If there is any spice that can be added to the world of supercars, I would say racing rivals have returned for real this time and that too in the performance-cars arena. Motor Trend, an automobile magazine brought together a McLaren P1 and a Porsche 918 at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California for a comparison test between the hybrid hypercars.
Race car driver Randy Pobst from the SCCA World Challenge fame got behind the wheels to check for performance of the top two cars, both of which jump 0-62mph in less than 3 seconds and reach a top speed of over 200mph. Meanwhile, Ferrari S.p.A banned the owner of a Ferrari LaFerrari from using the hypercar for hot laps. The Maranello-based product was criticized by online blog writers for ‘being a no-show’ at the road test.
Both McLaren and Porsche use an abundance of carbon fiber and drivetrain components of hybrid technology that offer a horsepower of over 900. The heavy Porsche 918 has a naturally-aspirated V-engine of eight cylinders, four-wheel drive and tires made by Michelin. On the other hand, the McLaren P1 comes with Pirellis tires, making it considerably lighter.
Earlier this year, BBC’s Top Gear conducted a similar test between all three hyper-hybrids. The test was shown in a brief video released on the internet while the story was covered only in print magazine to put off all the wrangling. The television series did not show the video but it was made available to subscribers of the iPad edition. The owners of all three hypercars were a helping hand in putting the showdown together and were eager to see the final conclusions in the Top Gear magazine.
Tags: 2015 McLaren P1, 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder, hybrid hypercars
