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Porsche 918 Spyder debuts at Frankfurt Auto Show

Porsche 918 Spyder makes its long-awaited debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Porsche 918 Spyder will do 0 to 60 m.p.h. in just under 2.8 seconds, Porsche says.

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Frank Augstein/AP
Porsche AG CEO Matthias Mueller steers the new Porsche 918 Spyder during a preview by the Volkswagen Group prior to the 65th Frankfurt Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday.
  • By Stephen Edelstein Guest blogger

Porsche officially debuted its long awaited 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid supercar at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show.

First shown in concept form at the 2010 Geneva Show, and making numerous appearances in prototype guise since then, it was shown for the first time in production trim.

The heart of the 918 Spyder is a 4.6-liter V8, which is teamed with Porsche’s PDK dual clutch transmission and two electric motors.

One motor works with the V8 to spin the rear wheels, while a second motor powers the front wheels. Electricity comes from a 6.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. 

The engine and electric motors produce a combined 887 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque, as well as giving the 918 all-wheel drive.

Porsche says the 918 Spyder will do 0 to 60 mph in just under 2.8 seconds, reach 124 mph in 7.9 seconds, and reach 186 mph in 23 seconds.

Those may seem like impressive numbers, but with a relatively dense curb weight of 3,715 pounds (the Weissach lightening package lowers that to 3,616 pounds) the 918 may have trouble keeping up with its more powerful hybrid hypercar rivals, the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari.

However, the Ferrari and McLaren don’t have the 918’s 20-mile electric only range. Porsche says the 918 will achieve 78 mpg on the European combined cycle, an impressive figure for a car with 887 hp.

Porsche is already taking orders for the 918, which costs $845,000. Deliveries are set to begin on September 18.

See more from the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show on Green Car Reports.

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