Porsche 918 2013

In September 2013, a 918 Spyder fitted with production tyres and the Weissach Package completed the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 minutes 57 seconds. It became the first road-approved car to break the seven-minute barrier on the circuit. Porsche attributed the result to the combined work of electric all-wheel drive, energy recuperation, active aerodynamics and electronic torque management rather than to engine output alone.

Production of the Porsche 918 Spyder was limited to 918 cars, matching the model’s name. Assembly of the first series-production vehicles began on 18 September 2013 in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, inside a facility created specifically for the project. Porsche stated that approximately 100 hours were required to move one car through the 18 assembly stations and its quality-control procedures. Manufacturing lasted 21 months and ended in June 2015 with the final example. Porsche’s 2013 annual report records 35 cars produced at Zuffenhausen during that year. The company also reported that the planned 918 units were sold within roughly one year, underlining the model’s unusually restricted production volume.

Automotive publications generally regarded the 918 Spyder as a major demonstration of what plug-in hybrid technology could achieve in a high-performance sports car. Top Gear highlighted its acceleration, all-wheel-drive traction and ability to remain usable on the road rather than behaving solely like a circuit machine. Autocar praised the car’s response, the immediacy of its electric torque and the effectiveness of its all-wheel-drive system, describing it as an exceptional technical achievement. Period road tests naturally compared it with the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari. The verdicts were not entirely identical: some testers preferred the McLaren’s more aggressive character, while the 918 Spyder was widely recognised for offering an unusually broad range of abilities, from electric driving to record-setting track performance.