction battery to its maximum power output limits. This mode uses all of the available energy in the battery.

918 Spyder
Power: 447 kW (608 hp) at 8,600 rpm (V8 engine)
115 kW (hybrid module on rear axle)
95 kW (electric motor on front axle)
653 kW (887 hp) combined

Torque: 917 - 1280 Nm (overall system, depending on the gear)

Fuel consumption: 3.1 Litres / 100 kms

Cayenne S E-Hybrid
Power: 245 kW (333 hp) at 5,500 - 6,500 rpm (V6 engine)
70 kW (95 hp) at 2,200 - 2,600 rpm (electric motor)
306 kW (416 hp) combined at 5,500 rpm

Torque: 440 Nm at 3,000 - 5,250 rpm

Fuel consumption:3.4 Litres / 100 kms

Panamera S E-Hybrid
Power: 245 kW (333 hp) at 5,500 - 6,500 rpm (V6 engine)
70 kW (95 hp) at 2,200 - 2,600 rpm (electric motor)
306 kW (416 hp) combined at 5,500 rpm

Torque: 440 Nm at 3,000 - 5,250 rpm

Fuel consumption: 3.1 Litres / 100 kms

20/2/2015