Porsche 918 Spyder to get 4.6 litre V8

Porsche 918 Spyder to get 4.6 litre V8

The Porsche 918 Spyder is to get a 4.6 litre V8 and lose one of its electric motors when it launches after a Frankfurt 2013 debut.

It’s almost two years since the Porsche 918 Spyder debuted at the Geneva Motor show as a potential 21st century eco-replacement for the Carrera GT. The amount of interest shown – and offers of deposits – persuaded Porsche to confirm the 918 Spyder for production last March, but it’s still more than eighteen months away from arriving on the road.

Despite that, we’re starting to get more information on the 918 Spyder and what changes Porsche has made from the concept to the production car. We knew there were changes  - we’ve spoken to buyers who’ve had the VIP tour at Stuttgart for the 918, but unfortunately they were relieved of their mobiles first - but now we have concrete detail.

The 918 Spyder Concept had a 3.4 litre V8 with something north of 500bhp – or at least we assumed it had as it came from the RS Spyder track car – but we now learn the V8 in the production 918 will be a more fulsome V8 with a 4.6 litre capacity and 550bhp. Not quite up to the 5.7 litres of the 918′s spiritual predecessor, the Carrera GT, but a jump on from a modest 3.4 litre.

The new V8 will get a raft of the latest tech, including a central injector next to the spark plug, a variable pressure sc avenge oil pump, forged pistons from an F1 supplier and variable valve timing.

But added to the 550bhp from the V8 will be an extra 230bhp from a pair of electric motors powering the front wheels (the concept had three motors, one to run the back wheels), which probably means the 918 will actually be a front wheel drive car when in EV mode.

As well as the changes to the powertrain, the 918 Spyder also grows in size; it’s around six inches longer and half an inch wider and there are a few cosmetic tweaks (there are a couple of images of the production Porsche 918 Spyder in the gallery below) and looks set to still cost £678k with the first customer car to arrive in October 2013.

(13 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)

By Cars UK